Listen Without Prejudice.

This image via Slog, the blog of The Stranger, “Seattle’s only newspaper,” which is edited by Dan Savage. Apparently, they will now be dropping the star system from their album reviews.

It’s a move in the right direction. Whether in a formal class setting or informal conversation, I’ve always tried to point out that we should treat songs like we do people, listening to them on their own terms, not judging/rating them so much as figuring out what they’re trying to say, and thinking critically about why they’re trying to say it.

The rating system isn’t much more than a tool for marketers, and it’s rarely used in the one way I can think of that might be at all productive. Much like letter grades in a composition course, stars should be assigned with an ear to how well the composer/performer is saying what they’re trying to say, and not with an ear to whether the evaluator likes the musical message.

That said, I wish they would drop the new labels that replace the star system. Yeah, it’s Seattle, the land of Archie MacPhee. I get it. Cute. But they don’t exactly promote the open-minded critical thinking that has the potential to keep bridging the narrowing gap between popular and academic music criticism.

Not to mention they’re missing a label, aren’t they? They’ve got “cute,” “magical and/or gay,” “tough,” and “slow.” Can you tell me which one is missing?