# Why are albums rated higher at Amazon than at RateYourMusic.com?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-albums-rated-higher-at-amazon-than-at-rateyourmusic-com/377169>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 20, 2006, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-albums-rated-higher-at-amazon-than-at-rateyourmusic-com/377169 "2006-10-20T01:28:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\
**Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-albums-rated-higher-at-amazon-than-at-rateyourmusic-com/377169/1 "2006-10-20T01:28:05Z")

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I hang out a bit at both sites, and wonder why there are so many more 5 star reviews  
at Amazon than at RYM. Well the obvious answer is “Fanboys pumping up the ratings  
of their favorite artists”, but a high rating at RYM would presumably accomplish the  
same end, right? IMNSHO a “Five” star album can only be a timeless classic: given  
the ability to choose half stars (hmm Amazon doesn’t have half-stars but RYM does),  
I’d probably rate only about 10-20% of the albums in my collection as 5 stars, and  
if forced to round up or down from 4.5 I’d probably round down most of the time.

Comparing the most recent album, _Deadwing_, of my fave band, Porcupine Tree,  
and looking at the 10 most recent reviews:

Amazon:

5  
5  
5  
4  
5  
5  
5  
5  
5  
5

Overall 4.5 (which could mean 4.25-4.74)

RYM:

4.5  
5  
4.5  
4.5  
5  
3.5  
4  
4  
4.5  
5

Overall 4.04

I’m just fascinated by the differences you find in otherwise similar communities…