by azncuriousgeorge » Fri Oct 01, 2010 8:24 pm
back in the day, the rarb review was one of the few marketing tools for a college group. that and maybe an appearance on boca. a high score and positive reviews on rarb and / or an appearance on boca would create buzz, make a group known, sell albums. i would say that one of the main purposes for submitting to rarb was not just to get feedback that can help the group's next project, but to also help sell albums (especially to people who never had an opportunity to see the group live) and earn bragging rights of sorts.
however, now, with the levelling of the playing field (technologically) and the emergence of new compilations, more visibility, youtube, itunes, etc...i think the purpose of the rarb review has lost much of its marketing aspect. a positive rarb review is no longer needed or as important to create buzz within or outside the community. as someone that has submitted an album for review (and am patiently waiting for its publishing), i really don't care so much about what score the album will receive. of course, a high score will help my ego, but i also know its shortcomings and am proud of the final product we were able to put together. i'm really more interested in the type of constructive criticism that experienced members of the community will provide so that the group can learn and improve on its next project.
so while it would probably have been nice to have some consistency with the outcomes of this album between its evaluations from cara and rarb, i actually think that the rarb review is a valuable critique for the group. i would interpret the gap as--you guys put out avery good album (positive eval form cara and boca), but there are still specific things that can be improved for the next endeavor (critique from rarb). i think this sort of feedback is a lot better than an all-out lovefest only comprised of praise.
i don't think the sysem is flawed. yes, it is very subjective, but that's the nature of the business. i think people should have a greater sense of humility and welcome constructive criticism.
hello, my name is jon.
jhu octopodes '04-'08
now i'm a salaryman in japan.