Customer Reviews for Dummies

Sorry, I just have to get this off my chest.

A habit I've started noticing on the iTunes Music Store is the habit of referencing previous reviews when someone is posting their own review for a song/album/audiobook/film/whatever on the site. This, my friends, is a practice that must be stopped. I mean, seriously, do people not realize how stupid they sound when they write "The anonymous reviewer before me has no idea what they're talking about"? Let's hear what you have to say, okay, buddy? This is a review, not a message board.

I would also like to point out the following review by "dr. trey" of the new album by Matisyahu, Youth:

"EVRYONE [sic] SHOULD BUY IT...This is even better than live at stubb's.. after you buy it you will know what im talking about"

Um...what are you talking about? The whole point of customer reviews is that you will explain to us what makes said album so good/bad so THEN we will buy it! What I really can't understand is that, according to iTunes, "15 out of 18 listeners found this review helpful."

I guess you could say I'm doing the same thing, posting a review of reviews on my blog (which is, essentially, a personal site where individuals post reviews of stuff), but I'd like to think I'm more articulate than most. All I'm asking is that people treat customer reviews with the same respect that professional reviewers treat their own content. Don't say "THIS ALBUM SUXX!!" and leave it at that. Explain what you don't like about the album. Give any biases you may have against said album (for example, I would probably give a Kenny Chesney album a bad review, but it would be bias because I don't like country music in the first place). As always, don't shove your opinion down the reader's throats. Be courteous, like you're talking to someone you're just meeting for the first time.

Here's a final compare/contrast. First, we have a review from "Route66" in regards to the band Field Music and their self-titled debut:

"This cd has potential and should be downloaded by many but we'll just have to wait and see."

Now, click here to read a different review for the same album by one of my favorite podcasters, Funtime Ben.

Can you tell the difference? I hope so.