Ray Stamford asks:

>So do people find reviews useful, does it matter if they are not entirely
>objective, do we mind some (a lot of!) subjectivity in them and to what
>extent do they affect our CD buying habits?

As someone who commits reviews myself as well as someone who reads the
reviews of others, let me say that I don't see how a review can be other
than subjective.  You are, after all, evaluating something for which no
objective, measurable standard exists.

Do reviews stop me or encourage me in buying CDs? It depends on the review.
Often I try to check what the reviewer says against my own impressions of
the work or of the performers.  If he somehow jives with my impression
(even if to refute it), then I'm more inclined to accept the judgment.  I
still might not accept it, usually if it trashes someone I really, really
like.  On the other hand, if I don't know the performers or the work, the
reviewer might hook me because of something interesting he or she has
written.  In short, I might be intrigued enough to buy.

Steve Schwartz