Mega Critic Chart 2023

Otisredding · Post by **Otisredding** » Mon Jan 30, 2023 8:13 pm

Good afternoon, friends Acclaimers

After 12 years, the time has come to hand over to the making of Mega Critic Chart, an idea that Stephan began to develop.

I apologize for not announcing in advance (tomorrow would be the day of the publication of the first MCCh of 2023). What has happened to me is that until the last moment I was determined to continue for another year but, for work reasons, now I see that it is impossible for me.

I'm sure many of you can do the job much better than me. Does anyone dare to do it? Possibly Rob, who has been in charge of selecting the highlights in recent years?

I will be happy to communicate the links of the websites or any other information that the new director needs.

Cordially

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Mon Jan 30, 2023 8:24 pm

Sad to hear this, Otisredding, but understandable. I kind of wondered about this when we didn't get the last December update.

Otisredding wrote: ↑Mon Jan 30, 2023 8:13 pm I'm sure many of you can do the job much better than me. Does anyone dare to do it? Possibly Rob, who has been in charge of selecting the highlights in recent years?

Thanks for thinking of me. I am very tempted, but also a little weary. I myself am drowning in work and although a focused side project like this could be a nice diversion, I am uncertain if I could always deliver. I take it is a lot of work? Perhaps I could do it as a monthly update, instead of every 15 days?

That said, if anyone jumps to the position I would definitely not stop you. I'm still in it for the highlight playlist, though.

NickHay69 · Post by **NickHay69** » Mon Jan 30, 2023 8:36 pm

I'm also very sorry to hear this, OtisR. I do hope you can find someone to carry on your great work.

Will you be posting the final December update for 2022 before stepping down?

BleuPanda · Post by **BleuPanda** » Mon Jan 30, 2023 10:13 pm

I'm curious - is this something that could be a collaborative effort? Like, would we be able to make a Google sheet where people could fill in the relevant scores as reviews come in? I don't know what this looks like behind the scenes, but if no one wants to take on the entire process, maybe making it a group project could be good.

TheLastEnemy · Post by **TheLastEnemy** » Tue Jan 31, 2023 12:21 am

I'm more than happy to help with this, particularly at the moment while I am out of work. I wonder whether if I did the compiling of scores someone else would be happy to post the results?

In the meantime, thank you so much for all the hard work over the years. It really is appreciated.

Solitair · Post by **Solitair** » Tue Jan 31, 2023 7:03 am

I'm also out of work and would love to help, but I don't know the algorithm Otis used to make his charts. I could probably learn it pretty quickly, though.

Edit: A quick way to get all of the scores from all of Otis's sources would be nice, too.

TheLastEnemy wrote: ↑Tue Jan 31, 2023 12:21 am I'm more than happy to help with this, particularly at the moment while I am out of work. I wonder whether if I did the compiling of scores someone else would be happy to post the results?

Or I could just post the results, like you said.

STEFAN · Post by **STEFAN** » Tue Jan 31, 2023 10:34 am

Dear Otisredding

I am very sorry to hear, that you decided to stop the Mega Critic Chart ... I remember, how time consuming it was, when I did it at the beginning ... I can fully understand you, but hope that someone somewhere will follow in our footsteps ... Thank you so much for the 12 years ... All the BEST

RealDanChrist · Post by **RealDanChrist** » Tue Jan 31, 2023 1:39 pm

Thank you so much for the 12 years of MCCh Otisredding - it's truly enriched my life on a biweekly basis, if not daily when I'd listen to the albums you posted! Hope your break from such an involved project will allow you to relax a little!!

Post by **Honorio** » Tue Jan 31, 2023 3:05 pm

Hey, Otis, thank you very much for your hard (and impeccable) work for so many years! Mega Critic has been an awesome feature on the forum, one of its more important assets. We'll miss the chart but hopefully we will count with your participation on other threads and games of the forum. Best wishes, man!!

¡Hola, Otis, muchísimas por tu trabajo duro (e impecable) durante tantos años! El Mega Critic Chart ha sido una impresionante parte del foro, uno de sus más importantes activos. Echaremos de menos el chart pero espero que sigamos contando con tu participación en otros hilos y juegos del foro. ¡¡¡Un abrazo fuerte, tío!!!

Poydflink · Post by **Poydflink** » Tue Jan 31, 2023 4:39 pm

Hi Otisredding , you were the only reason I came to this site. Thank you so much for your love of music and public service. It was very very appreciated. I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors. I'm sure that there's lots of people who feel the same as me. Thank you once again!

Dealy_Stan · Post by **Dealy_Stan** » Thu Feb 02, 2023 9:39 am

Dear OtisRedding,

A hearty congratulations and much gratitude for maintaining Mega Critic Chart over the years. You've created a massive compendium of music that has been my entry point for most of my favourite albums over the last decade. For all that time, MCCh was my #1 go-to for new music recommendations, beating Metacritic and Fantano. Rest well, you deserve it.

Of course, I would love the chart to continue (and it looks like I'm not alone). I like BleuPanda's suggestion of it being a collaborative effort, and since also I work I'm happy to put up my hand to contribute to the new iteration of MCCh (or whatever it's called), but I won't be able to take on the responsibility wholesale. Since we now live in the era of Big Data, would some sort of open source algorithm be the best way to implement it, to avoid clashes over how it should be done? I'm imagining a Github repository where people can clone it to their local machine and "roll their own" charts.

It looks like there are three main tasks for maintaining MCCh into the future:
- Collecting and maintaining review sources. I have no idea whether these require a subscription or not. There is scope for automation of this using a web scraper but this is beyond my pay grade.
- Calculating the chart. I am in favour of some sort of automation for this process. I am a statistician and write R code every day, so am happy to contribute here. However, OtisRedding may have to reveal the details of his algorithm if we want to maintain our fealty to the "classic MCCh"

. Needs commitment of 22 times per year.
- Posting the chart. This will include collecting album covers, selecting highlights and creating Spotify playlists. Again, 22 times per year.

Just spitballing here, but I'm happy to contribute if others are.

catsafterme · Post by **catsafterme** » Thu Feb 02, 2023 1:27 pm

While the album covers and album highlights were certainly a nice touch, it would be less time consuming I'm sure to just simply list the albums... at least at first. That might be a good way to ease into the task.

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Thu Feb 02, 2023 2:03 pm

catsafterme wrote: ↑Thu Feb 02, 2023 1:27 pm While the album covers and album highlights were certainly a nice touch, it would be less time consuming I'm sure to just simply list the albums... at least at first. That might be a good way to ease into the task.

I've taken over on the highlights for a couple of years now and still want to continue on it. Same with the playlist. The images are easy to gather, especially since there usually aren't many new ones per update. We don't start with a 100 entries, but with 10 and add 5 per update. The time consuming part is compiling all the ratings from the many sources.

TheLastEnemy · Post by **TheLastEnemy** » Thu Feb 02, 2023 7:30 pm

I'm happy to start the process as soon as possible, and Solitair has said they are happy to help with the rollout as I am much more confident with the data side of it.

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Fri Feb 03, 2023 8:24 am

TheLastEnemy wrote: ↑Thu Feb 02, 2023 7:30 pm I'm happy to start the process as soon as possible, and Solitair has said they are happy to help with the rollout as I am much more confident with the data side of it.

Mind if I keep doing the highlights plus playlist?

Solitair · Post by **Solitair** » Fri Feb 03, 2023 11:34 am

Rob wrote: ↑Fri Feb 03, 2023 8:24 am
TheLastEnemy wrote: ↑Thu Feb 02, 2023 7:30 pm I'm happy to start the process as soon as possible, and Solitair has said they are happy to help with the rollout as I am much more confident with the data side of it.
Mind if I keep doing the highlights plus playlist?

Go ahead. I'll incorporate that info in the main posts when I can.

TheLastEnemy · Post by **TheLastEnemy** » Fri Feb 03, 2023 2:42 pm

Rob wrote: ↑Fri Feb 03, 2023 8:24 am
TheLastEnemy wrote: ↑Thu Feb 02, 2023 7:30 pm I'm happy to start the process as soon as possible, and Solitair has said they are happy to help with the rollout as I am much more confident with the data side of it.
Mind if I keep doing the highlights plus playlist?

Very happy for you to keep doing that, thank you.

Post by **Henrik** » Mon Feb 06, 2023 2:38 pm

Thanks Otisredding for all your hard work on this chart over the years!!! It warms my heart to see longtime followers, who have not posted in this forum before, opening up in this topic to give you the appreciation you really deserve!

Solitair · Post by **Solitair** » Tue Feb 07, 2023 12:50 am

Yeah, I know I haven't posted on the forums very much, but I've been following the chart since 2013. It's been my primary source of new music.

sickboy83 · Post by **sickboy83** » Tue Feb 07, 2023 1:06 pm

Wow, that is some sad news.
Thanks for all the work you've done over the years Otisredding (and Stefan too), the Mega critic chart is a fantastic source of new music.

androve · Post by **androve** » Thu Feb 09, 2023 6:37 pm

Thank you Otis, for your service all these years (and to Stefan before you).

discord · Post by **discord** » Thu Feb 09, 2023 9:24 pm

Thanks you for all your years of service, Otis. It has been an enjoyable read for me these last few years.

Solitair · Post by **Solitair** » Mon Feb 13, 2023 11:00 am

I haven't heard back from TheLastEnemy in a while, so I'm taking a crack at the data myself. It's rough going so far. I'm not sure how to get scores from some of the sources Otisredding listed, and I don't know how they weighted their average scores.

Assuming we can't make the 15 Feb deadline, this page of Album of the Year might be a workable substitute in the meantime. They use different sources over there, probably neglecting Europe and Australia, and I don't think they weigh their averages, but the general idea is much the same.

Edit: Figured out the weighting. I'm going to make two test lists before the 15th: one which follows Otisredding's methodology to the best of my ability, and one which relies on AotY's gathered scores. The latter will be much easier on me, but I can imagine some regulars being miffed with the different sources and relative lack of effort on my part.

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Mon Feb 13, 2023 6:35 pm

Solitair wrote: ↑Mon Feb 13, 2023 11:00 am I haven't heard back from TheLastEnemy in a while, so I'm taking a crack at the data myself. It's rough going so far. I'm not sure how to get scores from some of the sources Otisredding listed, and I don't know how they weighted their average scores.

Have you asked OtisRedding about his method?

dobrynin · Post by **dobrynin** » Mon Feb 13, 2023 6:59 pm

Also chiming in as a long-time lurker to say that I've deeply appreciated the MccH posts over the years. I am also swamped w/ work but am experienced in web dev + data analytics (of a sort), so offering my hands to the extent that I can help!

Solitair · Post by **Solitair** » Tue Feb 14, 2023 12:07 pm

Rob wrote: ↑Mon Feb 13, 2023 6:35 pm
Solitair wrote: ↑Mon Feb 13, 2023 11:00 am I haven't heard back from TheLastEnemy in a while, so I'm taking a crack at the data myself. It's rough going so far. I'm not sure how to get scores from some of the sources Otisredding listed, and I don't know how they weighted their average scores.
Have you asked OtisRedding about his method?

I PM'd them a while back, but they've yet to respond.

I've got everything mostly figured out now, though. It looks like Consequence of Sound and The Music have stopped attaching scores to their album reviews, but otherwise I've been able to include all of Otis's sources in my analysis. Here's my database if anyone wants to double-check my work.

The February 14th update of this year should be up in no more than one day.

Solitair · Post by **Solitair** » Tue Feb 14, 2023 1:35 pm

The best albums of 2023
previous years: MCCh 2022 - MCCh 2021 - MCCh 2020 - MCCh 2019 - MCCh 2018 -
MCCh 2017 - MCCh 2016 - MCCh 2015 - MCCh 2014 - MCCh 2013 -
MCCh 2012 - MCCh 2011 - MCCh 2010 - MCCh 2009 - MCCh 2008

MCCh 2022: February 14

Fifteen new albums in the top 15!

Next: February 28

Post by **Henrik** » Tue Feb 14, 2023 4:05 pm

I think the formula that has been used is

Average score + (Number of ratings - 21)/3
using a minimum of 7(?) ratings to be on the list.

Over the years, I have looked at correlations between MegaCritic and the EOY lists. To maximize that correlation the number of ratings should have a greater influence (perhaps divide with 1 or 2 instead of 3 in the formula), but on the other hand the MegaChart would then be more about ”popularity” which I guess would be less useful to a lot of people.

Gillingham · Post by **Gillingham** » Tue Feb 14, 2023 4:22 pm

Thanks a lot for doing this all these years Otisredding! I used it the last couple of years as one of my sources for discovering new music. And it was always fun to see what would come up every update.

Solitair · Post by **Solitair** » Wed Mar 01, 2023 12:28 am

February 28
Three new albums in the Top 20!

Next: March 15

VacantJoy · Post by **VacantJoy** » Fri Mar 03, 2023 2:27 am

thank you Otisredding

Solitair · Post by **Solitair** » Wed Mar 15, 2023 6:40 pm

March 15
Three new albums and two promoted albums in the Top 25!

Next: March 31

Solitair · Post by **Solitair** » Fri Mar 31, 2023 4:29 pm

March 31
Nine new albums in the Top 30, and a new number one!

Next: April 15

Solitair · Post by **Solitair** » Sat Apr 15, 2023 4:28 pm

April 15
Six new albums and one promoted album in the Top 35!

Next: April 30

Solitair · Post by **Solitair** » Sun Apr 30, 2023 3:07 pm

April 30
Five new albums and one promoted album in the Top 40!

Next: May 15

Solitair · Post by **Solitair** » Tue May 16, 2023 3:43 am

May 15
One new album and four promoted albums in the Top 45!

Next: May 31

Solitair · Post by **Solitair** » Wed May 31, 2023 9:29 pm

May 31
Four new albums and one promoted album in the Top 50!

Next: June 15

Solitair · Post by **Solitair** » Fri Jun 16, 2023 12:54 am

June 15
Eight new albums in the Top 55!

Next: June 30

Solitair · Post by **Solitair** » Thu Jun 29, 2023 8:01 pm

June 30
Five new albums in the Top 60!

Next: July 15

Ursus Stultus · Post by **Ursus Stultus** » Sat Jul 01, 2023 4:01 am

Hi Solitair, for some strange reason, I can't open the new update of June 30 Mega Critic Chart. Is there anything different that would cause that? Thank you! Ursus

Post by **Honorio** » Sat Jul 01, 2023 6:39 am

Ursus Stultus wrote: ↑Sat Jul 01, 2023 4:01 am Hi Solitair, for some strange reason, I can't open the new update of June 30 Mega Critic Chart. Is there anything different that would cause that? Thank you! Ursus

Fixed

Ursus Stultus · Post by **Ursus Stultus** » Sat Jul 01, 2023 11:34 am

Thank you, Honorio! Ursus

Solitair · Post by **Solitair** » Sat Jul 15, 2023 10:07 pm

July 15
Five new albums in the Top 65!

Next: July 31

Solitair · Post by **Solitair** » Wed Aug 02, 2023 2:50 am

July 31
Four new albums and one returning album in the Top 70!

Next: August 15

Solitair · Post by **Solitair** » Wed Aug 16, 2023 1:25 am

August 15
Three new albums and three returning albums in the Top 75!

Next: August 31

Solitair · Post by **Solitair** » Sat Sep 16, 2023 5:09 am

September 15

Seven new albums in the top 85!

Next: September 30

(Here's the August 30 update in case you missed it.)