- Why our voting system is in balance
- Why manipulating it is ineffective and pointless
- Why voters should leave a comment
- How the charts are calculated
The Remix64 voting system explained
How does it work?
For each remix that is released at remix.kwed.org, AmigaRemix or c64audio.com, registered Remix64 members can set a vote represented by a smiley:
Outstanding
Very Good
Good
Average
Poor
BadThose smileys are mapped to a score of 17% to 100%, a weighted average of all votes for a remix finally determines its overall score. That means, the votes where the majority of listeners agree on, weigh more than the occasional outlier. Additionally, commented votes weigh more than anonymous votes (read more below).
If a tune has received less than 15 votes, the final score is being compressed
towards the average score, as it is not regarded as fully representative. Why? A remix with a single Outstanding
vote would top the charts with 100% otherwise. With the compression intact, it will still reach 86%.
The following chart explains the process:
Emphasise your vote by leaving a comment
The easiest way to comment your vote is to add a shout
in the voting box. This is not mandatory, but it is a great opportunity for the voter to step out of anonymity and to give back some kind of feedback (positive or negative) to the artist. Leaving a shout will give double weight to your vote.
This can also be done in a more elaborate way with a full review. Writing a review enables you to lay out your detailed opinion and analysis of the tune. Reviews are displayed on the front page of Remix64, and more prominently on the tune info page. Writing a full review will award triple weight to your vote. (Note: 3x is the max multiplier, so leaving another shout with the review will not increase the multiplier).
Opposed to shouting, writing a review is subject to a set of rules:
Respect the artist!
Please remember that the artists who publish remixes provide a free service for the listeners. If you dislike a tune with all your heart, you are free to represent that feeling in form of votes, shouts, and reviews, but remember to maintain a certain amount of objectivity and respect. Criticise, but don't offend.Fair or unfair, that is the question
Ever since we've established the voting system in 2001, there has been the occasional debate about the fairness of the system. No such system can be completely fair. The voting is subject to personal taste and different perception of the listener. At the end of the day, the voting smiley should represent the smile you had on the face when listening to the remix. Thus, the final score can be regarded as the average smile that people had on their faces when listening to the remix, which is a valuable feedback in itself.Manipulation
There have been a few occasions of artists trying to manipulate the ratings to gain a better charts position. That's not only cheating, but also self-cheating, and pretty pointless too, since it can only marginally alter the outcome.The weighted average calculation of our charts causes small manipulations to have virtually no impact. Larger scale manipulations will certainly attract our attention. We're keeping a watch on the voting with various analysis tools. If you spot unusual voting patterns, obvious false accounts or any other kind of abuse (offending shouts or reviews), please get in touch with us.
LMan say RELAX
The Remix64 voting system is a feedback machine for the remixers. On some occasions, artists have reacted very touchy towards negative criticism, or even towards average criticism. It is a bad idea to try and silence people who provide negative feedback, after all that would not change their mind. By submitting your remix to RKO or AmigaRemix, you agree to receive any kind of feedback, good or bad. After all it's just feedback, and a bad vote is not the end of the world. Unreasonable reasons for a bad vote happen, too. Still it was the voter's reason. So relax, don't take it all too seriously.Updated 20th July 2009
