2006 Music Bloggregate - Main

• For those who don’t want to bother with Excel, the Chart Page has 8 .jpg files showing only the ranked results.
• Go here for an alphabetical list of sources with links back to their original Top Ten Album lists.
• The Albums page has an alphabetical list of all titles cited; there’s also a ranked list of the top 100 titles. Clicking an title will take you to a page with links to all the bloggers’ lists citing that album, along with links to (where available) the artist’s home page, myspace page, and a link to purchase the CD.
• There’s also a rambling introduction.
• For comparison's sake, here's the 12/21 version of this year's Bloggregate (249 sources):  (Excel) (jpg)

The Rules:

Points:

• Records on ranked lists are given the following, weighted points:
• #1=15 points, 2=14, 3=13, 4=12, 5=11, 6=9, 7=8, 8=7, 9=6, 10=5
• When a source's list ranked "tie" selections, the identically-ranked titles were lowered in rank (e.g., Two 1st-place titles were both given 14 points, three 1st-place titles were all given 13 points, etc.) and the rest of the list lowered accordingly; ties for 10th place were discarded.
• Records on unranked lists are all given 10 points.
• “Total Score” represents a sum of all the points.
• “List Mentions” includes both ranked and unranked lists.
• “Average Vote” represents the average ranking given on ranked lists; and “###” nonsense in this column means the album was only included on unranked lists.
• “First Place Votes” gives the # of lists on which that particular album was ranked first.

Sources:

• The prime qualification for inclusion:  Having a published, online Best Albums of 2006 list to which I can link.
• Lists either need to be ranked or limited to ten CDs.  Only ten CDs from any one contributor will be included.
• For ranked lists, the top ten choices are included here; it’s fine if these are spread out over more than one entry; I’ll link to the highest-ranked entry. 
• Unranked lists must have ten (or fewer) entries; otherwise, I will not know which of the ten to include.

Other qualifications: 

• One list/person.  No more than four entries/blog.  At some point a group blog turns into a magazine with staff.
• I don’t care whose blog it is.  It doesn’t have to be a music blog, just a person with an opinion.  Similarly, professional music critics who keep blogs can be included.  No one’s opinion counts more than anyone else’s.
• No record execs looking to pimp their shit.  This isn’t for that.  No blogs on label sites.
• No NSFW links.
• No myspace, no LiveJournal.  Myspace makes it too easy to ballot-stuff; just bulk-mail all your "friends" and ask them to put X on their top ten list.  I have similar qualms with LJ communities and private posts.  In that vein:  Established blogs only.  And:  No splogs, no blogs that post full CDs. 
• Yo hablo Englais.  I’m not looking to be xenophobic, but I can’t read Korean.
• Though the present list is overwhelmingly indie-rock flavored, everything is welcome.  Please.  That said...

The Albums:

• ...we’re keeping this to lists of “popular” music.  That can include Rock, Country, Hip-Hop, R&B.  Please do.  Because of the nature of this list, everything retains its context, and that’s what counts.
• It’s fine if someone includes a Jazz or Classical CD on their list, but this is not an effort to compile lists exclusively from those fields.
• EPs are fine.  But you only get one list, not one for LPs, and one for EPs.
• NO LISTS OF SONGS.  Compiling something like that would put me in the madhouse.  You want one?  You make one.
• This is a list for 2006 releases, but I’m not going to be a real hard-ass about it.  Again, there’s the matter of international release dates, etc.  I’m compiling, here, and I’m not policing... and not telling people to perform do-overs.  But:  I don’t care if this was the first year in which you heard Dark Side of the Moon and had to include it on your list.  It doesn’t belong here.  Those items will be skipped; I will not move all the other items up a notch.  Lists that aren't primarily of 2006 releases will not be used.
• While it may be inevitable that a reissue slips through, but  whole lists of these are out.
• That Demo Someone Left on Your Car Windshield.  Sure, why the hell not, if you really really love it?  That’s what this is all about.

*Real mistakes.  Not ones like, “You’re wrong b/c Tv on the Radio sux!”