how it works

Rate or review any album, anytime. Only ratings backed by a verified listen contribute to the verified score. That is the core of sleevnotes: one number on every album that comes only from people whose listening shows they heard the whole record.

reviews and ratings

Anyone with an account can rate or review any album at any time. You don't need to connect a listening service or finish the record first. The only wait is for albums that haven't been released yet; they open for ratings once they're out.

• Ratings run from 1.0 to 10.0, in steps of 0.1.
• A review can be a score, words, or both. A draft stays out of every score until you publish it.
• Each review is marked Verified listen when your listening backs it, or Rated before finishing when it doesn't yet, with how many tracks you've heard.
• Rate first, listen later if you like. When your synced listening completes the album, the rating and review you already wrote become verified on their own. Nothing to resubmit.

verified listens

A listen is verified when your listening history shows you've heard every track on the album's tracklist at least once. Any order, any number of sittings, no deadline. Plays are matched to tracks automatically, and a play of the same recording on another edition of the album counts too.

connecting a service

• Last.fm: connecting imports your full scrobble history in the background, then keeps syncing new plays. Large histories take a while to come in. Your Last.fm listening needs to be public for the import to read it.
• Apple Music: syncs your plays from the day you connect. Apple only shares recent plays, so older history doesn't come along on its own; you can bring it in by uploading Apple's Play Activity file on the import page.
• Spotify: there is no direct connection. Connect Spotify to Last.fm in your Last.fm settings, then connect Last.fm here; your Spotify plays verify the same way.
• One service syncs at a time. Connecting one switches syncing off for the other.

when listens arrive

Your first sync runs shortly after you connect. After that, syncing happens automatically about once an hour. If you don't want to wait, Sync now (in settings and on album pages) or Refresh listens (on Discover) syncs you right away, once every 15 minutes. Plays from your imported history count exactly like new ones.

what doesn't verify

• A listen date you log by hand on a review.
• Ratings imported from another site, such as RateYourMusic or AOTY. They stay unverified until your synced listening completes the album.
• Listening we can't see: vinyl, the radio, a friend's place. Rate and review it all the same; it just stays unverified.

A rating can go back to unverified if you remove an album's listens, or if the album's tracklist gains tracks you haven't heard yet. Your rating and review stay either way.

verified scores

An album's verified score is the average of ratings from members with a verified listen of it, one rating each. A rating without a verified listen never contributes to it.

Each album page shows three scores:

• Verified: ratings backed by a verified listen only.
• All ratings: everyone's ratings, verified or not.
• Critics: scores from music publications.

Your own rating sits in your panel on the album page, whether or not it's verified.

sets

Sets are groups of albums chosen by sleevnotes editors: an artist's studio albums, a scene, a label, a year. Members can suggest a set for the editors to consider. There is nothing to join; a set becomes yours as soon as you finish any album in it.

• Finished: you have a verified listen of the album, or you've rated or reviewed it without one. Either way it counts toward your progress.
• Mastered: you have a verified listen of the album and a published rating or review of it. Master every album in a set to master the set.
• Points: 5 for each finished album, 10 in all once it's mastered, and 100 more for mastering a whole set. An album in several sets pays once.

Each set's page shows how far along you are and which album is next. If a set gains an album after you've mastered it, your mastery stands and the new album becomes the next one to finish. Browse the sets.

badges

Every set has its own badge, and mastering the set earns it. The badge is awarded the moment your last requirement lands, whether that is the final track syncing or your final review being published. Earned badges carry a gold edge and appear under set completion badges on your profile.

Badges are yours to keep. They aren't taken away if the set later grows or you remove listens. Set badges are the only badges on sleevnotes.

Ready to make your ratings count? Connect Last.fm or Apple Music in settings.