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First, let me assure Robert that, as he will see when it is published, our ROTY this year was much more clearly determined by a general critical consensus, relieving us of the need for subjectivity.

Secondly, I must endorse CH's observations in that, as both a reader and a reviewer, I have found that punters soon learn which reviewers' opinions they trust and gravitate towards them. For example, any readership I have in my own specialist field of opera and the voice, knows which singers I like or dislike and I always try to give reasons based on specific criteria; we urge our reviewers to do the same but the elements of taste and subjectivity are unavoidable. I soon learned as a youth that my touchstones were J B Steane and Alan Blyth, yet to this day, over fifty years later, I do not always agree with them.

It is still surely better to publish several reviews of a recording even if there is no consensus among them; our readers are largely intelligent and informed and as such will make their own choices - and I often advise them to sample recordings for themselves on YouTube or on the sales websites rather than trust me.