I want you to read this NYT profile for two reasons. It echoes what we’ve been saying for the last three years about the distinction between growing a street team from your core audience and letting them tell you about their wants and needs, versus paid or incentivized team members. (Guess which one’s more effective?)
But it also highlights a problem I know you’re facing, and the researchers call it the "Pretty Good Problem." It’s the fact that, out of say, 40 competing products (such as albums!), maybe one is fantastic and one is awful and the rest are "pretty good," which means that reviewers have to split hairs over what they’ll recommend.