Speaking for music best-of lists, as compiled from votes of critics: I&#x27;ve found these lists are not very helpful in finding music I actually care about.  It&#x27;s frustrating, because there seems to be so much utility there.<p>I&#x27;ve explained it like this: To get on the list, something has to be considered at-least-good by a lot of people, and this tends to reward (1) herd mentality; (2) lowest-common-denominator.  The list selects against anything in any niche, even when it&#x27;s excellent.<p>As I look back through music that has meant a lot to me, there is just not much overlap with best-of lists.<p>Note: I&#x27;m talking about critics-vote, pooled, best-of lists.  Single-critic best-of lists don&#x27;t average out niche tastes and, for the right critic-listener match, can be very helpful indeed.