Subtle tune? A passing grade, then...

It's satisfying to have a say in which songs a radio station plays and how often it plays them.  When WSSM was our smooth jazz station, I was on its listener advisory panel.  WSSM emailed me periodic surveys, asking me to rate songs they played on a one-to-five scale.  I remember submitting a lot of three and four ratings, as the station's music was generally good.  I reserved fives for my favorite vocals, such as "Don't Know Why" or "Come Away With Me" by Norah Jones or favorite instrumentals, such as Acoustic Alchemy's "Wish You Were Near" and Turning Point's "Estrella."  I hardly ever submitted a one rating, though, unless a song clearly didn't belong in a smooth jazz format.  I would guess that most listeners surveyed probably didn't submit a lot of one ratings.  Smooth jazz, after all, isn't an in-your-face format.  Even when a smooth jazz instrumental or vocal is bland or doesn't make much of an impression, I can't imagine getting worked up enough to think, "Blech!  This song is awful!  I don't ever want to hear it again!  If I could give it a rating below one, I would!"  I imagine a lot of smooth jazz tunes elicited ratings of three or higher simply because the format is subtle and inoffensive.