Raw vs Normalised: Why Some Charts Have Two Versions

Some charts have a toggle between Raw and Normalised. The raw version is the actual numbers. The normalised version adjusts them. Here's when you'd want each.

The problem with raw totals

Raw points totals are easy to read: more is better. But Music League groups aren't controlled experiments, and two things make raw numbers hard to compare fairly between players.

The first is participation length. People drop out of leagues. Someone who stopped submitting halfway through has had half as many rounds to earn points as someone who played the whole thing. Raw totals don't account for this, so they look like they underperformed when they were actually doing fine.

The second is voter generosity. Some players hand out points freely; others are stingy. If you happen to appeal to the generous voters in your group, your raw total will look better than someone who earned the same level of appreciation from the tighter voters. The raw score reflects who's voting as much as how good the submissions were.

What normalisation does

For each vote, instead of counting the raw points, the system measures how that vote compares to how much that voter typically gives out. A six-point vote from someone who usually gives three points counts for more than a six-point vote from someone who gives six to almost everyone.

The result is a score that reflects how much each player stands out relative to expectation, adjusted for how long they played and who was voting for them.

When to use which

The raw view is the leaderboard as it actually stands. Use it when everyone has played the same number of rounds and voters are broadly similar in generosity.

The normalised view is more useful when participation lengths differ, or when you suspect certain voters are skewing the picture. It strips out the structural differences so you're comparing on more level footing.

Most of the time the two views agree. When they diverge, it usually means someone has been benefiting from a particularly generous voter, or someone who dropped out is actually outperforming their raw rank.

Which charts use this toggle

The toggle appears on the Vote Heatmap, Superfan & Nemesis, and Vote Reciprocity charts. These are all comparing votes between players with different participation levels and voting styles, so the raw/normalised difference matters most there.

Charts shown as rates or percentages, like Generosity (average points per round), don't need it. They've already normalised for you.

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Both views are available on all premium stat pages. Upload your league export to explore them.