The following was written as a note to Support at Music Xray, to which I got no substantial response; it should be known that they did away with a Get Satisfaction Forum 3 years ago.
I really don't mean to belabor this point, but this Selection Prediction thing is ambiguous in its mandate that it claims to be 90% accurate at claiming, for instance, that a song rated as being 70% better than others submitted (and has "compelling attributes, so keep on submitting"), has a 10% chance of being selected; this stat coming after encouraging people to submit the song at least 20 times. Doing the math here, let's just say it costs $15 per Opportunity x 20 = $300, which is basically, at your urging, being thrown against the wall given the Selection Prediction software's claims of 90% accuracy.
It feels like a slap in the face, after encouraging people to continue submitting, to then roll out this new software. And then to present the disclaimer stating that there are no guarantees this is a true indicator of anything (since it's essentially software-driven, non-specific statistics) and that this is based upon a "best practices submission strategy", about which you're pitching a book, smells of being another predatory business model with bells and whistles and, of course, disclaimers - that it's up to us artists, ultimately, how we conduct our business. After all, as you say, if we feel our songs are great and you urge us to keep submitting by patronizingly showing rejection letters of the Beatles, all of these heralded predictive statistics seem beside the point, frankly. Given there's talent, it's a lottery, plain and simple, and all the generic feedback that says, "Good submission, but not what we need at this time. Will keep in our files for future consideration", is patronizing and perpetuating false hope. If someone isn't responding personally to your music, it's likely it ain't going to happen. No statistics needed for that factoid. I can't tell you how many 3 stars across the board ratings I have received that feel like so many un-nuanced form letters (ratings?). By the way, are these ratings used against me if other Opportunities check on my ratings/statistics? And despite these 3 star ratings, I have heard from probably a half dozen Opportunities, receiving HOLDS or being Selected with no ultimate result. Yeah, it's all we've got in terms of access at this point - apart from expensive music expos and contests and it's still cheaper than hiring a lawyer - I get it.
All of this ranting, from an artist's POV, can be both summed up and justified by this gem of Music Xray hypocrisy and bad faith:
"We hope no one makes more submissions than necessary to achieve their goals on the site while at the same time we hope no one gives up too soon when success might be just around the corner."
Oh well. . .
By the way, as I can't seem to find any platform for this sentiment, where I can post this as a not so grateful and praising member?
Perhaps it will motivate others to chime in with their POV's.