Having trouble deciding what songs by a band are truly worth listening to? Try visiting Rank ‘Em, a Web site constructed in 2007 by University graduate Adam Wexler and designed purely for the love of the music.

“Others have said that we don’t have features that others [iTunes, Amazon] do,” Wexler said. “We do not want to be the IMDB of music; we want to be the first step in the music discovery process.”

It’s an oasis of music leisure; there is no pressure to check updates or add special applications to your profile. The purpose is concise: Show your appreciation.

“We depend on the fans. Everyone is a music fan to some degree and we want everyone to express their personal favorites,” Wexler said.

The site is in private Beta testing, open only to users who were members before testing began or who have access to a special code that allows the user access the new features. Users can now upload a photo to their accounts, making the site more personal. One of Wexler’s favorite new features is the option to see what other members’ favorite artists are.

“I think that gives the potential to make some personal connections,” Wexler said.

After ranking any artist or band, members will be directed to a “Suggested Artists” page, where they can choose from about eight bands that share a common thread with the music they have already ranked.

These features make Rank ‘Em a sort of recommendation engine, similar to Pandora.

However, while Pandora suggests a few similar bands and provides a lengthy bio on artists, Rank ‘Em asks you to take the first step in discovering the heart of a band: the music.

“You could care less about the background of an artist if you don’t like their songs,” Wexler said.

With a catalogue of over 400,000 artists and 7 million songs, Wexler is still doing more to make the site bigger and better.

“In about three or four months, we hope to let members include artists and songs that don’t appear on the database,” he said. “We want to make a strong push for local artists. We want to be able to benefit local bands and radio stations alike. Our overall intention is to sort through all the catalogues for every artist of all time.”