Had to take away my original post, published it accidentally while I was still writing it. There is a distinct set of pros and cons to both to me, which I will be listing out below:
RYM
Pros:
Ability to make lists;
Not-so-specific ratings;
You can explain your rating system.
Middle ground:
RYM has a very large community. Although it will be hard to make as much friends as you could have on AOTY, there is still a chance that you will find people that have a lot in common with your musical taste, or those that have really interesting recommendations.
Cons:
Very poor design;
Some useless features (the musical map comes off as one of them to me);
Can be tasking to find new music for you, no matter the release date.
AOTY
Pros:
Minimal and charming design;
Listeners can find new albums with ease;
Friendly community (except for the Shazes that appear every now and then);
Social feed.
Middle ground:
Some of the highest rated albums --AOTY’s cult classics, if you will-- aren’t even on the best of all time charts. Personally, I think that an album with at least 20 ratings should enter the charts. If anyone goes there --which I don’t know if most go there–, maybe they’ll find something that truly interests them.
Cons:
Some features are unnecessary (like the top albums of the year feature, that appears on most profiles right now);
The interface for writing reviews isn’t as complete as I wish it could be;
The specific rating system can be a burden, but it’s optional if you want to adhere to that rating system or not.
Overall, I find more advantages on AOTY than on RYM, but I still like to use both. I think that they complement one another, and I’d still say that it’s worth having an account on both due to that.