I've noticed a lot around ATRL when having a discussion about whose album is better or w/e related topic that certain people always bring up Metacritic... so my question to you... does the gp care about Metacritic scores?
GP doesn't really use critics. They care about the general reception to something, critical acclaim is part of it especially in cases where it's advertised (movies etc), but otherwise word of mouth is more important.
Music/Pop enthusiasts do and they're more likely to buy an album than a random member of the GP.
You can see the Metacritic score on every album article in Wikipedia. That's how I've discovered it. But the GP doesn't care about it at all. They do care about IMDb and Rotten Tomatos though which is kinda weird but then again those sites are GP based and movies have no haters that will lower their rating passionately.
Not really, the GP only care about what's happening in front of them. They don't care about Metacritic or how many number ones particular singers have etc...
GP use Rotten Tomatoes and go to their own, trusted individual reviewers. That's about it. I don't think anyone knows, cares or refers to metacritic outside of petty stanbases on ATRL.