James Masterton (born 2 September 1973) is a music writer and columnist, his work focusing on the UK Singles Chart having been an online fixture on various sites since the 1990s. Masterton is also a producer for talkSPORT, and has worked on air as a presenter at the Bradford independent local radio station the Pulse.
Masterton began posting his weekly comments about the latest singles chart on Usenet in 1992, while a student at Lancaster University, whence he graduated in 1994. In 1995 he became an important element of BT's Dotmusic website, an online hub for the UK music scene and one of the few sites that posted the entire UK top 75 every week. When Dotmusic was purchased from BT by Yahoo! on October 28, 2003, Masterton's commentary moved to Yahoo! Launch with it, remaining with the site as it transformed into Yahoo! Music UK and Ireland until the site's closure in September 2011. His chart column moved to About.com, where it remained until the summer of 2016. It finally moved to its own site Chart Watch UK where it has been a weekly fixture ever since. To coincide with the move the complete archives were put online, featuring many articles which had been unavailable since their original week of publication.
Music Week Charts Analysis
On 28 February 2020, Masterton published his UK charts analysis page (Week Ending: March 5, 2020)[1][2] to Chart Watch UK intending the post to be his last weekly edition as he was hired to take over the weekly Charts Analysis[3] review pages from Alan Jones on the Music Week website (with the feature also appearing weekly in the magazine until Future Publishing turned it into a monthly). Masterton wrote two weekly Charts Analysis pages[4][5] for the website (as the magazine now features charts compiled from monthly sales and streams) until 29 October 2021, when Music Week staff took over the job. After Andre Paine and Ben Homewood wrote one each of the Charts Analysis posts on 5 November 2021,[6][7] Alan Jones took over his old job, writing the 12 November overviews (with the pages titled Charts analysis: ABBA's Voyage opens with huge sale of 204,000 for the albums and Charts analysis: Adele spends fourth week at summit ahead of album release for the singles).[8][9]
Apart from an overview of the Christmas[10] (Week Ending: December 31, 2020 and January 7, 2021) and Easter charts (Week Ending: April 8, 2021)[11] posted as there was no updates by Music Week due to the holidays, Masterton did not return to writing a regular column on his Chart Watch UK review pages until 6 November 2021, when he posted the November 11th overview[12][13] with facts about Adele's number one single "Easy On Me", Ed Sheeran's new album and Halloween associated records in the charts.
Media appearances
Masterton has made numerous appearances on TV and radio as an authority on music and chart matters. He has appeared on BBC News 24's Zero 30 programme,[14] as a talking head on the Channel 4 show 100 Worst Pop Records and on the BBC News Channel segment E24.[15]
Controversies
Masterton has come into conflict in the past for his strident views on the work of particular veteran acts and in particular for his criticism of fan-inspired chart campaigns. In 2009, he was openly critical of the campaign to get Rage Against the Machine to number one for Christmas, blasting the record ("Killing in the Name") as having been "purchased by fans for what it represents rather than as a reflection of its cultural popularity"[16] and provoked anger amongst fans of the Pet Shop Boys for asking "why do they even bother" when their album Yes was released.[17]
External links
Weekly music commentary and complete archive
Medium profile featuring other non-chart related writings
^BBC News 24. "Zero 30". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-22. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
^BBC News (29 November 2008). "E24: The Week In Entertainment". Retrieved 16 November 2012.
^Blankenship, Mark (18 March 2010). "What Does It Mean When British Pop Fans Rage Against The Machine". HuffPost. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
^Typing In Stereo. "Old people make music too!". Retrieved 16 November 2012.[permanent dead link]
April 30, 2023
james, masterton, born, september, 1973, music, writer, columnist, work, focusing, singles, chart, having, been, online, fixture, various, sites, since, 1990s, masterton, also, producer, talksport, worked, presenter, bradford, independent, local, radio, statio. James Masterton born 2 September 1973 is a music writer and columnist his work focusing on the UK Singles Chart having been an online fixture on various sites since the 1990s Masterton is also a producer for talkSPORT and has worked on air as a presenter at the Bradford independent local radio station the Pulse Contents 1 Music writing 1 1 Music Week Charts Analysis 2 Media appearances 3 Controversies 4 External links 5 ReferencesMusic writing EditMasterton began posting his weekly comments about the latest singles chart on Usenet in 1992 while a student at Lancaster University whence he graduated in 1994 In 1995 he became an important element of BT s Dotmusic website an online hub for the UK music scene and one of the few sites that posted the entire UK top 75 every week When Dotmusic was purchased from BT by Yahoo on October 28 2003 Masterton s commentary moved to Yahoo Launch with it remaining with the site as it transformed into Yahoo Music UK and Ireland until the site s closure in September 2011 His chart column moved to About com where it remained until the summer of 2016 It finally moved to its own site Chart Watch UK where it has been a weekly fixture ever since To coincide with the move the complete archives were put online featuring many articles which had been unavailable since their original week of publication Music Week Charts Analysis Edit On 28 February 2020 Masterton published his UK charts analysis page Week Ending March 5 2020 1 2 to Chart Watch UK intending the post to be his last weekly edition as he was hired to take over the weekly Charts Analysis 3 review pages from Alan Jones on the Music Week website with the feature also appearing weekly in the magazine until Future Publishing turned it into a monthly Masterton wrote two weekly Charts Analysis pages 4 5 for the website as the magazine now features charts compiled from monthly sales and streams until 29 October 2021 when Music Week staff took over the job After Andre Paine and Ben Homewood wrote one each of the Charts Analysis posts on 5 November 2021 6 7 Alan Jones took over his old job writing the 12 November overviews with the pages titled Charts analysis ABBA s Voyage opens with huge sale of 204 000 for the albums and Charts analysis Adele spends fourth week at summit ahead of album release for the singles 8 9 Apart from an overview of the Christmas 10 Week Ending December 31 2020 and January 7 2021 and Easter charts Week Ending April 8 2021 11 posted as there was no updates by Music Week due to the holidays Masterton did not return to writing a regular column on his Chart Watch UK review pages until 6 November 2021 when he posted the November 11th overview 12 13 with facts about Adele s number one single Easy On Me Ed Sheeran s new album and Halloween associated records in the charts Media appearances EditMasterton has made numerous appearances on TV and radio as an authority on music and chart matters He has appeared on BBC News 24 s Zero 30 programme 14 as a talking head on the Channel 4 show 100 Worst Pop Records and on the BBC News Channel segment E24 15 Controversies EditMasterton has come into conflict in the past for his strident views on the work of particular veteran acts and in particular for his criticism of fan inspired chart campaigns In 2009 he was openly critical of the campaign to get Rage Against the Machine to number one for Christmas blasting the record Killing in the Name as having been purchased by fans for what it represents rather than as a reflection of its cultural popularity 16 and provoked anger amongst fans of the Pet Shop Boys for asking why do they even bother when their album Yes was released 17 External links EditWeekly music commentary and complete archive Medium profile featuring other non chart related writingsReferences Edit Archives 2020 Week Ending March 5th 2020 Analysis Music Week Charts analysis Elton John amp Dua Lipa end ed Sheeran s reign at summit News Music Week Analysis Music Week Charts analysis Ed Sheeran scores biggest weekly sales since in 2017 Analysis Music Week Charts analysis Adele eases to the top of singles pile for a third week Analysis Music Week Charts analysis ABBA s Voyage opens with huge sale of 204 000 Analysis Music Week Charts analysis Adele spends fourth week at summit ahead of album release Analysis Music Week Week Ending December 31st 2020 Week Ending April 8th 2021 Week Ending November 11th 2021 Week Ending November 18th 2021 BBC News 24 Zero 30 YouTube Archived from the original on 2021 12 22 Retrieved 16 November 2012 BBC News 29 November 2008 E24 The Week In Entertainment Retrieved 16 November 2012 Blankenship Mark 18 March 2010 What Does It Mean When British Pop Fans Rage Against The Machine HuffPost Retrieved 16 November 2012 Typing In Stereo Old people make music too Retrieved 16 November 2012 permanent dead link Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title James Masterton amp oldid 1090882860, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
