James Masterton

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James Masterton (born 2 September 1973) is a British music critic 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

Music writing

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 28 October 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.

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 people for what it represents rather than as a reflection of its cultural popularity" [1] and provoked anger amongst fans of the Pet Shop Boys for asking "why they continue to bother" when their album Yes was released. [2]

Music Week charts analysis

On 28 February 2020, Masterton published his UK charts analysis page (Week Ending: 5 March 2020) [3] [4] to Chart Watch UK intending the post to be his last weekly edition as he was hired to take over the weekly Charts Analysis [5] 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 [6] [7] 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, [8] [9] 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). [10] [11]

Apart from an overview of the Christmas [12] (Week Ending: 31 December 2020 and 7 January 2021) and Easter charts (Week Ending: 8 April 2021) [13] 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 11 November overview [14] [15] 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, [16] as a talking head on the Channel 4 show 100 Worst Pop Records and on the BBC News Channel segment E24. [17]

Related Research Articles

The UK Singles Chart was first compiled in 1969. However the records and statistics listed here date back to 1952 because the Official Charts Company counts a selected period of the New Musical Express chart and the Record Retailer chart from 1960 to 1969 as predecessors for the period prior to 11 February 1969, where multiples of competing charts coexisted side by side. For example, the BBC compiled its own chart based on an average of the music papers of the time; many songs announced as having reached number one on BBC Radio and Top of the Pops prior to 1969 may not be listed here as chart-toppers since they do not meet the legacy criteria of the Charts Company.

Dotmusic was a music webzine that existed as a standalone website from 1 June 1995 to December 2003. Initially intended as the web complement to the UK music industry trade magazine Music Week, the site was relaunched in December 1998 as a website for music fans with features, interviews and the UK charts. The site was edited by Andy Strickland and among its most prominent writers were Nimalan Nadesalingam who contributed artist biographies and James Masterton who contributed a weekly UK chart commentary. After an internship in summer 2000, Alex Donne Johnson used his experience at Dotmusic to go on and found the urban music website RWDmag, which later become one of the key players in the development of grime, UK garage and dubstep online.

The Official Albums Chart, previously the UK Albums Chart, is a list of albums ranked by sales and audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts Company (OCC) on Fridays. It is broadcast on BBC Radio 1 and found on the OCC website as a Top 100 or on UKChartsPlus as a Top 200, with positions continuing until all sales have been tracked in data only available to industry insiders. However, even though number 100 was classed as a hit album in the 1980s until January 1989, since the compilations were removed, this definition was changed to Top 75 with follow-up books such as The Virgin Book of British Hit Albums book only including this data. As of 2021, the OCC still only tracks how many UK Top 75s album hits and how many weeks in Top 75 albums chart each artist has achieved.

<i>Music Week</i> Trade paper for the UK record industry

Music Week is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UK Singles Chart</span> British singles sales chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-selling singles in the United Kingdom, based upon physical sales, paid-for downloads and streaming. The Official Chart, broadcast on BBC Radio 1 and MTV, is the UK music industry's recognised official measure of singles and albums popularity because it is the most comprehensive research panel of its kind, today surveying over 15,000 retailers and digital services daily, capturing 99.9% of all singles consumed in Britain across the week, and over 98% of albums. To be eligible for the chart, a single is currently defined by the Official Charts Company (OCC) as either a 'single bundle' having no more than four tracks and not lasting longer than 25 minutes or one digital audio track not longer than 15 minutes with a minimum sale price of 40 pence. The rules have changed many times as technology has developed, the most notable being the inclusion of digital downloads in 2005 and streaming in July 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flavour of the Old School</span> 1995 single by Beverley Knight

'"Flavour of the Old School"' is a song by British R&B recording artist Beverley Knight, released as her debut single from her first album, The B-Funk (1995). The track, which peaked at number fifty on the UK Singles Chart when it was released in March 1995, was accompanied by a low budget music video that saw Knight in the recording studio singing directly into the camera. It was re-released however in October 1995, supported by a new video and strong support from urban radio. The song went on to become Knight's first top 40 single, peaking at number thirty-three in the official UK Singles Chart. The song later reappeared on the b-side of Knight's 1999 single "Made it Back". The video is frequently shown in rotation on MTV Base.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">You Remind Me of Something</span> 1995 single by R. Kelly

"You Remind Me of Something" is a song by American R&B singer R. Kelly. Released as the lead single from his self-titled album (1995), it became the fourth song from Kelly to reach number one on the US Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart, where it stayed for a week, and peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100. Worldwide, it peaked at number 13 in New Zealand and found moderate success in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Come On Home (Cyndi Lauper song)</span> 1995 single by Cyndi Lauper

"Come On Home" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Cyndi Lauper and released in August 1995 as the third and final single from her greatest hits album, Twelve Deadly Cyns...and Then Some (1994). Different versions of the song appears on the International and US releases of the album. For the single release, an edit of the US version with a runtime of 3:50 was used. It peaked at number 11 on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart, and was also a moderate hit in a few countries, where it charted in the top twenty or the top forty.

<i>19</i> (Adele album) 2008 studio album by Adele Adkins

19 is the debut studio album by the English singer-songwriter Adele Adkins, released on 28 January 2008 by XL Recordings. Following Adele's graduation from the BRIT School in April 2006, she began publishing songs and recorded a three-song demo for a class project and gave it to a friend, who posted the demo on MySpace, where it became very successful and led to interest from the record label. This led to Adele signing a recording contract at age 17 with the label and providing vocals for Jack Peñate. During this session for Peñate's song she met producer Jim Abbiss, who would go on to produce the majority of her debut album.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">So Good (Boyzone song)</span> 1995 single by Boyzone

"So Good" is a song recorded by Irish boyband Boyzone and released in July 1995 as the fourth single from the band's debut album, Said and Done (1995). The song became Boyzone's third consecutive No. 1 single in Ireland entered the UK Singles Chart at No. 3.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ed Sheeran</span> English singer-songwriter (born 1991)

Edward Christopher Sheeran is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently released the extended play No. 5 Collaborations Project. He signed with Asylum Records the same year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Love Yourself</span> 2015 single by Justin Bieber

"Love Yourself" is a song recorded by Canadian singer Justin Bieber for his fourth studio album Purpose (2015). The song was released as a promotional single on November 9, 2015, and as the album's third official single on December 7, 2015. It was written by Bieber, Ed Sheeran and Benjamin Levin, and produced by the latter. A pop song, "Love Yourself" features an electric guitar and a brief flurry of trumpets as its main instrumentation. During the song, Bieber uses a husky tone in the lower registers. Lyrically, the song is a kiss-off to a narcissistic ex-lover.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sick & Tired (The Cardigans song)</span> 1994 single by the Cardigans

"Sick & Tired" is a song by Swedish band the Cardigans. It was released in September 1994 by Trampolene as the third single from their debut album, Emmerdale (1994), in Sweden and as their first single in Japan the following month. It was subsequently included on the international release of their second album, Life (1995), and issued as its first single in March 1995. A reissue later the same year became the group's first top-40 hit in the United Kingdom. In February 1996, the song reached number one in Iceland, staying at the summit for four weeks.

References

  1. ↑ Blankenship, Mark (18 March 2010). "What Does It Mean When British Pop Fans Rage Against The Machine". HuffPost . Retrieved 16 November 2012.
  2. ↑ Typing In Stereo. "Old people make music too!" . Retrieved 16 November 2012.[ permanent dead link ]
  3. ↑ "Archives: 2020".
  4. ↑ "Week Ending March 5th 2020". 28 February 2020.
  5. ↑ "Analysis | Music Week".
  6. ↑ "Charts analysis: Elton John & Dua Lipa end ed Sheeran's reign at summit | News | Music Week".
  7. ↑ "Analysis | Music Week".
  8. ↑ "Charts analysis: Ed Sheeran scores biggest weekly sales since ÷ in 2017 | Analysis | Music Week".
  9. ↑ "Charts analysis: Adele eases to the top of singles pile for a third week | Analysis | Music Week".
  10. ↑ "Charts analysis: ABBA's Voyage opens with huge sale of 204,000 | Analysis | Music Week".
  11. ↑ "Charts analysis: Adele spends fourth week at summit ahead of album release | Analysis | Music Week".
  12. ↑ "Week Ending December 31st 2020". 26 December 2020.
  13. ↑ "Week Ending April 8th 2021".
  14. ↑ "Week Ending November 11th 2021".
  15. ↑ "Week Ending November 18th 2021".
  16. ↑ BBC News 24. "Zero 30". YouTube . Archived from the original on 22 December 2021. Retrieved 16 November 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  17. ↑ BBC News (29 November 2008). "E24: The Week In Entertainment" . Retrieved 16 November 2012.
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