Chart Attack
| Categories | Music |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Channel Zero |
| Founded | 1991 |
| Final issue | 2009 |
| Country | Canada |
| Based in | Toronto |
| Language | English |
| ISSN | 1198-7235 |
Chart Attack was a Canadian online music publication. Formerly a monthly print magazine, it was called Chart and published from 1991 to 2009.[1] Online content ceased to be updated sometime between mid 2017 to 2019, after which owner Channel Zero laid off the site's staff.[2] The site's content is no longer available live online, the domain has been taken over by a usurping commercial website unrelated to music. Much of the old content is still available as web archives at the Wayback Machine.
History and profile
Launched in 1991 as National Chart, the magazine was started by York University students Edward Skira and Nada Laskovski as a tipsheet and airplay chart for campus radio stations in Canada.[3][4] The magazine soon grew to include interviews, CD reviews and other features. National Chart was considered an internal publication for the National Campus and Community Radio Association, Canada's association of campus radio stations, and was not available as a newsstand title.
When Skira and Laskovski graduated, they incorporated Chart as an independent magazine, and began to pursue national newsstand distribution. Although it was no longer an NCRA publication, many campus radio stations continued to file airplay reports for the magazine's Top 50 chart even though its status as the official NCRA chart was transferred to the new publication !earshot.
The magazine's primary focus was Canadian alternative rock and indie rock, although they profiled important international acts, and rap and pop music acts as well.[5] At its peak, the magazine had a press run of 40,000 copies per issue, making it the largest paid circulation music magazine in Canada in its era.[5]
The magazine ceased publishing a print edition in 2009, continuing as a web-only publication. The website briefly suspended publication in summer 2011, but its acquisition by andPOP, a Canadian entertainment news website, was announced on November 1, 2011.[6] In 2013, andPop was in turn acquired by Channel Zero.[7]
The site laid off its staff in 2017.[8]
Reader polls
In 1996, 2000 and 2005, the magazine conducted polls of readers, musicians and music industry professionals to determine the 50 best Canadian albums and songs of all time. There were 25 albums and 18 songs which ranked in the top 50 in all three polls.
Top 50 albums
Top 50 songs
References
- ^ Chart goes paperless Archived May 22, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, eye weekly, January 15, 2009.
- ^ Ritchie, Kevin. "Chart Attack Goes On Hiatus". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
- ^ (June 3, 2000). "Charting a success story: From eight-page newsletter to 70-page glossy, Chart has grown along with the decade's music", Toronto Star, p. M2.
- ^ Flynn, Andrew (May 14, 2000). "Chart magazine makes it 10: Little publication grew strong by focussing on Canuck music", Canadian Press. Reprinted in The Daily News, p. 29.
- ^ a b Megan Thow (Spring 2002). "Critical Miss". Ryerson Review of Journalism. ISSN 0838-0651. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: year (link) - ^ "Video Saves the Radio Star - Online Video Poised to Revive Indie Music Site"Archived November 3, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. MediaCaster, November 1, 2011.
- ^ "Channel Zero Acquires Controlling Interest in ANDPOP" Archived January 3, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. Broadcaster, June 11, 2013.
- ^ "Canadian music site Chart Attack goes on hiatus" NOW Toronto, February 6, 2017.
