''Chart Attack'' (stylized as ''CHARTattack'') was a Canadian online music publication. Formerly a monthly print magazine, it was called ''Chart'' and published from 1991 to 2009. Online content ceased to be updated sometime between mid 2017 to 2019, after which owner Channel Zero laid off the site's staff. 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 archive The WARC (Web ARChive) archive format specifies a method for combining multiple digital resources into an aggregate archive file together with related information. These combined resources are saved as a WARC computer file, file which can be rep ...

s at the

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History and profile

Launched in 1991 as ''National Chart'', the magazine was started by

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

students Edward Skira and Nada Laskovski as a tipsheet and airplay chart for

campus radio Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produced ...

stations in Canada. 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 The National Campus and Community Radio Association/L'Association nationale des radios étudiantes et communautaires (NCRA/ANREC) is a non-profit organization of campus radio and community radio stations in Canada. It represents the interests of t ...

, 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 Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

and

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

, although they profiled important international acts, and rap and pop music acts as well. 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. 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. In 2013, andPop was in turn acquired by Channel Zero. The site laid off its staff in 2017."Canadian music site Chart Attack goes on hiatus"
''NOW Toronto'', February 6, 2017.

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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chart Attack 1991 establishments in Ontario 2009 disestablishments in Ontario Canadian music websites Channel Zero (company) Defunct magazines published in Toronto Magazines established in 1991 Magazines disestablished in 2009 Music magazines published in Canada Online magazines published in Canada Online music magazines published in Canada