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 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.
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.