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Why Did 'Topster' Shut Down And What Does Satanic Music Have To Do With It? The Viral Controversy Explained
Music nerds across social media are mourning the loss of the website Topsters, a popular chart-rendering site that allowed visitors to compile their favorite singles or albums into charts. The site became incredibly popular on music forums throughout the 2020s, but the other day, Topster was shutdown without warning and replaced with a bizarre page about Satanic music. So what's going on and is Topster gone for good? Here's what we know.
What Is 'Topster' And Why Did It Shut Down?
Topster was a website that allowed visitors to organize albums and singles into concise charts. Online, it was often used by music fans to show off their favorite songs and albums, music they've been listening to recently and in some cases, to make memes. It grew incredibly popular throughout the 2020s on sites like 4chan and X.
The creator of Topster, however, is a bit of a controversial guy. Not much is known about him and his identity is speculative at best, but he's come under fire multiple times on the /r/Topster subreddit for sharing conspiracy theories and controversial takes on the Topster site, which was hosted at neverendingchartrendering.
This all came to a head on April 24th, 2024, when the site's users discovered that the site was inaccessible, replaced by a single page titled "Beware Of Satanic Music." The page features a text-post that warns visitors about Satanic music and uses The Beatles' song "Strawberry Fields Forever" as an example.
The site also links to a Gregorian chant on YouTube, the creator writing, "If you've been listening to [Satanic] music, cure yourself by listening to Gregorian and Orthodox chants instead." At the bottom of the page he adds, "By the way I'm shutting down topsters." Since then, users have been forced to migrate to Topster clone sites like Topsters 3, hosted at topsters.org.
How Is The Internet Reacting To Topster's Shutdown?
News of the shutdown quickly spread across social media, going viral on sites like Reddit and X / Twitter. Fans of the site are understandably disappointed, with some reporting that they were in the middle of using the site when it was shut down, ruining their projects.
The /r/Topster subreddit has decided to make memes out of the situation. They're now using Topster alternative sites to make charts filled with Satanic music, Christian music or simply consisting of "Strawberry Fields Forever" to criticize the site's shutdown in a tongue-in-cheek way. Even music critic Anthony Fantano has voice his opinion on the shutdown, posting to X, "the t*pster guy really has gone off the deep end."
For the full history of the Topster Shutdown Controversy, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.