During the explosion of the New Wave, Synth-pop, and New Romantic eras in the UK, a short-lived, glossy music magazine titled Chart Beat hit the newsstands.

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launched in the UK in 1983 as a glossy, full-colour music magazine. It was published fortnightly (every two weeks), eventually moving to Monthly, and arrived at a time when the British high street newsagents were absolutely packed with music papers.

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Chart Beat was explicitly designed to cash in on the visual style of the Second British Invasion and the New Romantic movement. Bands weren't just making music; they were heavily focused on fashion, music videos, and vivid imagery. Chart Beat leaned heavily into this by offering high-quality, vibrant photography.

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The magazine was published by Townstar Publications Ltd which in turn was owned by Visual Media Ltd.  Before the magazine was launched a pop lyric magazine called Poppix was aquired and merged with the newly launched Chart Beat magazine. This is why early Chart Beat covers say "With Poppix" right under the title). The staff working on those lyric sheets simply transitioned over to the new layout.​