Now That's What I Call Music!
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- This article refers to the "Now That's What I Call Music!" series as a whole. For other uses (including the first albums in various series with the same or similar names), see "Now That's What I Call Music! (disambiguation)".
Now That's What I Call Music! (often shortened to Now!) is a long-running series of various artists compilation albums released in the United Kingdom by Polygram/EMI/Virgin Records; spinoff series were later started in the United States and elsewhere.
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[edit] Original United Kingdom series
Devised by Ashley Abram of Box Records (a consultancy specialising in producing compilations), the series took its name from an advertising poster for Danish meat products which showed a pig listening to a whistling cockerel. The pig became the Now! series' mascot for a while, making its last appearance on Now! 5.
The first Now! compilation appeared in 1983 and collected thirty UK hit singles from that year on a double vinyl LP or cassette. The concept of a compilation of recent hit singles was not new; Ronco and K-tel had been issuing single-disc collections since the early 1970s). However, by spreading tracks across two discs instead of one, the Now! series was able to achieve better sound quality (although tracks were often edited to fit a running time, particularly on earlier editions released on vinyl[citation needed]). In addition, since the albums were a collaboration between major record companies a greater number of major hits could be included (the first album in the series boasted of "11 number ones" on its sleeve, something previously unheard-of). The album went to number one and soon had a major rival in CBS/WEA's The Hits Album which adopted a similar format to Now! The two series co-existed for the rest of the 1980s.
The sheer longevity and ubiquity of the Now! series in the UK has led to its becoming something of a cultural icon. Many people now collect the albums as a series, something made easier by the fact that the series was a hit from the start, so even the long-deleted early albums are easy to find second-hand.
Although the rate of release varied in the early days, it has now settled down to three per year; one release around Easter, another during the summer break (to pick up all the dance hits), and a third around November (in time for the Christmas market). Now That's What I Call Music! 64 was released on July 24, 2006. The UK series continues to follow the double-album format, now exploiting the capacity of the CD to include forty or more songs over its two discs.
The most successful has been Now That's What I Call Music! 57, which sold 350,000 units in the first week of sales. At the time of release it was the fastest selling record of the 21st century, only outsold by Dido's "Life For Rent".
Mark Goodier has been the voice of Now! adverts since 1994, going back to his days with BBC Radio 1.
[edit] Spin-offs
In addition to the main "Now That's What I Call Music" series, there have been a number spin-off compilations in the UK using the name, including:
- Now Dance - a series in its own right, these compilations originally consisted of 12" mixes of current hits. They now focus on 7" mixes of recent dance hits, and a "Very Best of Now Dance" compilation has been released.
- At least two different series of year-by-year "retrospective" compilations, covering 1983 to 1995, and 1980 to 1999 respectively (the latter known as Now! - The Millennium Editions).
- At least two "best-of" compilations covering the entire "Now!" series.
- At least one tie-up with Smash Hits Magazine during the 1980s. One compilation was released in 1987.[1] A "best of the 1980s" Now Smash Hits was released on LP and VHS.[citation needed] (Smash Hits later went on to release their own compilations).
- Several Christmas and summer-themed compilations.
- Video releases, including video cassette editions of many early 'Now!' compilations, and (more recently) yearly DVD video releases.
- Other releases include "Now Karaoke" and the interactive DVD "Now That's What I Call A Music Quiz."
[edit] Effect on Singles Chart
One effect of the success of the Now series (and the many rival compilation albums which have proliferated during the 1990's) is that sales of singles have declined as people who would have previously bought singles have waited for the tracks to appear on compilation albums since doing so is generally a far cheaper way of acquiring a music collection. As a result the importance of the singles chart to the music industry has declined markedly in favour of the album charts. Many observers incorrectly attribute this phenomen to a loss of interest in singles in favour of albums among the music buying public forgetting that the fact that compilation albums constitute a major segment of the album market indicate that people continue to have an interest in singles but are buying them in a different form.
A more complete list can be found at the list of Now That's What I Call Music! albums.
[edit] Now! series in other countries
More recently, there have been numerous different versions of the brand in other parts of the world, including:
- Arabia (under the name "Now That's What I Call Arabia")
- Australia
- Canada
- China
- Denmark
- Japan
- New Zealand
- South Africa
- South America
- United States
Although there is some overlap in content between current releases in different markets, there are also differences such as the inclusion of local hits, and (for example) the single-CD format of the U.S. releases, in contrast with the traditional double-album UK format.
[edit] Australia
The Australian series is a single disc edition and began in 2002, as a replacement for the long-running 100% Hits brand. The series is a joint venture between EMI Music Australia and Warner Music Australia.
Now 01 appeared in July of that year, followed by Now 02 in time for Christmas 2002. 2003's Now 03 came with a bonus DVD; the first standalone DVD release (Now Vision 2004) appeared the following year.
[edit] Canada
The Canadian "Now!" CDs were first released in 1996, and have been released annually since then, usually in the summer.
[edit] China
Following its introduction in China, the Now! series has enjoyed great success, with a new compilation released approximately every three to four months. Each album contains current and recent hit singles from Chinese artists signed to EMI or Polydor, and from British pop acts such as Kylie Minogue, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Sugababes or Robbie Williams.
As of late 2006, EMI China and Polydor China have together released a total of 18 Now Compilations, with plans to release the 19th on November 20, 2006.
[edit] Czech Republic (Now Hity)
Now Hity is the Czech version of the Now That's What I Call Music! series. Originally branded under the main family name, it was changed to Now Hity later in the run.
[edit] Denmark
Now Music is a Danish record label set up especially to release Now That's What I Call Music! albums in Denmark. As well as the regular series (as of February 2006 up to the 14th release), there have also been spin-offs including Now Clubbing and Now Dance.
[edit] Japan
The first Japanese Now That's What I Call Music was released in 1998. The albums contain major hits from both Japanese and British acts, like Kylie Minogue or Sophie Ellis-Bextor (in a similar manner to the Chinese Now! compilations).
As of late 2006, twenty-one Now! albums have been released in Japan with great success. EMI Music Japan and Polydor Japan plan to release Now 22 on December 4, 2006.
[edit] United States
The U.S. series of Now! albums began in 1998. initially just called "Now," before being given the full "Now That's What I Call Music" title in the second compilation, without the exclamation mark. The 23rd volume was released on November 7, 2006.
The U.S. Now! Compilations have done extremely well in sales. "Now 22", sold 127,000 in the first week.
One of the top-selling Now! albums is "Now 7", which sold nearly 3 million copies in just 20 weeks.
The lowest-selling "Now!" album to date is "Now #1's", which has only sold about 450,000 copies to date.
[edit] Rival compilations
In the UK, the competing Hits series is currently run by Sony Music and BMG. In 2002, it was rebranded to Hits 51 and timed for release very shortly after Now! 50. Hits 60 was released on the same day as Now! 59.
In the U.S., another competing collection, Only Hits, was launched by Warner Music Group, to respond to the label's representation (or lack thereof) by the Now! series.[citation needed] Volume 1 was released on November 7, 2006
[edit] Footnotes
- ↑ There was no exclamation mark in the titles of the original UK series until Now! That's What I Call Music 18 in 1990. With Now That's What I Call Music! 20, the exclamation mark was moved to follow the word "music", where it has remained since. This is also the most common form of the name to appear on albums in the subsequent foreign Now! series.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Official site (requires Java)
- Official U.S. site
- Now! fansite
- The 'Now That's What I Call Mashup' series
| Now That's What I Call Music! albums |
|---|
| United Kingdom series |
| Main series 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 |
| Special Editions click here |
| United States series |
| Main series 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 |
| Special Editions NOW: Christmas | Christmas: The Signature Edition | Number 1's | Now Esto Es Musica! Latino |
| New Zealand series |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |
| Australia series |
| click here |
| Canada series |
| click here |
