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Now That's What I Call Music - Overview 

Now That's What I Call Music!  (often shortened to Now!) is a long-running (1983–present) series of various artists compilation albums released in the United Kingdom by Polygram (as Universal)/EMI/Sony Music/Virgin Records (The Big Four record labels).  Spinoff series were later started in the United States and elsewhere. Since its launch in 1983, the series has amassed over 75 million album sales worldwide, according to EMI, with spin-off versions taking sales to over 100 million worldwide. Now That's What I Call Music! mainly features songs which charted in the Top 40. 

Original United Kingdom NOW series

Looking for a way to re-issue/recycle music tracks for additional revenue, Virgin Records executives Stephen Navin, John Webster and Simon Draper engaged Ashley Abram of specialist compilations consultancy Box Records (he still compiles the albums). The series took its name from a 1920's advertising poster hanging in an office 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 That's What I Call Music 5.

The first Now! compilation appeared in November 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 (tracks were often edited to fit a running time on K-Tel and Ronco single disc compilations).

The other major difference of the Now! series was its collaborative nature between major record labels. Virgin agreed a deal with EMI, which allowed a greater number of major hits to be included (the first album in the series boasted of "eleven 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, but when Universal joined the collaboration the Now! series dominated commercially.

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, and a third around November. The latest in the series, Now That's What I Call Music! 75, was released in March 2010. The UK series continues to follow the double-album format, now exploiting the capacity of the CD to include between forty and forty-five songs over its two discs. At the current time, the Now series are only released on CD and digital download formats. Previously the Now series was available on Vinyl, audio cassette & Minidisc formats, with the decline of popularity with these formats, Now's are no longer issued on them.

Records And Achievements

Records/achievements The most successful has been 1999's Now That's What I Call Music! 44, which has sold 2.3 million copies and is the 46th best selling album in UK chart history, and the biggest selling compilation album ever.  2008's Now That's What I Call Music! 69 sold 382,759 units in the first week of sales, the biggest ever first week sale of any Now album beating the previous record of Now 57 in 2004.

1. Spice Girls hold the title for most consecutive positions at track #1 on CD1. These include "Wannabe" on Now 34, "Say You'll Be There" on Now 35" and "Mama" on Now 36. 

2. Robbie Williams is the artist to be featured the most times in the UK Now! series. In the first 73 Now Albums he has appeared 30 times (including four times with Take That). His first appearance was with Take That on Now 22 with "It Only Takes a Minute" and he features on Now 75 with "You Know Me". 

3. Kylie Minogue is second with 21 appearances, starting on Now 11 with "I Should Be So Lucky" and features on Now 70 with "In My Arms". 

4. Phil Collins is third with 20 appearances. 12 as a solo artist, 1 Duet with Marilyn Martin and 7 with Genesis, starting on "Now 1" with "You Can't Hurry Love" and "That's All" and features on "Now 68" with "In The Air Tonight". It is also the longest span of Now! albums a single artist has appeared on. 

5. Girls Aloud are in joint third place with twenty appearances, starting on Now 54 with "Sound of the Underground", and featured on Now 73 with "Untouchable". They also hold the record for the most consecutive appearances, appearing on thirteen straight Now! albums between Now 54 ("Sound of the Underground") and Now 66 ("I Think We're Alone Now"). 

6. U2 are fifth with nineteen appearances, starting on Now 4 with "Pride (In the Name of Love)" and have featured on Now 72 with "Get On Your Boots". 

7. Britney Spears is in sixth place with seventeen appearances, she started with the number one single, "...Baby One More Time" on Now 44, and, "If U Seek Amy" has made Now 73. 

In October 2008 Now celebrated its 25th anniversary with the release of 'Now 25 Years', a triple-CD album featuring classic songs from Queen and David Bowie to Katy Perry and Take That. A podcast was created to mark the anniversary and can be heard on the official Now Facebook page