User:Starcheerspeaksnewslostwars/Now UK

Now That's What I Call Music! (1983–present) (often shortened to Now!) is a series of various artists compilation albums released in the United Kingdom and Ireland by Sony Music and Universal Music Universal/Sony Music). Similar series were later introduced in South Africa (1984), Asia (1995) and the United States (1998), and numerous other countries.

Original series
The idea for the series was conceived in the office of Virgin Records in Vernon Yard, near Portobello Road, by the head of Licensing and Business Affairs at Virgin records (1979–1990) – Stephen Navin, and General Manager (1983–1988) – Jon Webster. The concept was taken to Simon Draper (Managing Director at Virgin Records) and then Peter Jamieson (Managing Director of EMI Records (1983–1986)). Jamieson had similar plans to launch such a compilation and he immediately agreed to the partnership. The deal was negotiated and finalised on Richard Branson's boat moored in Little Venice.

The series took its name from a 1920s advertising poster for Danish bacon featuring a pig saying "Now. That's What I Call Music" as it listened to a chicken singing. Richard Branson had bought the poster for his cousin, Simon Draper, to hang behind Draper's desk at the Virgin Records office. Branson wrote "He was notoriously grumpy before breakfast and loved his eggs in the morning, so I bought him the poster, framed it and had it hung behind his desk.". The pig became the mascot for the series', making its last appearance on Now That's What I Call Music 5.

The first Now was released on 28 November 1983 and featured 30 UK hit singles from that year on a double vinyl LP or cassette. Although the compilation of recent hit songs into a single release was not a new concept (K-tel and Ronco, for example, had been issuing various artists' compilations for some years), this was the first time that two major record labels had collaborated on such a venture. Virgin agreed to a deal with EMI, which allowed a greater number of major hits to be included (the first album in the series included a total of "eleven number ones" on its sleeve). The album went to number one, and soon after, CBS/WEA's The Hits Album, 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 was more successful commercially. The Out Now series by MCA and Chrysalis was also established as a rival to the series, but was short lived.

By 1989, Now, Hits, and other various-artist compilation albums were occupying such a high fraction of the UK Albums Chart that a separate UK Compilation Chart was created to restrict the Albums Chart to releases by single acts.

Peter Duckworth and Steve Pritchard have been managing the Now! brand since Now 17. Mark Goodier has voiced the Now! advertisements since Now 21 in 1992, when he worked for BBC Radio 1, with the exception of Now 95 in 2016. Ashley Abram of Box Music compiled every album from Now 2 in 1984 through Now 81 in 2012 (with the exception of Now 59). Jenny Fisher took over as the compiler beginning with Now 82.

The rate of release settled very quickly to three per year: one release around late March/early April, another around late July and a third around late November. Over ninety "main series" (not including spin-off and special edition) albums have been released to date. The UK series has followed a double-album format throughout the series (many other foreign franchises of the Now! series are only released on one disc), now exploiting the capacity of the CD to include between 40 and 46 tracks over two discs. Since November 2005 with Now 62, the series has only been released on CD and via digital download.

On 23 October 2013, the NOW Music television channel was launched in the UK. Targeting a broad age group, the channel used to play current popular music in the daytime and hits from its 30-year back catalogue in the evenings. It was renamed on 27 December 2016 as Now 80s. On 27 December 2017, Now 90s replaced Chilled TV.

Sales records
The most successful volume to date is 1999's Now 44, which has sold over 2.3 million copies and remains the biggest selling various artists compilation album in the UK. 2008's Now 70 sold 383,002 units in its first week of release, the biggest ever first week sale of any Now album.

Most featured artists
As of 2018, the most featured artist in the series was Robbie Williams with 30 appearances, followed by Rihanna and Calvin Harris with 27, David Guetta with 25, Kylie Minogue with 24 and Girls Aloud with 21. This does not include any uncredited appearances in groups or on charity records.

Formats
The first volumes were released as vinyl records and on cassette tape, but as technology has evolved and the popularity of the earlier formats has waned, so has the format on which new volumes have been issued:
 * Unabridged (double CD) full versions of Now were first available starting with Now 10 in 1987, although a version of Now 4 was released on CD featuring songs that had appeared on the vinyl and cassette configurations of Nows 2, 3 and 4. Now 8 (17 tracks) and Now 9 (16 tracks) were released as single disc CDs in 1986 and 1987, respectively. A "Special Collectors Edition" of Now 1 was released on CD in 2009 and again in 2015.
 * Vinyl editions ended in 1996 with Now 35.
 * MiniDiscs started with Now 43 in 1999 and ended with Now 48 in 2001.
 * The first Now album to be available for digital download from online music stores was Now 62 in 2005.
 * Cassette tapes ceased in 2006 with the final cassette being Now 64.
 * VHS Tapes were released as companions to all the Now! albums from the first volume through Now 20, except for Now! 19. They contained music videos, some of which were for tracks featured on the accompanying album and others for tracks which were not. Some of the earlier volumes were also released on Betamax and for some volumes laserdiscs were also released.

Spin-offs
In addition to the main Now That's What I Call Music series, there have been a number of 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.
 * 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 three "best-of" compilations covering the entire Now! series. Now Decades, Now Years and Now 25 Years are these three albums, but there have been other albums like Now No.1's which also cover the entire Now! series.
 * At least one tie-up with Smash Hits magazine in 1987, called Now Smash Hits. (Smash Hits later went on to release their own compilations).
 * Christmas releases, including some classic Christmas favourites.
 * Sometimes considered a spin-off, 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.
 * A series of compilation video games (for the Commodore 64 amongst other home computers) were released in the mid-1980s by Virgin Games with the name Now Games.
 * A Wii game was released on 25 November 2011 named Now That's What I Call Music! - Dance and Sing. It features tracks by recent artists, including Alexandra Burke, Jessie J, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Tinie Tempah, Calvin Harris and Plan B. It features a Dance Mode, Sing Mode and Career Mode.

Record labels
The record labels which make up the UK series have changed over the years but have always been controlled by EMI and Virgin Records, although Virgin Records' logo was last featured on ''Now! 74''.
 * Virgin Records were a label from Now 1 to Now 74.
 * EMI were a label on all volumes.
 * Polygram were a label from Now 8 to Now 42.
 * Universal Music have been a label since Now 43 as a result of acquiring the Polygram label.
 * Box Music Ltd. were involved between 1984 and 2012.
 * Sony BMG's logo was also used on the special edition of the album, Now! No.1s
 * Due to Universal's purchasing of EMI in 2012, EMI will no longer have their share on the Now albums. Those rights were transferred to Sony Music Entertainment.
 * Now That's What I Call Disney was released under the Walt Disney Records label.

Discography
The first full-track edition to be released on compact disc was Volume 10. Vinyls ended with Now 35 and audio cassettes ended with Now 64. Part of the series was also released on the MiniDisc format, beginning with Now 43 and ending with Now 48.

Some of the albums have also been released on video. Volumes 1 through 18 and 20 were released on VHS. The first two albums were also issued on Laser-disc. Every video tape had a typical running time of roughly 1 hour. From 2001 to 2007, the videos were published on DVD with a frequency of one per year. The DVDs are numbered by year and not linked to album numbers. Now 2006 was released on UMD as well as DVD.

The series release dates below represent the date of release in the United Kingdom. Through the release of Now 90 on 30 March 2015, the release date in Ireland was three days before the UK release. Beginning with the release of Now 91 on 24 July 2015, the release dates in the UK and Ireland have been the same following the announcement of the Global Release Day campaign by IFPI, which became effective on 10 July 2015.

10th Anniversary series

 * 1) Now That's What I Call Music! 1983 (20 June 1993)
 * 2) Now That's What I Call Music! 1984 (27 June 1993)
 * 3) Now That's What I Call Music! 1985 (4 July 1993)
 * 4) Now That's What I Call Music! 1986 (11 July 1993)
 * 5) Now That's What I Call Music! 1987 (18 July 1993)
 * 6) Now That's What I Call Music! 1988 (25 July 1993)
 * 7) Now That's What I Call Music! 1989 (1 August 1993)
 * 8) Now That's What I Call Music! 1990 (8 August 1993)
 * 9) Now That's What I Call Music! 1991 (15 August 1993)
 * 10) Now That's What I Call Music! 1992 (22 August 1993)
 * 11) Now That's What I Call Music! 1993 (29 August 1993)
 * 12) Now That's What I Call Music! 1994 (13 September 1994)
 * 13) Now That's What I Call Music! 1995 (4 September 1995)

Christmas series

 * 1) Now – The Christmas Album (1985)
 * 2) Now – The Christmas Album (27 November 2000)
 * 3) Now Xmas – Massive Christmas Hits (14 November 2005)
 * 4) Now That's What I Call Xmas (16 November 2009)
 * 5) Now That's What I Call Xmas (7 November 2011)
 * 6) Now That's What I Call Christmas (5 November 2012)
 * 7) Now That's What I Call Christmas (4 November 2013)
 * 8) Now That's What I Call Christmas (6 November 2015)

Dance series

 * 1) Now Dance – Extended Dance Versions of 20 Smash Hits (The 12" Mixes)
 * 2) Now Dance 86 – 20 Smash Dance Hits of the Year (The 12" Mixes)
 * 3) Now Dance 89 – 20 Smash Dance Hits (The 12" Mixes)
 * 4) Now Dance 901 – 20 Smash Dance Hits (The 12" Mixes)
 * 5) Now Dance 902 (The 12" Mixes)
 * 6) Now Dance 903 (The 12" Mixes)
 * 7) Now Dance 91 – 20 Blissful Grooves
 * 8) Now Dance 92 (1 January 1992)
 * 9) Now Dance 93 – 20 Buzzin' Beats (1 January 1993)
 * 10) Now Dance – The Best of 93 (1 November 1993)
 * 11) Now Dance 94 (1 January 1994)
 * 12) Now Dance 94 – Volume 2 (7 March 1994)
 * 13) Now Dance Summer 94 (16 June 1994)
 * 14) Now Dance 95 – 40 Ultimate Dance Hits (27 October 1994)
 * 15) Now Dance – The Best of 94 (3 November 1994)
 * 16) Now Dance Summer 95 (27 July 1995)
 * 17) Now Dance 97 (20 October 1997)
 * 18) Now Dance 98 (2 November 1998)
 * 19) Now Dance 2000 (18 October 1999)
 * 20) Now Dance 2001 (23 October 2000)
 * 21) Now Dance 2001 – Part Two (19 March 2001)
 * 22) Now Dance 2002 (22 October 2001)
 * 23) Now Dance 2002 – Part Two (4 March 2002)
 * 24) Now Dance 2003 (14 October 2002)
 * 25) Now Dance 2003 – Part Two (31 March 2003)
 * 26) Now Dance 2004 (27 October 2003)
 * 27) Now Dance – 41 Brand New Dance Hits (22 March 2004)
 * 28) Now Dance – 42 Brand New Dance Hits (18 October 2004)
 * 29) The Very Best of Now Dance (26 September 2005)
 * 30) Now Dance 2007 (16 October 2006)
 * 31) Now Dance 2008 (15 October 2007)
 * 32) Now Dance Anthems (21 September 2009)
 * 33) The Very Best of Now Dance 2010 (18 October 2010)
 * 34) Now That's What I Call 90s Dance (29 October 2012)
 * 35) Now That's What I Call 80s Dance (14 October 2013)
 * 36) The Very Best of Now Dance (8 December 2014)
 * 37) Now That's What I Call Dance Hits (19 August 2016)

DVD series

 * 1) Now That's What I Call Music! 2001 The DVD (10 December 2001)
 * 2) Now That's What I Call Music! 2003 The DVD (2 December 2002)
 * 3) Now That's What I Call Music! 2004 The DVD (1 December 2003)
 * 4) Now That's What I Call Music! 2005 The DVD (22 November 2004)
 * 5) Now That's What I Call Music! 2006 The DVD (3 April 2006)
 * 6) Now That's What I Call Music! 2008 The DVD (3 December 2007)
 * 7) Now Quiz – Now That's What I Call A Music Quiz [Interactive DVD] (5 Dec 2005)
 * 8) Now That's What I Call A Music Quiz 2 – Interactive DVD Game [Interactive DVD] (4 Dec 2006)
 * 9) Now That's What I Call A Music Quiz – The 80s [Interactive DVD] (3 Dec 2007)
 * 10) Now That's What I Call a Family Quiz [DVD] (1 Dec 2008)
 * 11) Now That's What I Call Karaoke (21 Nov 2005)
 * 12) Now That's What I Call Comedy (2 March 2009)
 * 13) Now That's What I Call Fitness (26 December 2011)

Millennium series

 * 1) Now That's What I Call Music! 1980 – The Millennium Series (21 June 1999)
 * 2) Now That's What I Call Music! 1981 – The Millennium Series (21 June 1999)
 * 3) Now That's What I Call Music! 1982 – The Millennium Series (21 June 1999)
 * 4) Now That's What I Call Music! 1983 – The Millennium Series (21 June 1999)
 * 5) Now That's What I Call Music! 1984 – The Millennium Series (21 June 1999)
 * 6) Now That's What I Call Music! 1985 – The Millennium Series (21 June 1999)
 * 7) Now That's What I Call Music! 1986 – The Millennium Series (21 June 1999)
 * 8) Now That's What I Call Music! 1987 – The Millennium Series (21 June 1999)
 * 9) Now That's What I Call Music! 1988 – The Millennium Series (21 June 1999)
 * 10) Now That's What I Call Music! 1989 – The Millennium Series (21 June 1999)
 * 11) Now That's What I Call Music! 1990 – The Millennium Series (21 June 1999)
 * 12) Now That's What I Call Music! 1991 – The Millennium Series (21 June 1999)
 * 13) Now That's What I Call Music! 1992 – The Millennium Series (21 June 1999)
 * 14) Now That's What I Call Music! 1993 – The Millennium Series (21 June 1999)
 * 15) Now That's What I Call Music! 1994 – The Millennium Series (21 June 1999)
 * 16) Now That's What I Call Music! 1995 – The Millennium Series (21 June 1999)
 * 17) Now That's What I Call Music! 1996 – The Millennium Series (4 October 1999)
 * 18) Now That's What I Call Music! 1997 – The Millennium Series (4 October 1999)
 * 19) Now That's What I Call Music! 1998 – The Millennium Series (4 October 1999)
 * 20) Now That's What I Call Music! 1999 – The Millennium Series (4 October 1999)

Special editions

 * 1) Now That's What I Call Music – The Summer Album (6 July 1986)
 * 2)  Now That's What I Call Music '86 (27 October 1986)
 * 3) Now That's What I Call Music, Smash Hits (August 1987)
 * 4) Now That's What I Call Love (5 February 1994)
 * 5) Now That's What I Call Music! Decades – The Deluxe Edition (29 September 2003)
 * 6) Now That's What I Call Music! Years (27 September 2004)
 * 7) Now That's What I Call No. 1's (30 October 2006)
 * 8) Now That's What I Call the 80s (29 October 2007)
 * 9) Now That's What I Call Music! 25 Years (27 October 2008)
 * 10) Now That's What I Call Love 2 (28 February 2009)
 * 11) Now That's What I Call the 90s (26 October 2009)
 * 12) Now That's What I Call the 00s (15 February 2010)
 * 13) Now That's What I Call a Wedding (18 April 2011)
 * 14) Now That's What I Call R&B (26 September 2011)
 * 15) Now That's What I Call Disney (21 November 2011)
 * 16) Now That's What I Call Classical (28 November 2011)
 * 17) Now That's What I Call Love (30 January 2012)
 * 18) Now That's What I Call Running (5 March 2012)
 * 19) Now That's What I Call Britain (21 May 2012)
 * 20) Now That's What I Call Reggae (25 June 2012)
 * 21) Now That's What I Call a No.1 (9 July 2012)
 * 22) Now That's What I Call Chill (20 August 2012)
 * 23) Now That's What I Call Disney (2012 w/Bonus CD) (November 2012)
 * 24) Now That's What I Call Musicals (26 November 2012)
 * 25) Now That's What I Call 30 Years (27 May 2013)
 * 26) Now That's What I Call Disco (26 August 2013)
 * 27) Now That's What I Call Music! USA (21 October 2013)
 * 28) Now That's What I Call Disney Princess (28 October 2013)
 * 29) Now That's What I Call Movies (11 November 2013)
 * 30) Now That's What I Call Relaxing Classical (25 November 2013)
 * 31) Now That's What I Call Club Hits (9 December 2013)
 * 32) Now That's What I Call Running 2014 (10 March 2014)
 * 33) Now That's What I Call Feel Good (17 March 2014)
 * 34) Now That's What I Call 21st Century (21 April 2014)
 * 35) Now That's What I Call Rock (2 June 2014)
 * 36) Now That's What I Call Summer (23 June 2014)
 * 37) Now That's What I Call Chilled (18 August 2014)
 * 38) Now That's What I Call Club Hits 2014 (8 September 2014)
 * 39) Now That's What I Call Drive (15 September 2014)
 * 40) Now That's What I Call a Million (27 October 2014)
 * 41) Now That's What I Call Disney (10 November 2014)
 * 42) Now That's What I Call the 90s (17 November 2014)
 * 43) Now That's What I Call Legends (24 November 2014)
 * 44) Now That's What I Call Musicals (24 November 2014)
 * 45) Now That's What I Call a Party (1 December 2014)
 * 46) Now That's What I Call Power Ballads (26 January 2015)
 * 47) Now That's What I Call a Song (13 April 2015)
 * 48) Now That's What I Call Running 2015 (20 April 2015)
 * 49) Now That's What I Call Classic Rock (1 June 2015)
 * 50) Now That's What I Call a Summer Party (22 June 2015)
 * 51) Now That's What I Call House (21 August 2015)
 * 52) Now That's What I Call Pop (25 September 2015)
 * 53) Now That's What I Call a Singer (23 October 2015)
 * 54) Now That's What I Call the 80s (6 November 2015)
 * 55) Now That's What I Call Party Anthems (27 November 2015)
 * 56) Now That's What I Call Classical (27 November 2015)
 * 57) Now That's What I Call Brit Hits (25 March 2016)
 * 58) Now That's What I Call Fitness (22 April 2016)
 * 59) Now That's What I Call Rock Ballads (3 June 2016)
 * 60) Now That's What I Call Reggae Party (24 June 2016)
 * 61) Now That's What I Call Summer Hits (1 July 2016)
 * 62) Now That's What I Call Drivetime (16 September 2016)
 * 63) Now That's What I Call 20th Century (21 October 2016)
 * 64) Now That's What I Call No.1 Hits (11 November 2016)
 * 65) Now That's What I Call Love (18 November 2016)
 * 66) Now That's What I Call Disney Princess (25 November 2016)
 * 67) Now That's What I Call 70s (25 November 2016)
 * 68) Now That's What I Call Party Hits (2 December 2016)
 * 69) Now That's What I Call R&B (10 February 2017)
 * 70) Now That's What I Call Mum (3 March 2017)
 * 71) Now That's What I Call Running (24 March 2017)
 * 72) Now That's What I Call Classic Soul (26 May 2017)
 * 73) Now That's What I Call Driving Rock (2 June 2017)
 * 74) Now That's What I Call a Summer Party 2017 (23 June 2017)
 * 75) Now That's What I Call Old Skool (4 August 2017)
 * 76) Now That's What I Call Sing (22 September 2017)
 * 77) Now That's What I Call a Million (13 October 2017)
 * 78) Now That's What I Call Disney (3 November 2017)
 * 79) Now That's What I Call the 00's (10 November 2017)
 * 80) Now That's What I Call the 60's (17 November 2017)
 * 81) Now That's What I Call 80's Party (24 November 2017)
 * 82) Now That's What I Call Country (24 November 2017)
 * 83) Now That's What I Call a Party 2018 (1 December 2017)