[1] The compilation series was conceived in the office of Virgin Records in London and took its name from a 1920s British advertising poster for Danish bacon featuring a pig saying "Now.
The pig became the mascot for the series, making its last regular appearance on Now That's What I Call Music 5, before reappearing in 2018, and again since 2021.
series were conceived in Richard Branson's Virgin Records offices, in Vernon Yard, near Portobello Road in Notting Hill, London.
The co-creators behind this idea were Stephen Navin, Head of Licensing and Business Affairs at Virgin Records from 1979 to 1990, and Jon Webster,[2] General Manager from 1983 to 1988.
The concept found resonance with Simon Draper, the Managing Director of Virgin Records from 1979 to 1990.
Despite having so many songs high up in the charts, they were tired of third party labels using their hits and making money out of their success.
[4] I took the poster back to the Virgin Records office as a gift to Simon Draper, who ran our label with me.
We were riding high in the charts with everyone from Phil Collins to Culture Club, UB40 to The Human League.
We released it in time for Christmas, selling one million copies in the process.Amidst the conception of the series, the name found its roots in a distinctive source.
An old 1920s Danish Bacon poster featuring a pig saying "Now, That's What I Call Music" as it listened to a chicken singing,[3] discovered by Branson in an antiques shop not far from their Vernon yard office, where a woman he liked named Joan Templeman was working.
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 first Now was released on 28 November 1983[6] and featured 30 UK hit singles from that year on a double vinyl LP or cassette.
Over a hundred "main series" (not including spin-off and special edition) albums have been released to date.
[11] 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.
44, which sold 2.3 million copies and remains the biggest-selling various artists compilation album in the UK.
[13] As of July 2024, the most featured artists are Kylie Minogue with 34 followed by Robbie Williams with 31 singles, Calvin Harris with 32, David Guetta with 30, Rihanna with 27, Katy Perry with 22 and Girls Aloud with 21.
brand exist in other parts of the world, including: Volume one was released in 1984 (a year after the original UK series launched).
This edition was released in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, etc.
The series is often called Now Asia due to the albums' origins: EMI Indonesia has released Now Jazz (2007) and Now Arabia (2011).
Each album contains current and recent hit singles from Chinese artists signed to EMI or Polydor, and from British and Australian pop acts such as Kylie Minogue, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Sugababes or Robbie Williams.
albums in Denmark reaching the nineteenth edition in November 2007 not making anymore after that.
As well as the Now regular series there have also been spin-offs including Now Big Hits, Now Christmas, Now Summer, Now Clubbing, Now Dance and Now Hip Hop.
In 2010, it was announced that total sales of the series, not counting the extra editions, topped one million copies in Portugal.
[38] Through Volume 21 of the series, the multi-volume sets have included 414 national and international artists and a total of 787 different songs, ranking in an impressive four gold and 19 platinum records.
Later the series started over with Now Esto Es Música 1,[37] which included songs from artists like Juanes, Enrique Iglesias, George Michael, Sheryl Crow, Tiziano Ferro, Alex Ubago, Las Ketchup and U2.
However, in late 2009, EMI Music released the album "Now Dance" in Spain, which contains all the biggest dance hits in Spain during 2009, including Lady Gaga, David Guetta featuring Kelly Rowland, The Black Eyed Peas and Katy Perry, among others.
Since the release of Volume 32 in 2009, albums included bonus "Now What's Next" tracks by not-yet-fully-established artists at the expense of additional hit songs.
[47] The Australian series is a single disc edition and began in 2002, as a replacement for the long-running 100% Hits brand.
In 1994, four albums were released, all with the title Now That's What I Call Music - 100% then Dance, Ballad, Rap or Alternate.
[citation needed] The final physical album in the main series was released on July 3, 2020.