The first nine editions were compiled by Richard Cook and Brian Morton, two chroniclers of jazz resident in the United Kingdom.

The first showed entries flagged as personal favorites while the latter made special note of the "more essential" albums for a jazz CD collection.

John Eyles comments in a review that "the implication is that the choices for crowns are subjective, while the Core Collection is somehow more objective", when in fact both lists are decided upon by the same two editors.

Due to the increasing numbers of CDs on the market, space limitations and depth of coverage became an increasing problem: in the seventh edition, for instance, the index was dropped to save space, but it was restored in the eighth edition (though a number of entries were dropped or shortened to make room for it).

[5] Alison Kerr, reviewing the 2010 Penguin Jazz Guide in The Herald, noted the lack of an index as a hindrance, but cited the chronological format as one of the book's strengths.