In France the Now series is called Now! Hits Référence. There have been released Now! Hits Référence 1-7 and Now! Hits Référence 2005, 2006 and 2007. D'Angelo, Joe (10 November 2004). "Nelly, A Perfect Circle No Match For Now 17". MTV News . Retrieved 26 April 2008.

Volume one was released in 1984 (a year after the original UK series launched). Now 50, released in November 2008, was issued as a double CD in commemoration of 25 years of Now! albums in South Africa, and double compact discs are every 3 albums through Now 80 released in November 2018 as the series switched to 2 in 2019, then one in 2020, the most recent Now Album to include a double disc was Now 83 this was also the last physical album to be released as further volumes are only available on streaming platforms. As of 2 September 2005, there has also been a Now DVD series. Sometimes considered a spin-off, video releases, including video cassette editions of many early Now! compilations, and (more recently) yearly DVD video releases. The series of Now! albums was brought to the United States in 1998 by Bob Mercer. [35] The most recent album in the series, Now That's What I Call Music! 87, was released on August 4, 2023. The idea for the series was conceived in the office of Virgin Records in Vernon Yard, near Portobello Road in Notting Hill, London, by the head of Licensing and Business Affairs at Virgin Records (1979–1990) Stephen Navin, and General Manager (1983–1988) Jon Webster. [2] 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 agreed to the partnership. The deal was negotiated and finalised on Richard Branson's boat moored in Little Venice. [3] Now That's What I Call Music! 48". musicbrainz.org. 28 September 2020 . Retrieved 28 September 2020.

NOW 19

Fletcher, Alex (16 October 2013). " 'NOW That's What I Call Music' TV channel launches this month". Digital Spy . Retrieved 23 October 2013. Due to the Universal Music Group's purchasing of EMI in 2012, a share of the Now albums' rights were transferred over to Sony Music Entertainment (a partner in the original Hits Album brand). [25] UMG used the brand of their catalogue subsidiary Universal Music TV ( UMOD) on the series before reverting to the EMI brand by the 2020s on some of the Now spin-offs [20] like Now Yearbook ’83 Extra, [26] Now That’s What I Call Christmas [27] and the re-issued Now That’s What I Call Music 10. [28] [29] Virgin Records were a label from Now 1 to Now 74. Until Now That's What I Call Music! 61, they used just the "Virgin" logo. From that volume onwards, the "Virgin Records" logo was used. The first installment of the product line into Canada was released in 1988. The second installment of the product line was released in 1995. Beginning with the second installment of the series, repertoire was licensed from Universal, Warner and EMI. Songs from Sony and BMG was not included on any editions of the series in Canada. Since the second installment of the series, Universal, Warner and EMI have formed a joint venture together and generally take turns to release the series. From the years of 1996 to 2009 the series released an annual compilation usually in the late summer months. However, beginning with Now 15, there have been two editions each year which usually take place in early winter and late summer.

Now started in South Korea on 22 March 2015. The first three albums were double discs, under the name Now That's What I Call K-Pop.

Wappler, Margaret (13 November 2011). "Music doesn't get more current than 'Now' ". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 28 May 2012. Now 08 was the last of this series however a second series took over this time with seasons instead of volumes for example Now Winter 2005, Now Spring 2005. Now Summer 2014 was the last in the second series, on the third series the season was dropped and instead the year and volume is used for example Now 2014 Vol.1, Now 2019 Vol.1 was the last in the series. Now has also been seen in Spain under the name of Now Esto sí es música ("Now This Is Music"). The original series included six releases from 1984 to 1989. The compilation album is released as a double CD album. Later the series started over with Now Esto Es Música 1, [31] which included songs from artists like Juanes, Enrique Iglesias, George Michael, Sheryl Crow, Tiziano Ferro, Alex Ubago, Las Ketchup and U2. Now Esto Es Música 2003 has also been released. [33] But due to the lukewarm success, no more albums were released since 2004. Now has been seen in Israel, starting in 1999. The first three albums are double discs. Now 4 was the first single disc and the rest in the series are also single disc.

The first Finnish Now That's What I Call Music was released in 2003 where it replace the Absolute Hits series. The albums are released as double discs. There have also been spin-offs including Now That's What I Call Music Pop Hits and Now That's What I Call Dance Music. This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( March 2022) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) The series is often called Now Asia since Now 1 and Now 2 are from EMI Hong Kong, Now 3 and Now 4 are from EMI Malaysia, Now 7 is from EMI Taiwan and Now 5, Now 6 and Now 8 are from EMI Asia. The Indonesian versions of the albums are slightly different from the Asian ones. This edition was released in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand etc. The first Asian Now That's What I Call Music! was released in 1995. The most successful album in the series to date is Now That's What I Call Music! 5, which was certified 4× Platinum by the RIAA in 2000. [38] Since the fourth volume, the compiler for the U.S. series has been Jeff Moskow. [39]

Release

Although the albums started out on only vinyl records and cassette tapes, the formats on which the albums have been released have changed over the years: Vinyl editions of the main series ended in 1996 with Now That's What I Call Music! 35, [15] though spin-offs like NOW presents the 70s was being released as a five LP vinyl boxset by Sony/EMI in 2021. [16]

At least five "best-of" compilations including selected songs from the entire Now! series. Now Decades, Now Years, Now 25 Years, Now 30 Years, and Now That’s What I Call Now! (100 Hits From 100 Nows) are these five albums, but there have been other albums, like Now No. 1's, which also cover the entire Now! series. Now Music is a Danish record label set up especially to release Now That's What I Call Music! 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. MiniDiscs started with Now That's What I Call Music! 43 in 1999 and ended with Now That's What I Call Music! 48 in 2001. [17]

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: