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BuzzJack Music Forum _ UK Charts _ The future of Greatest Hits sets
Posted by: Suedehead2 3rd February 2018, 03:01 PM
This topic has been mentioned before although I'm not sure it has had its own thread. With cherry-picking from albums and, now, steaming, is there any point to Greatest Hits albums? Old collections (e.g. Abba and Fleetwood Mac) still pop into the top forty regularly but successful new compilations are now fairly rare.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42701623
Posted by: Dexton 3rd February 2018, 03:10 PM
I doubt it really, obviously big acts who have been around for a long time and have a decent amount of hits under their belt would successfully be able to pull it off - but nowhere near the extent it was 10-15 years ago really. I think the "This Is: [Artist]" or "Best of [Artist]" or "[Artist] Top Hits" sort of playlists on streaming services will take over instead completely. Greatest Hits albums aren't at the type of thing people would stream, especially if an artists back catalog is already available to stream
Posted by: Crazy Chris 3rd February 2018, 03:24 PM
Yes I think they still would sell on CD but nothing like the numbers they've sold in the past. Bet you ones by Ed or Adele would sell very well though.
Posted by: Bjork 3rd February 2018, 03:25 PM
I still they could sell if they tried
Elbow did 100k with their Best of this year
And that didnt even have a great tracklist
Posted by: T Boy 3rd February 2018, 03:34 PM
Greatest Hits collections may not be massive hits anymore but they are clearly still steady sellers since the chart is populated with them. Oasis, Eminem, RHCP and many others are often staples of the top 100 with artists like Pink, the Killers and Maroon 5 re-enter often when they release new material.
Posted by: danG 3rd February 2018, 03:43 PM
There are 23 GH albums in this week's Top 100. I think that says for itself the GH set isn't dead. It would be silly for record labels to stop releasing them cos they just keep selling. Not to mention they get lots of streaming equivalent points. I think the future is curated Spotify 'best of' playlists but CDs and downloads still sell, of course it depends on the artist too.
Posted by: Crazy Chris 3rd February 2018, 04:07 PM
Rihanna stands out like a sore thumb as an artist who should release one.
Abba Gold is tipped to go back in to the Top 10 this summer with Mamma Mia 2 being released in cinemas. The soundtrack album will be a big seller too.
Posted by: Dexton 3rd February 2018, 04:13 PM
Abba Gold is tipped to go back in to the Top 10 this summer with Mamma Mia 2 being released in cinemas. The soundtrack album will be a big seller too.
Beyonce too come to think of it, especially if she added the whole thing onto Spotify (which still doesn't have Lemonade, yet a GH would likely have Formation & Hold Up and/or Sorry) it would surely do well
Posted by: Bjork 3rd February 2018, 04:13 PM
crazy that Rihanna, Beyonce or Coldplay have never released a GH
One Direction could have released one GH as a goodbye album
and Olly Murs could release one GH too
Posted by: danG 3rd February 2018, 04:21 PM
I think 1D will save their GH for 2020 ie ten years after they were formed. Along with a comeback tour but excluding Zayn.
Posted by: Crazy Chris 3rd February 2018, 04:33 PM
One Direction could have released one GH as a goodbye album
and Olly Murs could release one GH too
Yes I think Coldplay would sell well, especially if released late November.
Posted by: Suedehead2 3rd February 2018, 04:33 PM
But not many of those 23 have been released in the last five years.
Posted by: SKOB 3rd February 2018, 04:39 PM
Direct Hits by The Killers is the most recent platinum selling GH I think?
Posted by: Doctor Blind 3rd February 2018, 05:08 PM
Yes and most of those are there because of streaming sales - not because anyone is actually buying them physically.
Posted by: Colm 4th February 2018, 01:02 AM
Rihanna, Coldplay and Muse have been the three names mentioned during conversations about overdue greatest hits albums. We can probably replace Muse with Beyonce now as Muse's general popularity has subsided and perhaps the general public might not be that interested in a Muse compilation in any case.
Which is a pity because they were a phenomenal singles band in the '00.
A few weeks ago, the Guardian predicted that Rihanna will never have a greatest hits album
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/jan/12/playlist-curation-killing-off-greatest-hits-album-rihanna
Posted by: sammy01 4th February 2018, 07:17 AM
Surely greatest hits are still easy money? Huge streaming potential having all the hits together for easy streaming. Plus fans will lap them up still on cd etc.
Posted by: -SCOTT- 4th February 2018, 08:35 AM
What about I Cry When I Laugh?
Posted by: Bjork 4th February 2018, 09:20 AM
Rihanna has already too many hits to fit them in 1 CD 
same for Coldplay
Posted by: j80 4th February 2018, 11:25 AM
Well on it’s way to double platinum now! Shows clearly still a market, been a surprisingly big success.
Posted by: JosephSivan 4th February 2018, 11:28 AM
I guess in the age of playlists there isn't much need for GH albums, but I still enjoy listening to them myself and they're always the first port of call if I delve into the back catalogue of a hugely successful artist. It's so easy to make your own though, I've made a lil Rita Ora greatest hits album (lmao after a whopping one studio album x) through a Spotify playlist and it works just as well!
Posted by: Dircadirca 4th February 2018, 12:49 PM
Never stopped record companies from squeezing every last dollar out of the 1 album long legacy of the Sex Pistols
Posted by: Colm 5th February 2018, 11:11 AM
same for ColdplayIsn't that a good thing? That means they restrict it to the best 80 minutes of their singles output. That makes it an astonishing collection. Like Girls Aloud's Ten.
Posted by: Doctor Blind 5th February 2018, 11:19 AM
The opposite being Scouting For Girls who inexplicably managed to release a https://www.amazon.co.uk/Greatest-Hits-Scouting-Girls/dp/B00CMIWYU2 despite only having about 9 !
Posted by: Bjork 5th February 2018, 11:22 AM
I wish Alicia Keys would release a GH too, about time!
Posted by: Bré 5th February 2018, 04:28 PM
They even released a second 'Very Best Of' album in 2017 (although it was only half hits, essentially all the same ones as that GH album, and half new songs).
The best premature Greatest Hits album will always of course be the one by Sandi Thom.
Posted by: slowdown73 6th February 2018, 03:38 AM
I think there is still a market for greatest hits. Artists like Coldplay who have a substantial back catalogue and appeal to a wide variety of age groups would probably sell a substantial amount - but some artists release them too quickly and with little new material such as Anastacia and Nelly Furtado to name a few and these don’t sell well as they are often seen as quick cash ins by the record company with little incentive to buy. In the age of streaming, record companies need to be far more creative than ever before to encourage the public to spend £10-£12 on an album they probably already own 80-90% of the tracks. Sophie Ellis Bextor is a good example of an artist who is releasing a collection of orchestra reworked hits which given the right promotion might actually be successful!
Posted by: Dexton 6th February 2018, 03:56 AM
I think a lot of artists consider “Greatest Hits” albums to be either huge cash ins for little reason or a bit of a career closer. I know that AC/DC refused to create a GH album with their label because it often meant like a bands career was over once they made one. Obviously it depends greatly on who and when the GH is released, but it wouldn’t surprise me if some big modern day artists had the same logic
Posted by: Drpepper 6th February 2018, 12:56 PM
On a sort of waffling related note...GH sales have always bugged me due to different but very similar versions on multiple releases eg Take That is an example, but it's probably the same for other artists...
I believe Take That are releasing a GH soon - probably for the end of the year and possibly with new tracks.
I'd prefer this to be solely from Patience onwards as there is already the original GH from the 90s and then Never Forget from the 00's.
It's interesting that the track listing on Never Forget is almost identical to the original GH, a bit like a special edition really, and if both those TT greatest hits sales were combined as they're essentially the same thing, then I think TT GH would become one of the best selling albums in the UK - possibly top 10?
And if the record company packages the new GH up with Never Forget and/or the original GH like the Queen GH 1, 2 and 3 bundle which records individual sales of each item, and if GH and Never Forget sales were combined, then the sales ranking of TT GH would be more reflective of actual sales.
Posted by: Lomadz 6th February 2018, 07:45 PM
With new tracks on a greatest hits big artists can still sell.
Posted by: AcerBen 7th February 2018, 02:08 PM
I believe the success of those best ofs are largely down to streams though
Posted by: tommie 8th February 2018, 08:39 AM
I'm sure record labels would benefit to officially throwing greatest hits sets officially on downloads/streaming instead of random playlists as it still gives artists presence in the charts, plus I'm sure it would still be the go-to to anyone curious about an artist on streaming.
Posted by: SKOB 13th February 2018, 01:48 PM
Diamonds by Elton John is doing very well both sides of the Atlantic (top 50 in the US still as well)
Posted by: Bjork 13th February 2018, 03:14 PM
but he had big big promo, a tv special or something
I think one of the earliest GH was All Saints, released right after album 2, 10 tracks, still made the top 20
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