My copy of Now 116 arrived today.

 

I've said it before but particularly when surrounded by other songs it kind of really sticks out how muddy/muffled the production of These Are The Days by S Club is. Could certainly do with a remaster, but it's not Now's job to do that.

 

It also occured to me that maybe the reason Now didn't get Sprinter, but that German Bravo Hits compilation did, is because the label didn't submit or perhaps wouldn't allow a clean version to be made (Bravo does use explicit versions). I bet Now misses out on quite a lot of big stuff for that reason, particularly the rap hits. I have no answer as to why Prada was missed though - it's on Bravo Hits, it's on the MOS Annual out next week, and a clean version of it does exist on Spotify.

Just purchased Now 116 on Amazon for £11.99… seems like the cheapest I’ve seen a new main series release on release date, but I could be wrong, just shows how the value has decreased over time.

 

Also, I think we can say with certainty by this point that we won’t be seeing Now Yearbook 88 Extra until 2024, maybe not even up for pre-order until January at the earliest.

We had 1985 on 4th November 2022 then extra 1985 on 6th January so we might have extra 1988 on 5th January 2024 seeing as we had 1988 on 3rd November. I just hope that Now 117 gets released before Easter and not after Easter like Now 114 was. I still don’t get why Now 114 was released after Easter

Edited November 16, 20231 yr by Hadji

I suspect that Prada may stick around the Top 10 for a few more weeks in January after the Christmas lull, so perhaps their thinking at the time of making the tracklisting was to give it enough time to peak in the UK as it looked on for #1 at one point. Either way it could be that they opted for the Stormzy single as a replacement for a RAYE addition to their tracklisting. But I do agree the whole thing is very muddy and filleresque.

The big rhetorical questions are…

 

• How do you get a new generation of young music fans interested in parting with their money for a physical copy of current hits that they can already stream on Spotify, Apple Music or Amazon Music?

• Does the appeal or “owning” the music in any form of physical content (CD, Vinyl or Cassette) have any appeal to those primarily responsible for making the charts what they are today?

• Is there an untapped benefit of buying Now volumes where the owner could either have visual content to download such as music videos or exclusive interviews or behind the scenes footage?

• Is there a way to secure better rates for live concerts by means of a discount code found exclusively within the physical copy of a Now volume?

• Where is the profit coming from to continue to mass produce volumes for the future if they’re only being targeted to last years generation? Eventually the money runs out and that’s already started to happen by the sheer drop in overall quality.

The advert is a weird one because anyone interested in the Rolling Stones/Kylie's Tension/Take That will probably invest in the parent albums in question.

 

But I'm not sure how they should market it now (or even if they need to bother marketing at all), as clearly they are not selling to the general public anymore. I'm not even sure they're selling to a veteran/albums artist market, which they are actively targeting these days. I just think they're selling physically to what's left of the core Now fanbase (probably about 10-15,000 people, many of whom pick up the Yearbooks too). And then smaller trickle sales do follow for the remaining members of the public that might see it the CD when out and either want a cheap collection of hits for the car perhaps or have an affinity with the brand but are lapsed as a regular buyer.

I think trying to appeal to young people is a lost cause really - they stream. Most won't even own a CD player. Adding extra digital content isn't a bad idea, but it would have to be *really* exclusive to create interest. Videos, interviews, that sort of thing, are basically what makes up an artist's TikTok feed in 2023.

 

The physicals that do sell well now are from artists with a dedicated fanbase, often alternative artists with fans who like to hear it on vinyl. Now is never going to have that sort of connection imo.

 

 

Very cute sudden inexplicable repeated use of ableist slurs in here x

Now should also start releasing their numbered series on vinyl to help increase sales. If not the whole tracklist, then at least pick out the biggest songs spread out over 2 vinyls instead of 3

Yes. Can we please refrain from using those kinds of slurs and words again. Thank you.

Now did go overboard with the album artists on Now 116. I don’t have a problem with a handful of album artists on the albums but not to go overboard, unless they want another flop in their midst. If Now 116 flops like Now 115 did, it might make them rethink their tracklists for future Nows. Even on iTunes, Now 116 has been bombarded with negative reviews. Shame Now don’t read the negative reviews that they get for their albums. I also hope that Now 117 goes overboard with the Now 116 omissions. If I had to pick between Now 117 going overboard with album artists or overboard with Now 116 omissions, then I’d rather the latter and I also hope that Now 117 gets released before Easter and not after Easter like Now 114 did for some unknown reason

Edited November 17, 20231 yr by Hadji

I think you just have to face the fact that the series is almost dead. Let it limp on to 120 to end on a round number but then after that is there any point? Perhaps it no longer reflects the charts but that’s no fault of the series. The charts now being based on what people listen to mean they’re far slower and there’s less choice for a compilation album. Artists withholding their music isn’t new either, it’s always happened. It’s just was more noticeable now that there are fewer top 40 hits to go around. Now managed to get almost everyone during the mid 00s to the mid 10s due almost completely eliminating the competition. Fans got greedy and just expected artists to always be up for a Now appearance. No other compilation series produces modern era compilations in the UK, they all rely on nostalgia to sell and Noe have realised that in recent years with the Yearbooks. Now will never be what it was and there really isn’t a way to improve. Now 115 didn’t miss no.1 because the track list was ‘poor’, it was up against the soundtrack of a phenomenally successful film.

 

Personally I only keep up with Now for the Radio 2 artists. That’s where I am now, I’m a Radio 2 listener and I hardly even know anything in the chart. I’m purely a collector now so artists and songs I like appearing is a pure bonus.

 

Also, without using the word (I saw it starred earlier and think I know which one it was) can anyone actually explain to me why that offensive word was being used? As I couldn’t understand at all.

 

People do buy Now albums depending on the tracklist. When I went to my local HMV today to buy Now 116, I saw a customer looking at the Now 116 CD and the first thing they said was "I ain’t buying this. I don’t know any of these songs" and then put the CD down

People do buy Now albums depending on the tracklist. When I went to my local HMV today to buy Now 116, I saw a customer looking at the Now 116 CD and the first thing they said was "I ain’t buying this. I don’t know any of these songs" and then put the CD down

and then everyone clapped

People do buy Now albums depending on the tracklist. When I went to my local HMV today to buy Now 116, I saw a customer looking at the Now 116 CD and the first thing they said was "I ain’t buying this. I don’t know any of these songs" and then put the CD down

 

Somebody has probably done that with every Now album ever released.

Somebody has probably done that with every Now album ever released.

Not with volumes such as Now 1, 50 and 56 which only had top 20 hits

Edited November 17, 20231 yr by Hadji

Not with volumes such as Now 1, 50 and 56 which only had top 20 hits

Even if the Now albums still only had Top 20 hits, so many people wouldn't know a lot of the songs. Music, like many things due to the internet, is very easy to avoid these days.

Not with volumes such as Now 1, 50 and 56 which only had top 20 hits

 

But the quality of the the tracklist is surely subjective? I love Now 55 to bits even though I know there’s a lot missing and it’s full of flops.

 

The fact is, someone would have had that reaction to Now 116 no matter what the tracklist. Young people don’t buy compilations and older people wouldn’t recognise the hits. You need to accept this.

I actually think WhoOdyssey hit the nail on the head in an earlier comment by stating the very real fact that barely anyone in 2023 would own and make use of a CD player - be that for on the go or even in their own bedroom. Only likely audience for CD’s in 2023 would be drivers who still choose to stick a disc into their car stereo and maybe the die hard collector who burns the disc to their computer to then stick it on a shelf never to be placed into a CD player again. That’s the blunt truth and it’s not changing.

I actually think WhoOdyssey hit the nail on the head in an earlier comment by stating the very real fact that barely anyone in 2023 would own and make use of a CD player - be that for on the go or even in their own bedroom. Only likely audience for CD’s in 2023 would be drivers who still choose to stick a disc into their car stereo and maybe the die hard collector who burns the disc to their computer to then stick it on a shelf never to be placed into a CD player again. That’s the blunt truth and it’s not changing.

I did specify that to young people in fairness as that's who Hadji was talking about them targeting. There's still a fair few adults who play CDs - The Rolling Stones sold 36,179 a few weeks ago!

I did specify that to young people in fairness as that's who Hadji was talking about them targeting. There's still a fair few adults who play CDs - The Rolling Stones sold 36,179 a few weeks ago!

And Taylor Swift’s latest album has sold 82,197 CDs so far and her target audience is mostly youngsters