Similar to the BBC's current campaign of creating awareness for their programmes, let's take away all the criticism and have a place of reflection on what a 43 year old British institution has given to the general public which we can take away as our heritage of all the music we enjoyed throughout the moments of our lives.

Road trips, celebrations, school exams, breakups, gym workouts, personal grief, office parties and much more. The music has been there to remind us all that we are not alone and we can create a lasting memory.

See this short piece about the series from just after the 25th anniversary in 2013:

So share your fondest memories and what things you appreciate about this great series, because one day, it will all be over.

I discovered some of my favorite ever songs on a Now album.

In particular, Depeche Mode - Enjoy the Silence, Smashing Pumpkins - Disarm.

I also got into Crowded House because they were on Now 26.

Wow! What a great question. I have so many things to say (so apologies).

The first thing NOW has done for me is; being fascinated with music in general. I have discovered so many songs outside of the Pop world that I usually stay in. Even my first NOW (NOW 44) introduced me to songs I never would normally listen to. Tina Turner, Phil Collins, Diana Ross, Tom Jones, The Cardigans, Supergrass, etc. Since they were rubbing shoulders with Steps, Britney, S Club, and Lolly I ended up getting to know the songs well, and discover a lot of these artists back catalogues. Since then each NOW has offered me something that I love that I don't usually put on my pop playlists.

NOW also gives me a great sense of where I was when a song was released, and how old I was, what I was doing, and what memories are attached to it. NOW 45, me and my mum brought a copy each from Andy's Records in Mere Green, NOW 50 reminds me of seeing the first Harry Potter film, NOW 56 reminds me of when our car was broken into and my CD wallet was in there with my cd player. NOW 62 reminds me of my new obsession with Madonna and being confused of why she wasn't on Volume 62. 64 reminds me of the NOW Music Forums, and first stumbling across this very forum. 70 reminds me of me and my nan seeing "Mamma Mia" in cinema... twice! 80 is when I moved to Manchester for Uni... 82 is when I failed & left Uni.

I have memories attached to each one that had released since my first.

The biggest thing I have to thank NOW for is my interest in Copyright in Music! Learning about all the limitations, agreements, and label changes. I just find that stuff fascinating! And it's all because of NOW and their copyright pages, the lack of certain acts, the rival labels making their own comps, and other things. It's what got me into Music Management at previously said Uni.

OH! And connections. A NOW album is such a great icebreaker for friends, family, and my husband. All of us relating to songs and artists that all appear in one place. It's just lovely!

I’d hear Now albums being played a lot at school discos and birthday parties. I remember Now 14 being played at one of my birthday parties and I’d hear shops playing the albums and guessing which album of theirs was playing. They helped me get through a lot of long journeys especially being stuck in traffic

Now 60 was the first one I got as a kid so that volume is the most special to me ❤️

Firstly - the series gives me an immense feeling of nostalgia. The summer and winter editions are particularly good for this as I'm an August baby, so would often get the former volume for my birthday, then the latter one for Christmas. I always wanted to put the CD on right away so these albums often take me back to specific special occasions. I would also ask my parents to play them during car journeys and I synced the CDs on to my iPod as well. All of this consumption means I still know the 2000s volumes like the back of my hand (I filled in gaps from earlier in the decade through charity shops) and same with the early 2010s. They're the soundtrack of my childhood so will forever give me this warm fuzzy feeling!

I almost certainly credit the series with getting me into the charts. I loved reading the trivia in the booklets and the next step from this interest was actually tuning into the weekly top 40 broadcast! This is not only a childhood interest but one I've taken into adulthood, even if they're in a bit of a lull right now.

I would also say the Now! series was a gateway into discovering a lot of '80s and '90s popular music from before my time. The first 10 editions, released between 1983 and 1987, were the foundation of my record collection and helped shape a fascination with retro charts, in addition to getting into The Beatles.

The series has been a great tool for feeding my curiosity and passion for music and charts. Consumption habits may have changed and my taste is more alt these days, but the brand still has a special place in my heart, so I continue to look out for the latest track list and have bought quite a lot of Yearbook / Millennium etc. editions on vinyl in recent years.

Now 42 was the first I bought and I remember picking it up in Little Chef (!) the day before official release. I was obsessed with it, but then even more addicted to Now 43, which at the time was the only place to get the radio edit of Better Off Alone by Alice Deejay (the CD single had only club mixes). That remains my favourite compilation ever, summer 1999 was just magic for music to my tastes. I have never missed buying a Now album on its week of release since.

It has certainly helped to diversify my music taste over the years, and listen to things that were out of my usual wheelhouse. Even today I still find the odd discovery on there, although I can't remember the last time I found something I really love.

More than anything I really have appreciated having a reliable, affordable way to get many of the year's biggest hits without having to shell out loads of money for all the CD singles or, later, downloads.

While the winter editions tend to be the largest selling and often contain the bigger hits, traditionally I have often most enjoyed the summer editions, full of dance hits and Eurohits, and just feel good music. Now 43, Now 46, Now 49, Now 52 and Now 55 was an incredible run, and Now 64 and Now 70 were amazing too. More recently, Now 115 if we ignore Lewis Capaldi and David Kushner had my three favourite songs of the year in the opening five tracks in Miracle, Tattoo and Padam Padam <3 And was just a strong album overall.

Now 41 was my first compilation CD that I got for Christmas 1998 and it definitely began a love for the series from then on out, though I would usually only get the 3rd release of the year for Christmas until I was a teenager and could buy my own. I think Now 64 was my favourite ever release as it soundtracked my summer holidays; we always had to have it on if I was in the car! Now 44 is one of the best and that's backed up by being the best seller of the series. Of course Now 48 feels like it's cemented itself in history too thanks to the likes of Peter Kay and James B. Partridge.

The series initially introduced me to a lot of music I hadn't heard before as I didn't get into the charts until the early 2000s. If I went to a friend's party, a Now CD was on; it was an inescapable but pivotal part of music culture during the 90s and 2000s for me and shaped a lot of my music taste that I have now. They were varied, they took chances (especially in predicting things will do well around or on release week!) and they were something to look forward to buying. I would play some of them over and over again. They were (and arguably still are) an important part of the music scene we have.

Ok my turn,

My introduction to Now That's What I Call Music came in the year 1998, when I acquired my first ever volume, on double cassette, in the form of Now 39. I only knew of a handful of pop artists in total at this point in life, so many of the songs and artists on this volume would have been the first time I had heard a song from them. I remember hearing Angels by Robbie Williams for the first time on there thinking he was a much older and established solo artist but I learnt about him more after that. Most of my favourites at the time would have been songs that catered more to a teenager.

I recall seeing advertisements and posters of various volumes across billboards, bus stops and in magazines to promote their collections, as well as older volumes available as part of the Britannia CD Club which you could subscribe to via many magazines and newspapers.

I switched from cassette to CD just two volumes in, and stuck with CD's ever since Now 41.

Being a collector of Now compilations lead me into collecting many more compilation series including Hits, Top Of The Pops, Smash Hits, Clubland and more. It became one of my favourite things to do, finding older compilations second hand and adding to my collection.

In time, I joined the Now Music forum, around 2003, and later BuzzJack. I also joined Facebook groups of other avid collectors too.

In was just a few years ago that I finally acquired my final missing volume, Now 15, from a second hand online retailer after collecting the reissued original volumes on CD.

I am glad to have been a collector and the journey that this collection has taken me on so far.

My NOW CDs are a huge, important part of my music collection, it allowed me to own hundreds of songs from my childhood/early adulthood in a physical format without having to buy hundreds of artists' albums. I still listen to them in my car, especially when each CD turns 10 years old or 20 years old. It's a shame the US series ended but I hope I'll be listening to these albums for the rest of my life.

@nowmusic1993 would love to hear your story too why this series means so much to you!

I didn't see this thread, guess I'll make a contribution to it!

I was never really into the series at all, not until I was around 14 and mum bought Now 64 at an ASDA. I thought it was alright, had a few bangers I liked such as the landfill Indie of Disc 1 - banger after banger there. The Kooks, The Feeling, Keane, Snow Patrol, Razorlight, Orson, The Zutons, Dirty Pretty Things, The Automatic and that run rounded off by Paul Oakenfold and the legendary Brittany Murphy (RIP) with 'Faster Kill Pussycat'. I was also obsessed with the Sunblock remix of 'First Time' at the time too, and it may or may not have been to do with the music video.

It wasn't until Now 68 in late 2007 that I decided I wanted to invest in the back catalogue of the numbered NOWs and start collecting the new releases going forward. In 2008, I was nostalgic for 1994 because of the songs on NOW 28 which brought me back to my childhood and the car trips my dad would take us on to Towyn.

These days I'm more fond of NOW 43 and 44, because those were truly the pinnacle of fantastic pop and dance music, and being 7 at the time found a lot of the artists on these albums to be highly influential. S Club, Lolly, Steps, heck, even the Cartoons! Very impressionable on a 7-year old! But also, there's the fantastic dance of Alice Deejay, Vengaboys, DJ Jean, Phats & Small, Basement Jaxx, Shaft, I could go on!

NOW has left a lasting impact on me, and they're always there to go back to when I'm at a crossroads with my relationship with music, and I don't know which way to go next. So yeah, NOW has done a lot for me!

I got all NOW's from 65 upwards (only 94 is missing, still have to get it). I bought them retrospectively in the last 5-6 years to get all the hits from 2006 upwards on CD. For the time before I have all Top 20 hits on single CD from 1990 upwards, so decided against buying these compilations. I was long time more around in the underground dance scene and just started with pop music majorly around 2013/14 when I started buying the pop hits from the 90's on single-CD's. Afterwards my interests were more and more shifted into the 2000's so that the NOW compilations were perfect for me. Likewise, I love the yearbooks of the 70s and 80s, which helped me to get many hits from that time on CD in a structured way.

I started collecting them consecutively from Now 38. I would’ve said I started collecting them consecutively from Now 35 but I missed Now 37. When I was on holiday 2 years ago, the one bar I went to, the owner had a CD player with loads of CDs and Now 39 was one of them. So what has Now done for me? Loads. What has streaming done for me? f*** all