No seriously, where did they go? I miss those those greatest hits album that randomly add in unreleased tracks to get you to buy them, or those rarity compilations and box sets that give you never before seen material.
Now yes, there's the obvious argument that digital platforms and playlisting made them obsolete. While that is true, I much prefer them over the annoying modern alternative: 50 digital editions.
Like Cardi B's recent album for example, did we really need the Standard edition, Bonus edition, Beat edition, Errtime edition, The Snow Mix edition, the Bardigang edition AND the ultimate edition? Mind you, most of these bonus tracks are previously released hits tacked on for chart performance, but man, wouldn't it have been cooler if she released a compilation album, branded it as a separate project and thrown in a couple new unreleased tracks?
Here's the thing, deluxe editions aren't even released physically half the time, so we'd have to wait like 5 years for a RSD drop. I'd also be much more compelled to buy a comp album with past non-album material instead of rebuying the same album again. Anyway, much respect to artists like Arca and Megan thee Stallion who still continue the tradition.
Edit: Spare the downvotes please guys I just really like compilation albums.
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Compilation albums are sort of useless in the age of streaming, when artists can just as easily make a hits playlist, or better yet, consumers can make their own playlists omitting all the hits that aren't good. If the artists want to put out some promotional songs unattached to an album of new material, they'll just drop standalone singles. It's much cleaner this way, I find.
You're right, I think it's just my gripe with all these digital editions. I just really wish we got more archival releases or compilations that feature new material rather than those cash grabs
99% of compilation albums are cash grabs. Only a small amount of artists put out b-sides/rarities collections, and I imagine those artists will still continue to do so, but the vast, vast majority of compilation albums offer nothing to existing fans.
The whole point in compilation albums is to sell something to fans who aren’t interested enough to listen past the singles. Those fans don’t give a fuck about your alternate mixes and b-sides.
And obviously if a compilation album were to be released today, it would have a different purpose than "sell to casuals". I'm just saying I wish more of them existed in modern music, in its various forms 🤷
The people responding to you are being so dense and uncharitable 🤦♂️You already stated that comps are in a weird place because of streaming, and that they've mostly been marketing devices.
I agree that we're missing out on genuine, purposeful rarity/archival compilations these days. I really miss that from the CD era and I think the ones done with actual artistic integrity added a lot of value. There's a lot of great music that goes undiscovered and underappreciated because it's tacked on to yet another digital deluxe edition that nobody cares about.
I think there's potential for compilations/rarities to sell better than the these deluxe versions if they were presented as something special and separate from the main releases. Instead of trying to sell the same old album with a few extra scraps tacked on, give the compilations special packaging, different artwork, a physical release, and position them as a new addition to the artist's discography.
Physical media is continuing to make a big comeback too, so this would be the perfect time to strike. Vinyl has already been booming for a while and some people are even getting back into CDs.
Out of interest, did you grow up with physical media? There are a couple of bands who I have a lot of releases from stemming back to the mid-90s. You mentioned specifically that you miss the GH releases that include an extra couple of songs and, across all the fandoms I’ve seen, those were always seen as the biggest cash grabs of all and fans generally hated them because it meant spending the equivalent of a new album for the sake of a single song or two that often wasn’t released anywhere else.
Again, there are still compilations out there that aren’t GH+1s or whatever, but few artists had these to begin with (especially in mainstream pop).
I do agree though that, if an artist releases an expanded album, it would be nice to have that released as a standalone thing rather than needing to buy the main album again.
Hi! No, I did not grow up with physical media, but I am an almost album-exclusive listener. I only have one playlist that I periodically listen to. This kinda makes me value an album experience more instead of viewing it as a collection of songs, which is why I don't really appreciate the editions as much (Kinda contradictory as a mainstream pop music listener, I know). I like it when bonus material is put in its own body of work so it feels less "throwaway", in a sense. But yes, when I say "bring back compilation albums", I don't mean specifically the GH+bonus ones entirely.
Most physical releases are cash grabs nowadays; yet, GH albums can serve a purpose for casual listeners who are not obsessed with the artist to go down a rabbit hole and listen to their entire discography. If I’m curious about some legendary artist from the past, I can play their GH album and discover what they sound like and what they became popular for, and even know more than 3 songs by them.
"i hate this thing so we should bring this other thing which isn't that much better back"
Also, in my experience the second CD would be mostly filler.
compilation albums has basically evolved into “The Best of [Artist]” playlists on Spotify. i don’t think they’ll ever return, because compilation albums is basically a product of its time. it’s for casual fans who only wanna hear the artist’s biggest hits and not their deepcuts
Avril Lavigne put out one not too long ago. They’re not dead yet. Plus with more people buying vinyls these days they’d be a good tool marketing wise
Right, but a compilation album can be so many things!!! not just a greatest hits playlist
i mean, what else can it be apart from a greatest hits playlist? i know that Christina Aguilera reimagined some of her hits with a more electropop twist in her compilation album, but most artists don’t do much with them
It's really cool things that fans would love like these that are missing in modern mainstream music, imo
Those are things that are more likely to come from a deluxe/anniversary version of an actual album. Not a compilation.
Yeah, and I'm saying I prefer it way more when an artist dedicates a separate project for these things instead of tacking them onto an existing project.
What difference does it really make?
More likely for physical releases, generally a larger volume of new material and less buying the same album twice with a couple bonus tracks. Plus, it gets more artistic merit in my eyes, personally
It presents the material in a better light, rather than being buried at the end of something people are already familiar with. It also makes it easier to find this stuff if you're unfamiliar with an artist's catalogue--it's way easier to just play a compilation instead of digging around in deluxe versions for certain songs or variations. Some people might not even know where to look or that these tracks exist, since they're packaged in an album that they think they've already listened to.
I would also include stuff like Madonna’s Immaculate Collection that has basically every song slightly remixed and reworked to make it a cohesive listening experience. That’s what always made it stood out as a great album in itself.
Paula Abdul’s Shut Up and Dance is one of my favorites from the Alternate Mixes. I still buy a great movie soundtrack if it is pressed.
Compilation albums are still being released. OneRepublic just dropped theirs and it's been constantly on the US and UK charts so I think people are exaggerating its "downfall".
Yes but release them on vinyl. There are so many artists that i like that have great singles, but the rest of the album isn't my vibe
Older acts like Cher still do them and the weekend release one recently
The most obvious answer as to who should release one is Rihanna
If Rihanna did this I'd buy it a heartbeat.
Haha, I was thinking the same also like Selena Gomez
Selena Gomez actually has one called for you but it’s mostly just songs from Selena and the scene / stars dance era
Excuse me? Older?
I'd love to see Taylor make a compilation of just the vault tracks from the Taylor's Versions once she's released self-titled and Reputation vault tracks. Those were the things that made the rerecordings worth it for me.
Exactly, people's counterargument that streaming kills this is kinda a moot point, when this would help sell a bunch of physical that the artists earn much more profit from.
But streaming also highlights the original albums these greatest hits are on. A compilation wouldn’t really do that.
The point of a greatest hit album is not about highlighting the original albums. They specifically exist because most people don't want to sit through entire albums from start to finish, and are only interested in listening to the singles.
If I'm hosting a party and want to put on some vinyl I'm much more likely to grab My Prerogative by Britney than any other album of hers.
In the age of streaming, I hate them. They clutter up discographies and when you're first getting into an artist is SO confusing to try and work out which songs go where, have you listened to everything, what are the overlaps and duplicates and exclusives and alternate versions. The multiple Smiths compilation albums piss me OFF (yes I listen to Hatful of Hollow and Louder than Bombs all the time anyway)
Madonna's discography on YouTube Music is such a mess. There are almost 90 entries in there, due to compilations, remixes, and live albums. I wish there was a separate category for all these side projects.
I think this is largely a problem that stems from many streaming platform's interface/categories. They mostly just toss compilations in with regular LPs, which makes browsing very confusing. They should be in separate categories, like Albums/Live Albums/EPs/Singles/Compilations
Apple Music does in fact have a Compilations section—though I’ve also seen it occasionally get things wrong, putting non-compilations into that section and vice-versa.
That's good to know! I've been on Sp*tify (have a couple weeks left in my subscription) so I've been trying some other options. I'll keep that in mind in case I make the switch to Apple.
Only recently The Weeknd put out The Highlights, so idk if they are vanishing. The fact is: they‘re only be profitable for an artist with a massive back catalogue and a solid following that will make people buy it. Taylor could’ve done it at the height of Eras Tour but chose to promote on Cruel Summer, now it’s her biggest hit
OP I agree - saying there’s no purpose for compilations is ridiculous. They summarise an artist’s output across a certain period, often with added extras that wouldn’t make sense tacked on to actual albums. Playlists do a similar thing but once an artist has a certain amount of music released then they either become bloated or start leaving important things out by necessity. And there’s no better place than a compilation for those random singles that never made the album or songs done for soundtracks or unreleased material or what have you. And then when you consider that we’re in the midst of the resurgence of physical media? And fans want these extra songs in a physical version? With new visuals? Please.
i know what you mean... there's no more "celebration" of an artist's legacy like before... immaculate collection, abba gold, Mariah's #1s, design of a decade... britney's singles box collection... i miss that part of it personally
It’s funny I was going through Talking Heads’ discography yesterday and I was thinking about how glad I am that we’re past the era of compilation albums lol.
It find they really clog up the discography and it’s annoying when there’s you already have an album, but then there’s like 6 greatest hits albums and they each have one or two songs that you can’t find anywhere else
That said, I *am* a fan of compilation albums where it’s all loose singles, b-sides and rarities. Give every song a home!
Playlists babe, playlists.
For certain artists, I really like compilations. ABBA for example, the best way to experience them is with ABBA Gold (the 3 disc version) as it is just all of their classics with a handful of their best deep cuts thrown in, as ABBA weren’t really album artists (The Visitors being the exception, a great album to end their run).
I also love Madonna’s Immaculate Collection as it collects most of her 80s classics and remixed them into their best forms.
I’m not a fan of any of Mariah or Janet’s compilations as so many great songs were left off due to record label issues or they didn’t hit #1 and a lot of their best singles weren’t the massive hits.
I would think there actually could be a legitimate reason to sell compilation albums physically in the streaming age. Clearly they don't think the math would work out on the costs or something, but there are definitely some prolific artists with long discographies where a nice, artfully chosen compilation on vinyl would kinda be a treat.
Meanwhile Jessie Ware did recently release four digital-only compilation albums with little fanfare. They don't really feel distinguishable from playlists tbh.
I like compilation albums too. We may not always get some cool bonus tracks, but we’re sure to get a new artwork at the very least.
I needed the Ultimate Edition on CD's like an actual album, not just digital. Those songs are digital singles so I want them physically.
These aren't helpful for the charts, they tend to take out the singles counting for the main album and they start counting towards the compilation album itself. The Highlights by The Weeknd is a great example of this.
I miss the genuine CD or even tape cassette during the 90s - 2000s era wherein i just bought the standard album version and there were no many variants available (album covers and various edition versions) just to break the sales. I respect artists who keep the tradition too. It just sounds so desperate. I wont name names. I do not remember if Billboard has done anything to fix this.
Playlists on streaming services killed the concept of compilation albums.
They are not needed in the age of streaming. Their main purpose was to give an easy introduction to an artist. Now you can just listen to their most popular songs on streaming.
They found that morons will buy the same album two or more times. Why would they give that up
I think deluxes are becoming more common for this reason, artists can release whatever material they want from the era the album originally came out in.
I'll take it one step further - every album should be a singles compilation
How often do you listen to a new album and come away only really caring about the singles that drew you to it in the first place and a song or two that will inevitably become singles after the release? For me, it's most of the time! 90% of albums would be better off as an EP with just the good songs, so I think we should encourage artists to just release 5-10 good singles then drop a compilation of them as an album. Not this "1 good single, drop an album of mid with two other good songs" crap that we get most of the time
Just make a playlist. LMAO.
Rarities compilations were never what I would call common, I don’t think most artists are prolific enough to have them. Plus a lot of these rarity compilations were b-sides and b-sides sort of went extinct for a lot of artists