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A compilation album is an Album ( Music or Spoken-word ) featuring tracks from one or multiple Recording Artists , often culled from a variety of sources (such as Studio Albums , Live Album s, Singles , Demos and Outtakes .) The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, source or subject matter. When the tracks are all essentially by the same recording artist, a ''compilation album'' is often referred to as a '''retrospective album'''.


COMMON TYPES

Some common types of compilation are

  • Single-artist " Greatest Hits ", "best of", or "singles collection" LPs, gathering together an artist's best-known songs. If the artist or group is still recording, it is common practice to include one or more previously unreleased tracks as an incentive for fans of the artist to buy the album, even if they already have the other material on the compilation. See Greatest Hits article for more details.


  • Other single-artist compilations, such as Rarities or B-side collections, albums compiled from Radio sessions, or collections that combine multiple releases, such as LP s and EP s together on one or more Compact Disc s. These are generally aimed at existing fans of the artist and have little Mainstream appeal.


  • Box Set s, elaborate multi-disc collections often covering the entire breadth of an artist's career or the full sweep of an entire record label or genre.


  • Various artist themed compilations, e.g. love songs, Christmas songs, songs featuring a particular instrument (such as Saxophone or Piano ), and countless other variations.


  • Various artist genre compilations, e.g. Jazz , Synthpop , Rock , etc. These may be from the same time period ( Year , Decade or era, for example), or may incorporate a common theme. An example is a Soundtrack .


  • Various artist hit compilations. This has been a very successful part of the album market since the early 1970s . Recent hit Singles are gathered together in one place. In the 1970s, these were often single Vinyl LPs with ten tracks on each side, and correspondingly low sound quality. In the 1980s , a double album with 7 or 8 tracks on each side became the norm. Now that CD s are the dominant format, these compilations are usually released on one, two, or three CDs with a running time of over 70 minutes each.


  • Promotional compilations. These are creative, successful forms of promotion for artists and/or record labels to promote their music. Generally, these types of releases are free or cost very little for the consumer or end listener.


  • Private label promotional compilations. Promotional compilation CDs can be private labeled for products, retail outlets, or commercial organizations or non-profit organizations. Artists and labels like to co-brand themselves with well-known brands for marketing purposes, and transversely well-known brands like to co-brand themselves with artists.


  • Business-to-business promotional compilations. Other types of promotional compilations are used within the music industry in a business-to-business capacity to promote artists to media concerns (radio stations, music supervisors for TV, film or video games for synchronization).


  • Riddim albums. In Jamaican Dancehall and Reggae music, various artists record over the same pre-produced instrumental rhythm (which is usually given a particular name), and the material is released as a compilation album. For example, the Diwali Riddim , produced by Steve "Lenky" Marsden.



Budget cover albums

A ''budget cover album'' is an Album of cheap, often poorly made covers of Popular Songs . The budget albums had their heyday in the 1970s . One of the most famous cover labels was Embassy, operated by Woolworths . To distinguish between the original artists and the covers, the albums often featured small print next to the name of the original artists eg. ''as made famous by''. This confused many buyers, But the genre has all but disappeared. Some cover album series are still going, eg. Kidz Bop , but many are now so-called " Novelty Record s".

A famous series of cover albums in the UK was the Top Of The Pops series, which were released between 1968 and 1985. The Pin-up Girl covers of these albums now have a cult following of their own.


FAMOUS COMPILATION SERIES



FAMOUS COMPILATION SERIES (AUSTRALIA)




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