The timer_mode = 1 should be used with caution, since it polls the operating system every second and hence could slow down the system. Branson wrote, "He was notoriously grumpy before breakfast and loved his eggs in the morning, so I bought him the poster, framed it and had it hung behind his desk. Since the second installment of the series, Universal, Warner and EMI have formed a joint venture together and generally take turns to release the series. I don't know why I never bought it as a single, but here it is along with other great songs I don't own (Again by Lenny Kravitz).

The Australian series is a single disc edition and began in 2002, as a replacement for the long-running 100% Hits brand. Each album contains current and recent hit singles from Chinese artists signed to EMI or Polydor, and from British and Australian pop acts such as Kylie Minogue, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Sugababes or Robbie Williams. It features tracks by recent artists, including Alexandra Burke, Jessie J, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Tinie Tempah, Calvin Harris and Plan B.s Now 03 came with a bonus DVD; the first standalone DVD release ( Now Vision 2004) appeared the following year. Sometimes considered a spin-off, video releases, including video cassette editions of many early Now!

Virgin agreed to a deal with EMI, which allowed a greater number of major hits to be included (the first album in the series included a total of "eleven number ones" on its sleeve). has released 61 physical albums since 1997, the latest one released July 2020 and further albums were released on streaming platforms only. The Now series started in the Netherlands back in 1984 as Now This Is Music and a couple of spin-offs, such as Now Dance, a Christmas compilation ( Now This Is Xmas) and several year-end compilations. The record labels which make up the UK series have changed over the years but have always been controlled by EMI and Virgin Records, although Virgin Records' logo was last featured on Now!Now Summer 2014 was the last in the second series, on the third series the season was dropped and instead the year and volume is used for example Now 2014 Vol. is a joint venture by the Norwegian branches of Universal Music, Sony Music, EMI Music and Warner Music.

The compilation series was conceived in the office of Virgin Records in London and took its name from a 1920s British advertising poster for Danish bacon featuring a pig saying "Now. Spinoff series began for other countries the following year, starting with South Africa, and many other countries worldwide soon followed, expanding into Asia in 1995, then the United States in 1998. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the album and series, the album was re-released on CD for the first time in 2009.Never appeared on any of the numbered NOW albums but did appear on Now 1983 in the 10th Anniversary Series. The idea for the first album in the series came from Virgin Records boss Richard Branson and his associate Simon Draper. From the years of 1996 to 2009 the series released an annual compilation usually in the late summer months.