''Totally Hits'' was a series of various artists

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

s released in collaboration with

BMG BMG may refer to: Organizations Music publishing companies * Bertelsmann Music Group, a 1987–2008 division of Bertelsmann that was purchased by Sony on October 1, 2008 ** Sony BMG, a 2004–2008 joint venture of Bertelsmann and Sony that was pur ...

and

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "Record label#M ...

, intending to showcase some of the most popular hit songs of the time. The series was intended to rival

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

and UMG's ''

Now That's What I Call Music! ''Now That's What I Call Music!'' (often shortened to ''NOW'') is a series of various artists compilation albums released in the United Kingdom and Ireland by Sony Music and Universal Music ( Universal/Sony Music) which began in 1983. Spinof ...

'' series. For the first volume, a massive ad campaign was launched, with both record labels putting out TV spots, Internet ads, and promotions for the release. Label executives referred to it as "the definitive collection of 1998 and 1999 hit singles," and "the first multi-format collection to boast virtually an entire program of bonafide crossover smashes." The first volume debuted and peaked at #14 on the

Billboard Top 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular Album, music albums and extended play, EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine to convey the popularity of an recor ...

and received favorable reviews from

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

and

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

, who preferred it to '' Now! 3''. The first release was distributed by BMG's

Arista Records Arista Records ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...

. Prior to ''Totally Hits'', Arista had been releasing various artists compilations known as the ''Ultimate'' series for the past four years. Arista executive vice president Charles Goldstuck claimed he wanted to "expand the franchise. We thought we'd be better off with a partner, so we could source the right repertoire and end up with as strong a compilation as possible to give the consumer complete value." Warner CEO Roger Ames accepted, and a track listing was put together in only a couple of months. After the release of the first volume, follow-up installments were numbered and contained hits from the few months prior to each album's release. This practice was abandoned after the release of ''Totally Hits 3'' in November 2000. The main series then shifted to a yearly format, with the tracks featured on ''Totally Hits 2001'' covering the entirety of that year. This practice then changed again in 2002, with the release of two volumes - ''Totally Hits 2002'' and ''Totally Hits 2002: More Platinum Hits'' - with the former released during the first half of the year and the latter released during the second half. The yearly format was picked up again in 2003, which saw the only main entry in the series, ''Totally Hits 2003'', released at the end of the year. 2004 saw the release of ''Totally Hits 2004'' and ''Totally Hits 2004, Vol. 2'', while the only release the main series saw for 2005, ''Totally Hits 2005'', saw a release in May of that year. It would be the final main entry to be branded as a Totally Hits album. A ''Totally Hits 2006'' compilation was planned, but never released. Instead, Warner would go on to release an abbreviated 12-track compilation, ''Only Hits'', as a successor. No follow-ups were released. The final release under the Totally Hits brand, ''Totally Country, Vol. 6'', was released in January 2007.

Titles

* '' Totally Hits'' (released November 9, 1999), first main series * '' Totally Hits, Vol. 2'' (May 30, 2000), second main series * '' Totally Hits, Vol. 3'' (November 14, 2000), third main series * '' Totally Dance'' (June 26, 2001) * '' Totally Hits 2001'' (September 25, 2001), fourth main series * '' Totally Country'' (February 5, 2002), first ''Totally Country'' series * '' Totally Hits 2002'' (June 4, 2002), fifth main series * '' Totally Hits 2002: More Platinum Hits'' (October 29, 2002), sixth main series * '' Totally Country Vol. 2'' (October 29, 2002), second ''Totally Country'' series * '' Totally R&B'' (July 1, 2003) * '' Totally Hip Hop'' (July 1, 2003) * '' Totally Country Vol. 3'' (September 23, 2003), third ''Totally Country'' series * '' Totally Hits 2003'' (October 7, 2003), seventh main series * '' Totally Hits 2004'' (May 4, 2004), eighth main series * '' Totally Hits 2004, Vol. 2'' (October 5, 2004), ninth main series * '' Totally Country Vol. 4'' (February 8, 2005), fourth ''Totally Country'' series * '' Totally Hits 2005'' (May 17, 2005), tenth main series * '' Totally Country Vol. 5'' (February 7, 2006), fifth ''Totally Country'' series * '' Only Hits Vol. 1'' (November 7, 2006), eleventh main series * '' Totally Country Vol. 6'' (January 30, 2007), sixth ''Totally Country'' series

References

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Titles

References

See also