The Singles Collection (Britney Spears album)
Encyclopedia
The Singles Collection is the second greatest hits
album from American singer Britney Spears
, released in commemoration of her ten year anniversary with her record company Jive Records
. The compilation was released in many different formats, including a one disc edition, a CD+DVD edition and a boxset, which contained twenty-nine singles packaged in its own slip case with original cover art. The CD+DVD edition as well as the boxset contained a DVD with Spears's music videos. The album included one new track, "3
", produced by Max Martin
and Shellback
.
The Singles Collection was praised by contemporary critics, who noted Spears's impact and influence in pop music during her first decade within the music industry. The album entered the top forty in Australia, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand and the United States as well as in a number of European countries. "3" was released as the lead single from the album. In the United States, it debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the first song in three years to do so.
account that she had begun recording new material, stating she was going into the studio with Swedish
songwriter and producer Max Martin
. On September 23, 2009, Jive Records
officially announced the release of a greatest hits titled The Singles Collection through Spears's official website, in celebration of Spears's ten year anniversary in the music industry. The album followed her previous compilation, Greatest Hits: My Prerogative
, released in 2004. The release date was confirmed to be November 24, 2009 and the album included a new song titled "3
", produced by Martin. The compilation was available in two main editions, a standard version as well as a boxset. The standard version contained a single CD with seventeen tracks, including "3". The boxset contained her twenty-nine singles including "3", with each single packaged in its own slip case with original cover art
, accompanied by an original b-side or remix. It also included a booklet featuring iconic images and facts about each track as well as a DVD featuring all of Spears's music videos to date in chronological order.
On October 14, 2009, Jive Records announced in a new press release that the date for the standard version was moved up to November 10, 2009. The date for the release of the boxset remained the same. The following day, a CD+DVD version was announced to be released on November 10, 2009 in all countries except in North America. This version included the standard version tracklist as well as the single "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman
".
and toward pure dance-pop
bliss. [...] It does result in a stronger overall listen, since there are no slow patches here, just a parade of relentless hooks and rhythms that wound up defining the sound of a decade". Mayer Nissim of Digital Spy
also gave the album five stars stating that "[it] perfectly captures the career of one of the best singles artists of the last ten years. Running from '…Baby One More Time
' to 'Radar
', you get a single-disc timeline that shows a progression in style and substance from school uniform-wearing pop ingénue to sultry motorik saucepot. [...] The only arguable weak link is the Madonna
-featuring 'Me Against the Music
', but in this context what once looked like a respectful passing of the baton now seems like an unconditional surrender of pop Queendom
to its rightful heir." The reviewer also noted the impact on popular culture
and pop music of Spears, highlighting "Oops!... I Did It Again
", "Toxic
" and "Stronger
".
Brian Linder of IGN
commented "2004's Greatest Hits: My Prerogative [...] captured the highlights from Britney's heyday, but lacks the more mature club-oriented material that she's churned out in recent years. That helps make this collection a justifiable fan purchase". Mike Diver of BBC Online called it "the definitive Britney album" and added that "these songs don’t just make a mark, lingering in the memory – they are essential pieces of the past ten years of pop history, and deserve better than dismissal by so-called discerning listeners". Evan Sawdey of PopMatters
called the album "a high-gloss collection of tunes that selectively sums up the career of one of the biggest female pop singers of the past decade. It’s a disc that’s light on filler [...] and heavy on Spears’ more high-energy cuts, which, without question, play to her strengths as a performer". Sputnikmusic
stated "This is Britney's second greatest hits, and it's incredibly strong. It focuses mainly on her more upbeat, danceable numbers, with a few slower ones thrown in to change things up without disrupting the constant stream of quality pop songs" and summarized the review adding "As one of the most successful artists of the decade, is it any wonder this compilation is so good?".
, selling 26,800 copies in its first week. The album has sold over 172,000 copies in the United States. In Canada, the album was certified gold by the Canadian Recording Industry Association
(CRIA) for sales over 40,000 copies. The album debuted at number fifteen in Mexico and was certified gold by the Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas (AMPROFON) for shipments over 30,000 units. On November 23, 2009, the album debuted in the Australian Albums Chart
at number twenty-three. The same week, it debuted at number twenty-two in New Zealand. The album reached the top forty in Belgium (Wallonia), Denmark, Greece, New Zealand and Norway, and also charted in Belgium (Flanders), Finland, Spain and the Netherlands. In January 2011, The Singles Collection re-entered the charts in Ireland and the United Kingdom, at number fifty-one and forty-seven, respectively. As of July 2011, the album has sold 755,000 copies worldwide.
" was confirmed as the only single from the album, released on September 23, 2009 along with the announcement of The Singles Collection. It was released to radio stations on September 29, 2009. The song received positive reviews from critics, and debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100
, breaking many chart records. It made Spears the first artist in over three years to debut at the top position and the only non-American Idol
artist in eleven years to do so. It was the sixteenth song in the chart history to debut at the top position and also the shortest title for a song reaching the top of the chart. "3" also debuted at number one in Canada and reached top ten positions in Australia and the European nations of Belgium (Wallonia), Czech Republic, Finland, France, Ireland, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
Source:
Greatest hits
A greatest hits album is a music compilation album of successful, previously released songs by a particular artist or band...
album from American singer Britney Spears
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
, released in commemoration of her ten year anniversary with her record company Jive Records
Jive Records
Jive Records was a record label based in New York City, operating under RCA Music Group. Jive was primarily known for a string of successes with hip hop artists in the 1980s, and in teen pop and boy bands in the late 1990s. The word "jive" was inspired by Township Jive, a form of South African...
. The compilation was released in many different formats, including a one disc edition, a CD+DVD edition and a boxset, which contained twenty-nine singles packaged in its own slip case with original cover art. The CD+DVD edition as well as the boxset contained a DVD with Spears's music videos. The album included one new track, "3
3 (song)
"3" is a song by American recording artist Britney Spears, from her second greatest hits compilation The Singles Collection. It was released on September 29, 2009, as the only single of the album by Jive Records. The song was produced by long-time collaborator Max Martin and Shellback, and recorded...
", produced by Max Martin
Max Martin
Martin Karl Sandberg, known professionally as Max Martin, is a Swedish music producer and songwriter. Raised in Stenhamra, a suburb of Stockholm, Sweden, he broke through as a producer and songwriter in the mid to late 1990s after crafting a string of hits for pop artists like the Backstreet Boys,...
and Shellback
Shellback (songwriter)
Karl Johan Schuster , better known by his stage name Shellback, is a songwriter, record producer and musician from Karlshamn, Sweden...
.
The Singles Collection was praised by contemporary critics, who noted Spears's impact and influence in pop music during her first decade within the music industry. The album entered the top forty in Australia, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand and the United States as well as in a number of European countries. "3" was released as the lead single from the album. In the United States, it debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the first song in three years to do so.
Background
On July 12, 2009, Spears confirmed through her TwitterTwitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
account that she had begun recording new material, stating she was going into the studio with Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
songwriter and producer Max Martin
Max Martin
Martin Karl Sandberg, known professionally as Max Martin, is a Swedish music producer and songwriter. Raised in Stenhamra, a suburb of Stockholm, Sweden, he broke through as a producer and songwriter in the mid to late 1990s after crafting a string of hits for pop artists like the Backstreet Boys,...
. On September 23, 2009, Jive Records
Jive Records
Jive Records was a record label based in New York City, operating under RCA Music Group. Jive was primarily known for a string of successes with hip hop artists in the 1980s, and in teen pop and boy bands in the late 1990s. The word "jive" was inspired by Township Jive, a form of South African...
officially announced the release of a greatest hits titled The Singles Collection through Spears's official website, in celebration of Spears's ten year anniversary in the music industry. The album followed her previous compilation, Greatest Hits: My Prerogative
Greatest Hits: My Prerogative
Greatest Hits: My Prerogative is the first greatest hits album from American singer Britney Spears, released on November 1, 2004 by Jive Records. The compilation was released in two different formats, a standard edition and a limited edition containing a bonus disc with remixes. A compilation DVD...
, released in 2004. The release date was confirmed to be November 24, 2009 and the album included a new song titled "3
3 (song)
"3" is a song by American recording artist Britney Spears, from her second greatest hits compilation The Singles Collection. It was released on September 29, 2009, as the only single of the album by Jive Records. The song was produced by long-time collaborator Max Martin and Shellback, and recorded...
", produced by Martin. The compilation was available in two main editions, a standard version as well as a boxset. The standard version contained a single CD with seventeen tracks, including "3". The boxset contained her twenty-nine singles including "3", with each single packaged in its own slip case with original cover art
Cover art
Cover art is the illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book , magazine, comic book, video game , DVD, CD, videotape, or music album. The art has a primarily commercial function, i.e...
, accompanied by an original b-side or remix. It also included a booklet featuring iconic images and facts about each track as well as a DVD featuring all of Spears's music videos to date in chronological order.
On October 14, 2009, Jive Records announced in a new press release that the date for the standard version was moved up to November 10, 2009. The date for the release of the boxset remained the same. The following day, a CD+DVD version was announced to be released on November 10, 2009 in all countries except in North America. This version included the standard version tracklist as well as the single "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman
I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman
"I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman" is a song by American recording artist Britney Spears. The song was written by Dido, with additional writing and song production by Max Martin and Rami Yacoub for Spears' third studio album, Britney . It was released on February 5, 2002 by Jive Records, as the...
".
Critical reception
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic gave the collection five stars and compared it to Greatest Hits: My Prerogative, saying that although they had the same length, they were "different listening experiences". He also noted that the more recent tracks "help push The Singles away from teen popTeen pop
Teen pop is a subgenre of pop music that is created, marketed and oriented towards teenagers. Teen pop copies genres and styles such as pop, dance, R&B, hip hop, country and rock....
and toward pure dance-pop
Dance-pop
Dance-pop is dance-oriented pop music that originated in the early 1980s. Developing from post-disco, it is generally up-tempo music intended for clubs with the intention of being danceable or merely dancey...
bliss. [...] It does result in a stronger overall listen, since there are no slow patches here, just a parade of relentless hooks and rhythms that wound up defining the sound of a decade". Mayer Nissim of Digital Spy
Digital Spy
Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website. According to Alexa Internet traffic statistics, as of February 2011, Digital Spy is the 93rd most popular website in the United Kingdom, with an overall Alexa ranking of 2,088....
also gave the album five stars stating that "[it] perfectly captures the career of one of the best singles artists of the last ten years. Running from '…Baby One More Time
...Baby One More Time (song)
"...Baby One More Time" is a song by American recording artist Britney Spears. It served as Spears' debut single from her debut studio album, ...Baby One More Time . Written by Max Martin and produced by Martin, Denniz Pop and Rami Yacoub, "...Baby One More Time" was released on September 30, 1998,...
' to 'Radar
Radar (song)
"Radar" is a song by American recording artist Britney Spears. It was written and produced by Bloodshy & Avant and The Clutch in November 2006 as a record that did not relate to any of her personal problems at the time. The recording sessions took place the day after Spears filed for divorce from...
', you get a single-disc timeline that shows a progression in style and substance from school uniform-wearing pop ingénue to sultry motorik saucepot. [...] The only arguable weak link is the Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
-featuring 'Me Against the Music
Me Against the Music
"Me Against the Music" is a song by American recording artist Britney Spears from her fourth album, In the Zone, featuring American recording artist Madonna. It was released on October 20, 2003 as the lead single from the album by Jive Records. After bonding with Spears during a night in New York...
', but in this context what once looked like a respectful passing of the baton now seems like an unconditional surrender of pop Queendom
Honorific titles in popular music
Honorific nicknames in popular music are often religious, familial or royal and aristocratic in nature and are used as a form of expression in the media, or to identify the significance of an artist by fans...
to its rightful heir." The reviewer also noted the impact on popular culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
and pop music of Spears, highlighting "Oops!... I Did It Again
Oops!... I Did It Again (song)
"Oops!... I Did It Again" is a song by American recording artist Britney Spears. The song was written and produced by Max Martin and Rami for Spears' second studio album, Oops!... I Did It Again . It was released on March 27, 2000 by Jive Records, as the first single from the album. "Oops!.....
", "Toxic
Toxic (song)
"Toxic" is a song by American recording artist Britney Spears, co-written and produced by Bloodshy & Avant, from her fourth album, In the Zone. It was released on January 12, 2004, by Jive Records as the second single from the album. After trying to choose between " Boom Boom" and "Outrageous" to...
" and "Stronger
Stronger (Britney Spears song)
"Stronger" is a song by American recording artist Britney Spears, taken from her second studio album Oops!... I Did It Again . It was released on November 13, 2000, by Jive Records as the third single of the album. After meeting up with producers Max Martin and Rami in Sweden, the singer recorded...
".
Brian Linder of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
commented "2004's Greatest Hits: My Prerogative [...] captured the highlights from Britney's heyday, but lacks the more mature club-oriented material that she's churned out in recent years. That helps make this collection a justifiable fan purchase". Mike Diver of BBC Online called it "the definitive Britney album" and added that "these songs don’t just make a mark, lingering in the memory – they are essential pieces of the past ten years of pop history, and deserve better than dismissal by so-called discerning listeners". Evan Sawdey of PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
called the album "a high-gloss collection of tunes that selectively sums up the career of one of the biggest female pop singers of the past decade. It’s a disc that’s light on filler [...] and heavy on Spears’ more high-energy cuts, which, without question, play to her strengths as a performer". Sputnikmusic
Sputnikmusic
Sputnikmusic, or simply Sputnik, is a music website offering music criticism and music news alongside features commonly associated with wiki-style websites...
stated "This is Britney's second greatest hits, and it's incredibly strong. It focuses mainly on her more upbeat, danceable numbers, with a few slower ones thrown in to change things up without disrupting the constant stream of quality pop songs" and summarized the review adding "As one of the most successful artists of the decade, is it any wonder this compilation is so good?".
Chart performance
In the United States, The Singles Collection debuted at number twenty-two in the Billboard 200Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
, selling 26,800 copies in its first week. The album has sold over 172,000 copies in the United States. In Canada, the album was certified gold by the Canadian Recording Industry Association
Canadian Recording Industry Association
Music Canada is a Toronto-based, non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, artists, manufacture, production, promotion and distribution of music in Canada...
(CRIA) for sales over 40,000 copies. The album debuted at number fifteen in Mexico and was certified gold by the Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas (AMPROFON) for shipments over 30,000 units. On November 23, 2009, the album debuted in the Australian Albums Chart
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...
at number twenty-three. The same week, it debuted at number twenty-two in New Zealand. The album reached the top forty in Belgium (Wallonia), Denmark, Greece, New Zealand and Norway, and also charted in Belgium (Flanders), Finland, Spain and the Netherlands. In January 2011, The Singles Collection re-entered the charts in Ireland and the United Kingdom, at number fifty-one and forty-seven, respectively. As of July 2011, the album has sold 755,000 copies worldwide.
Singles
"33 (song)
"3" is a song by American recording artist Britney Spears, from her second greatest hits compilation The Singles Collection. It was released on September 29, 2009, as the only single of the album by Jive Records. The song was produced by long-time collaborator Max Martin and Shellback, and recorded...
" was confirmed as the only single from the album, released on September 23, 2009 along with the announcement of The Singles Collection. It was released to radio stations on September 29, 2009. The song received positive reviews from critics, and debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
, breaking many chart records. It made Spears the first artist in over three years to debut at the top position and the only non-American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
artist in eleven years to do so. It was the sixteenth song in the chart history to debut at the top position and also the shortest title for a song reaching the top of the chart. "3" also debuted at number one in Canada and reached top ten positions in Australia and the European nations of Belgium (Wallonia), Czech Republic, Finland, France, Ireland, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
Standard edition / CD+DVD edition
Boxset
Formats
- CD—17 tracks edition
- CD+DVD—18 tracks edition and DVD with 16 music videos
- Boxset — 29 singles and DVD with 26 music videos
- Digital download — 17 tracks edition
- iTunesITunesiTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
digital download — 18 tracks edition including "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman" - Digital deluxe — 58 tracks edition
- iTunes Digital 45s — 29 singles sold separately
Source:
Charts
| Charts (2009–2010) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
23 |
| Belgian Flanders Albums Chart Ultratop Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts... |
50 |
| Belgian Walloon Albums Chart Ultratop Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts... |
23 |
| Danish Albums Chart | 30 |
| Dutch Albums Chart | 77 |
| Finnish Albums Chart | 49 |
| French Compilation Albums Chart Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry... |
10 |
| German Albums Chart | 80 |
| Greece Albums Chart IFPI Greece International Federation of the Phonographic Industry Greece or IFPI Greece is the Greek branch of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and is the official charts provider and recording sales certification body for Greece. Currently two charts are compiled, one for sales of... |
40 |
| Italian Albums Chart | 27 |
| Japanese Albums Chart Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc... |
8 |
| Mexican Albums Chart AMPROFON Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas is a non-profit organization integrated by multinational and national record companies in Mexico. Established on April 3, 1963, it groups phonographic companies that represent more than 70 percent of the market in Mexico... |
15 |
| New Zealand Albums Chart Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
22 |
| Norwegian Albums Chart VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
36 |
| Spanish Albums Chart PROMUSICAE Spanish Music Producers is a trade group representing the Spanish recording industry... |
43 |
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
38 |
| U.S. Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
22 |
Certifications
| Country | Certification Music recording sales certification Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,... (sales thresholds) |
|---|---|
| Canada Canadian Recording Industry Association Music Canada is a Toronto-based, non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, artists, manufacture, production, promotion and distribution of music in Canada... |
Gold |
| Mexico | Gold |
Album credits
- Audio masteringAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
: Tom Coyne - Management: Larry RudolphLarry RudolphLarry Rudolph is a personal manager. He is best known as the manager of Britney Spears from 1999–2004, briefly in 2007, and 2008-present.-Career:...
- Creative directorCreative DirectorA creative director is a position often found within the graphic design, film, music, fashion, advertising, media or entertainment industries, but may be useful in other creative organizations such as web development and software development firms as well....
: Jackie Murphy - Art direction and design: Meghan Foley, Dan Ichimoto
Release history
| Country | Date |
|---|---|
| Standard Edition, CD+DVD Edition | |
| Worldwide | November 10, 2009 |
| Europe | November 24, 2009 |
| Boxset | |
| Worldwide | November 24, 2009 |