Last month singer/actress Hillary Duff released her first greatest hits package �Most Wanted�, which debuted at number one on Billboard�s album charts. It was the teen queen�s first number one record and most successful selling debut ever which begs the question. How does a teenager who has released only two albums and one Christmas compilation release a �Best of� compilation?

�Used to be a time when a band put out a �Greatest Hits/Best Of� compilation midway through their career,� wrote IGN writer Spence D. in his recent review of Duff�s �Most Wanted�. �Times have changed, however, and the new wave of pop stars tend to crank out �Greatest Hits/Best Of�, live and remix albums at the drop of a hat,� he added.

Journalist Nekesa Mumbi Moody recently wrote a very insightful and intriguing article for the Associated Press detailing the over flooding of the market with �Best of� compilations from artists associated with only one hit or a string of minor hits.

In the article Moody writes about some of the more questionable greatest-hits collections that have popped up in recent years including Duff�s �Most Wanted�, Britney Spears�  �Greatest Hits: My Prerogative,� (a retrospective of Spears� six year recording career), �Toy Soldiers: The Best of Martika� (one hit wonder from the summer of 1989); �The Best of Mandy Moore,� (known more as an actress than singer) and �The Best of O.D.B.,� (the late troubled hip hop artist who spent time in prison during his short career but did release the solid album �N***a Please� in 1999).

In an online post on eBaum�s World forum one disgruntled individual scathingly attacked the tendencies of pop stars, most notably Hillary Duff, to release hits packages and denounced the people that purchased them saying, �Who the hell releases a greatest hits package after two albums?  (Referring to Duff). �If you want the hit singles that badly, record them off the radio, download them, or buy the single discs! Otherwise, stop being so cheap and buy the freakin albums!�

The individual then listed three possible reasons for Duff to release a hits package so early. They were as follows:

a) They (music executives) figure her career is pretty much over, so might as well put it out and make as much money off of her while they still can.

b) New strategy to fight illegal downloading: release greatest hits packages after a couple of albums so people who just want the hits won�t have to wait several years to pick up a compilation.

c) Both... but mostly a

The shelf life of a teen pop star is very short so the tendency to over-saturate the market with countless recordings and merchandise is regarded as a way to fully capitalize on what is a viewed as a limited opportunity to make a profit.

�It�s all about money as usual,� said Canadian writer Marc Gervais. �Usually artists don�t have much of a choice when it comes to their own greatest hits packages.�

�Hits compilations are usually released to fill a contract obligation or when an artist leaves their old record company,� said Gervais. �The company then releases a hits album to squeeze every last amount of money they can before the artist starts making money with a new record company.�

That seems to be the case with new and old artists alike regardless if they�re pop, rock, hip-hop or country artists. �Best of� albums are an easy way to make money without spending much on making a brand new record.

�I guess with music becoming so disposable, things just happen so much faster now,� said Collective Soul guitarist Dean Roland in Nekesa Mumbi Moody�s article. �The short answer to the whole thing is it comes out to a money issue. The labels can put a greatest-hits album out and it�s going to sell.�

Seventies rockers turned 90�s video darlings Aerosmith have had their share of hits compilations and live records but the band insists that it�s not there doing but the record company�s decision.

�Y�know, you sign a multimillion-dollar contract, and the label says you owe them four studio albums,� said Aerosmith front man Steven Tyler in a 2002 interview with Maxim magazine.

� What they don�t tell you is that they�ve also got Greatest Hits tucked in there, Greatest Greatest Hits, the Not-So-Greatest Hits, the Outtakes, Classics Live, and Live Classics. They just keep releasing whatever they want to as long as the band�s relevant. Unfortunately for us, we�ve remained relevant. It�s f**king insane,� added Tyler.

According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the top selling hits albums in U.S history are:  1.) Eagles �Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975� (28 Million). 2.) Billy Joel �Hits Vol. I & II� (21 million). 3.) The Beatles �1967-1970� (16 Million). 4.) Elton John �Greatest Hits� (16 Million). 5.) The Beatles (1962-1966) (15 Million).

The Eagles Greatest Hits album overcame Michael Jackson�s Thriller to become the top selling album in the U.S of all-time. It�s very unlikely that compilations from mall queen Tiffany or early 90�s rap act PM Dawn will appear on this list any time soon.

It can be said that the music industry�s short attention span coupled with an even shorter shelf space retailers offer has led to this fluctuation of unnecessary �Best of� compilations.

�Everyone is vying for limited space in an ever crowded market and artists have to get their product out to as many people as possible,� said writer Marc Gervais. �I can�t tell you how many times I go to a record store and an album I want that contains a certain song is never in stock so a hits album is good in that regard since it may contain the songs you want.�

It seems the days when hits albums were summary points to an artist career and not just cash grabs are over. The hits package used to be an integral part of a fans collection for those fans that owned all or most of a certain artists discography.  Now a hits album may be the only record that is bought from a certain artist.

The longevity and viability of artists has changed over the years, as has the music industry as a whole. Other than a handful of contemporary artists nobody seems destined to release the next �Hot Rocks� (The Rolling Stones) or �Smash Hits� (The Jimi Hendrix Experience) or even something on par with the latest Guns n� Roses hits album.

�I just bought Pearl Jam�s hits record and that is a hell of a �best of� CD,� said Gervais. �Hits albums like Pearl Jam�s �Rearviewmirror (Greatest Hits 1991-2003)� and Neil Young�s 2004 hits record are timeless and will always have a place within people�s hearts.�

�It�s soundtrack music to people�s lives, not some flash in the pan some teeny bopper dances to in her room,� Gervais said. �This years hot new hits compilation from the latest mini pop is next years bargain bin item. Like seriously, are people really going to remember Lindsay Lohan in fifty years?�

Trent McMartin