Time Accelerated: Britney's Greatest Hits

When a performer (in this case: Britney) can go from an unknown kid to global celebrity to tabloid fodder to purveyor of a greatest hits album in five years, its clear that we live in accelerating times. It's the same phenomena that has us listening to 90s oldies on the radio and will soon have us tuning in for those nostalgic hits from the year 2000. Quaint.

But there is something about a greatest hits album that doesn't make sense in the age of digital music -- the era that we have acclerated into. Any fan can now build his own greatest hits collection on iTunes without the help of a record label by buying one song at a time. Further, iMixs, where fans compile their own playlists, package content in ways a label never could. Since these fans are not incentived to monetize some old catalog, they instead cross label, performer, etc. in ways that are often more compelling than pre-packaged, shrink-wrapped compilations.

Still, DSBPI wonders when the Best of Christina Aguilera will be hitting shelves.