Music lovers across the county will be buying the 100th edition of the Now! That's What I Call Music compilation series after its release today.

But record store owners in the county think the biggest-selling compilation brand in the world is missing an opportunity by not releasing the album on vinyl.

Now! 100 will feature Ariana Grande, George Ezra and Shawn Mendes in its latest edition, having launched way back in 1983.

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The last Now! compilation to be released on vinyl was Now! 35 back in 1996.

Nick Pygott, owner and manager of Vinylstore Jr on Castle Street in Canterbury is disappointed that the franchise did not release a special vinyl edition of the 100th edition of the series.

He said: "I won't be stocking the CD edition as we are a specialist vinyl store, but I remember buying the very first edition in 1983, probably from Woolworths.

"They haven't released a Now! edition on vinyl in years, I had hoped they would reverse that for the 100th version - so since my store is vinyl only I won't be stocking it.

"The longevity of the series is remarkable though.

"It's incredible that in the age of Spotify, where somebody could create a playlist with exactly the same songs on the Now! track listing, and for free, that people still opt to buy the compilation album.

"I still buy them too, my son collects them religiously and today I will buy the CD for him when it's in stores.

"It's the tradition of it, it sparks that collector's mentality in people and when they listen to certain editions it takes them back to the time and place that they first heard the song."

The Record Store in Ashford will be stocking the centenary edition of the series.

Deputy manager Mark Godden said: "The main success of the series is that it is very current and it doesn't really have any filler on the record.

"Back in the day, around the Now 1 era you used to get a lot of compilations with alternate recordings of tracks, tracks you're familiar with but recorded by someone else.

"It was always the original recordings with Now!

"It appeals to youth, people enjoy going back to older Now albums because I think it really connects with a time and a place and the music that's on that Now! album can very vividly take you back to a memory.

"The longevity of the series is remarkable..." - Nick Pygott, Vinylstore Jr

"We have people coming in looking for a record for their daughter for when they were born, they're very good gifts.

"Even buying for people's parents, and it's very strongly associated with the way life was.

"Music surrounds us all day, every day. It drips into your psyche, and the popular music ends up being very connected with all of our lives at different periods.

"People coming in buying those Now! albums, that's what they're looking for really."