When the movie Bohemian Rhapsody exploded in 2018, the album re-entered the Top 10 globally. A new generation discovered that they didn't need to listen to Jazz or Hot Space in full; they just needed the sugar rush of the singles.
However, the format is often a source of tension. Record labels have the contractual right to issue compilations, sometimes against an artist's wishes. Prince famously changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol in a dispute over ownership of his master recordings, which included control over his greatest hits packages. Artists also struggle with the "greatest hits trap": the pressure to play these songs live, ad infinitum, while feeling that their more recent, experimental work is ignored by audiences expecting the familiar anthems. The Greatest Hits