In the music industry, a "best of" often means a contractually obligated goodbye.

Especially when it comes to an artist like Calgary's affable Jann Arden, whose compilation Greatest Hurts CD hits stores today.

Arden, while maintaining a long and respected career, has done so without the fanfare and glamour -- Juno Awards not withstanding -- that most record executives would like to see from their female stars.

So, is Hurts Arden's swansong for a record company she's had an at-times rocky relationship with?

"No, it's not," Arden says from her tour bus, which is travelling to another two-show stand in Ontario.

But she does admit the 16-song CD, which features Arden hits, "overlooked little gems," two new tracks (Thing For You and Never Mind), a live version of Insensitive and a dance remix of Sleepless, is a project that she wasn't 100% convinced was necessary at first.

Part of what changed her mind was the input she had in choosing the final track listing, thereby setting the tone for the disc.

"There are certainly pros and cons for it," Arden admits.

"Part of me thinks it's a little early in the game to do this, but on the other hand there's also five or six tracks that were top five that didn't even make it on just because we didn't want to do 20 songs on a disc.

"When I looked over the stuff that I've done over the past 10 years, it was like 'Wow. That's a lot of songs.'

"They let me pick songs that I like, songs that were never top anything, they were just two or three of my favourite songs that I've always felt strongly about.

"They were like, 'Hey put it on. This is a best of compilation and it's your idea of what the best of is -- not ours.' "

All that aside, that doesn't mean she doesn't see the commercial sense of distilling her four-album, decade-long career into one specially priced album -- just in time for Christmas.

"Let's face it, it's not solely about art in this business, it's about commerce," Arden says.

"And in order for me to continue doing what I'm doing, I have to be responsible to my record company."

And, she says, putting a non-studio album out for the label to work also buys her some much-needed time.

Time to get her head together, take a breath, and eventually work on the followup to last year's Blood Red Cherry.

"I've been on the road for a year and a half so this gives me a chance to sit down and write ...," she says.

"People sort of sense that I'm at the end of touring for the next couple of years, in Canada anyway ...

"I'm doing six or seven symphony dates in March next year, but that's just real specific and it's not a big tour at all.

"That's it, I need to concentrate ... and just write some music."

Well, not just write music.

Arden also hopes to continue her burgeoning acting career, and will even see the pilot for a new TV show -- a variety show named after her 17th Avenue eatery The Arden Diner -- air next month.

Then, of course, there's another week of Edmonton performances of the play The Vagina Monologues -- shows she admits will be her last.

"This is truly my last week," she says with a laugh. "That's it -- no more vaginas for me."