Apple released the lists of iTunes' top 10 most-downloaded albums and songs of 2007 ... and, as it turns out, downloaders are a lot like you (or your parents).

Maroon 5's It Won't Be Soon Before Long was the year's most-downloaded album, followed by Amy Winehouse's Back to Black and Kanye West's Graduation. Fergie's "Big Girls Don't Cry (Personal)" was the most-downloaded song, ahead of West's "Stronger" and Soulja Boy's ubiquitous "Crank That."

The top 10s are perhaps most shocking because they are so similar to the Billboard albums chart and Hot 100 singles chart, both of which measure sales at traditional retailers (as well as online sales). To wit: Billboard ranks Daughtry's self-titled debut, Linkin Park's Minutes to Midnight and the "High School Musical 2" soundtrack as three of the best-selling albums of 2007, and they each appear on the iTunes list too. Meanwhile, the most-downloaded songs list features Hot 100 mainstays like Akon, the Plain White T's and Gwen Stefani.  [Source: Mtv.com]

The best-selling albums of the year, according to Apple :
1. Maroon 5 - It Won't Be Soon Before Long
2. Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
3. Kanye West - Graduation
4. Daughtry - Daughtry
5. Colbie Caillat - Coco
6. Linkin Park - Minutes to Midnight
7. Various artists - "High School Musical 2" soundtrack
8. Timbaland - Timbaland Presents: Shock Value
9. John Mayer - Continuum
10. Various artists - "Hairspray" soundtrack

The best-selling songs of the year, according to Apple :
1. Fergie - "Big Girls Don't Cry (Personal)"
2. Gwen Stefani - "The Sweet Escape"
3. Plain White T's - "Hey There Delilah"
4. Avril Lavigne - "Girlfriend"
5. Fergie - "Glamorous"
6. Kanye West - "Stronger"
7. Maroon 5 - "Makes Me Wonder"
8. Akon - "Don't Matter"
9. Timbaland (featuring Keri Hilson & D.O.E.) - "The Way I Are"
10. Shop Boyz - "Party Like a Rock Star"

For once this is a list that pretty much makes sense to me. The only one on this list that I have a hard time with is Shop Boyz- "Party Like a Rock Star". Although I remember it being a pretty popular song, I wouldn't have imagined it being in the top 10 best selling songs of the year. 



Aaron Fields is the Sales Marketing Coordinator for KSTW-TV in Seattle. All opinions expressed in this column are strictly his.