iTunes Lists The Best Of 2012

(By Korina Lopez, USA TODAY, 13 December 2012)

Hopping on the year-end-list train is the mighty iTunes. Apple's all-encompassing media library/store names the top-performing music artists, TV shows, books and movies.  Not a lot of surprises here. Adele took the No. 1 spot on the top albums list while Breaking Bad was the most-watched TV show. Congratulations to Mumford & Sons, too: Both of their albums landed on the top 10 list.

And the other spots go to...

Top albums
1 Adele, 21
2 Taylor Swift, Red
3 Mumford & Sons, Babel
4 One Direction, Up All Night
5 Fun., Some Nights
6 Mumford & Sons, Sigh No More
7 The Lumineers, The Lumineers
8 John Mayer, Born and Raised
9 Maroon 5, Overexposed
10 Jason Aldean, Night Train

Top tracks

1 Carly Rae Jepsen, Call Me Maybe
2 Gotye, Somebody That I Used to Know
3 Fun., We Are Young
4 Maroon 5, Payphone (feat. Wiz Khalifa)
5 Nicki Minaj, Starships
6 One Direction, What Makes You Beautiful
7 Kelly Clarkson, Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)
8 Fun., Some Nights
9 Flo Rida, Whistle
10 Flo Rida, Wild Ones (feat. Sia)

Of course, the staff have their say, too. Here's what they picked:

Music
Album: Grizzly Bear, Shields
Song: fun. featuring Janelle Monae, We Are Young
Breakthrough album: The Lumineers, The Lumineers

Movies
Blockbuster: The Avengers
Director: Moonrise Kingdom, Wes Anderson
Discovery: Beasts of the Southern Wild
Star-Making Performance: The Hunger Games, Jennifer Lawrence

TV shows
Show: Breaking Bad, Season 5
Episode: "The Weekend," Homeland Season 1
Debut: Girls, Season 1
Cast: Happy Endings, Season 3

Books
Novel: The Dog Stars, Peter Heller
Nonfiction: Behind the Beautiful Forevers, Katherine Boo
Young Adult Novel: The Fault in Our Stars, John Green
Multi-Touch Books: Fashion, DK Publishing

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2012/12/13/itunes-best-of-2012/1767219/#