Despite cries that the music industry as we know it is dying, more music is being released by the year. And 2007 was no different. From emo to screamo to R&B to hip-hop, 2007 featured a little something for everyone. Here are four highlights.
 

ALBUM THAT WASN'T NEARLY AS GOOD AS WE WERE ALL LED TO BELIEVE
THE WINNER: Graduation by Kanye West's
THE 210 TAKE: OK, so it sold nearly 1 million copies in its first week and received more Grammy nominations than any other album. Even so, those sales were based partially on West's much-publicized sales showdown with 50 Cent, and you can't consider a Grammy nomination to be a sign of greatness (even Milli Vanilli won one). Simply put, aside from a couple of well-produced numbers (“Stronger,” “Homecoming”), Graduation is marred with been there, done that beats and lame, second-rate raps (“Drunk and Hot Girls” might be the worst hip-hop song of 2007). Want a real rap album? Check out Jay-Z's American Gangster.

THE ‘PROOF THAT THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS BAD PUBLICITY' AWARD
THE WINNER: Amy Winehouse
THE 210 TAKE: Though it was released in late 2006, Winehouse's Back To Black didn't make a real splash in the U.S. until 2007. On the strength of the hit single “Rehab,” the album has since sold more than 5 million copies worldwide. However, aside from that one single, none of the album's songs have made much of a dent on the U.S. radio charts. Not that they needed to. Winehouse, with enough drug exploits and tales of self-mutilation and hotel room trashery to warrant her own “Behind the Music,” has stayed in the public eye, and Back To Black has benefited.

THE ‘MAYBE THERE IS SUCH A THING AS BAD PUBLICITY AFTER ALL' AWARD
THE WINNER: Britney Spears
THE 210 TAKE: Though Britney's Blackout debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard
Top 200 Albums Chart in November, its sales have fallen drastically since, and it will more than likely become the first Britney release not to achieve platinum status in the U.S. It didn't help that Britney showed up bloated and seemingly out of it at the MTV Video Music Awards, or that infamous tales of drug use and child neglect saturated gossip blogs for all of 2007. Or maybe music buyers have simply learned what many of us did long ago ..... Britney isn't exactly the best singer.

THE ‘YOU DON'T NEED TO WIN AMERICAN IDOL TO BECOME A SUPERSTAR' AWARD
THE WINNER: Chris Daughtry
THE 210 TAKE: Daughtry, who finished fourth on the fifth season of “American Idol,” watched his self-titled debut explode upon its release in late 2006. While Daughtry became the fastest-selling debut rock album in Soundscan history with more than 3 million copies sold since its release, the top-three finishers from “Idol's” fifth season — Taylor Hicks, Katharine McPhee and Elliott Yamin — combined to sell fewer than 2 million copies with their respective debuts.