clik4music

Eminem taking No.1 in the chart for the best selling artist of the decade in the USA could have been expected yet the next four top-sellers may surprise.

The Noughties saw enormous change in the music industry but it seems there was a lot of "comfort listening" and buying. We certainly did not expect The Beatles to make such a strong showing, even though they have such a rich back catalog. But then, wow, two country stars in  quick succession steal the chart. No.5 didn't surprise us, although we had imagined Britney would have been higher up the list.

See our exclusive chart below for full details.

The numbers keep proving the point -  girls, especially in music, are WAY more popular than guys. In the list of Top 10 Viral Videos of 2009 there are 6 girls and 1 guy ... and one movie. (And, it might be said, the girls can claim the movie too.)

The other two slots are also for a guy, but are two "sad loss" entries for Michael Jackson (for Thriller and Beat It as you might expect). The No.1 slot went to New Moon from the Twilight Saga. But the numbers point one way only:

• 9 music videos
• 1 movie trailer

And after that the breakdown is:

•   2. Beyonce - Single Ladies
•   3. Lady Gaga - Poker Face
•   5. Susan Boyle - Britain's Got Talent
•   7. Miley Cyrus - The Climb
•   9. Mariah Carey - Touch My Body
• 10. Lady Gaga - Just Dance

Yes, these results are as much about marketing and the web as about taste. But, again, it's the girls and women who dominate.

A fuller meaning of the results is the big-mouth metrosexual males - wimps the lot of them - are nowhere to be seen. We have no great interest in the blatherings of Kayne West, Ne-Yo, Akon or Lil Wayne - neither their limp music, weak voices nor bloated opinions.

In short, Girls Rock!!

See also our story on the Rolling Stone Top Singles and Top Albums of the Decade.

Looks like there will be an X Factor hat-trick in the charts if Everybody In Love by JLS goes to the top of the singles chart in the UK.

It would follow Cheryl Cole’s Fight For This Love from last week, and Bad Boys by Alexandra Burke featuring Flo Rida the previous week.

The guest appearances on the show are often the most interesting - in terms of music - and it looks like all three acts have benefitted. There is so much pointless screaming and shouting about the non-singing of the contestants that the guests can bring a little bit of reality back to proceedings.

For example, X Factor 2009 has just one actual singer - Lucie Jones (photo). In case you think that is harsh then your ears have been blocked with all the screeching about the other contestants.

Stacey has a good voice but no feel for the music, while Rachel was voted off because she shouts more than sings. As to the boys, every one of them is there because of their looks and/or their attitude - not one of them has been able to hold the melody of a single song, let alone remember all the words or give a convincing performance.

I used the word ‘performance’ because that is very different to being entertaining or charming or pretty. All of the boys can do those last three things to greater or lesser degrees, which is why they were chosen by the judges. Those choice look like they could ruin X Factor as a singing competition totally. This year the show is a karoake popularity contest - which the most entertaining clown(s) may win.

As to actual singing and performing - there is just Lucie.

For a clean and crisp - and, for our money, accurate - review of the pros and cons of the big name online music sites, go here: http://blog.clik4music.com/.

There are surprises too, and comments have already started to appear with queries and challenges.

Have the top 3 for American Idol already been "chosen"? The latest promotional photo of the Top 11 has an interesting arrangement of the contestants.

The 3 that we have consistenty picked throughout the heats as being the best singers and having the most talent are front and centre - Allison Iraheta, Adam Lambert and Alexis Grace!

Are we just psychic or does the photographer totally agree with us? Stay tuned for more results this week.

There has long been a huge difference between the high CD prices in the UK and the rest of the world. Now digital music is going to suffer as well. Following its previous restriction of Pandora, the UK music licence body PRS has now, in effect, started to block YouTube for UK residents. The UK music industry will continue to wither and collapse as the licensing body remains obsessed about money and, it must be said, greed.