Tiger Woods Remains Top Earning Athlete in America

     Golfer Tiger Woods might have lost millions of dollars in endorsements following his admittance of infidelity, but he still remains the top earning American athlete according to Sports Illustrated.

     Gatorade, AT&T and Accenture all dropped Woods after his off-course problems became public knowledge, costing him an untold millions of dollars.  He still walked away with $10 million after winning the FedEx Cup bonus, giving him a comfortable lead on SI's list.

     Wood's estimated total of earnings over $90 million was down $9 million from his 2009 earnings, but still almost  $30 million more than No. 2 , golfer Phil Mickelson.  I guess if you're making bank, being a douchebag and cheating on your wife is barely a dent in your wallet then, right?  Still, Woods has to pay up.  His ex-wife, Elin Nordegren, is reportedly getting $100 from the divorce.

     In third place is boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. making $60,250,000 and rounding out the top 5 is LeBron James with $45,779,912 and Alex Rodriguez with $37,000,000.

     This year's list marked the NFL's best showing with 15 players making the top 50.  The NBA was the top league on the list with 16 slots filled.  MLB players took up 13 of the spots and three NASCAR drivers made the list.

     See the rest of the top list after the jump.

Justin Bieber Beats Out Lady Gaga for Most Viewed YouTube Video

     Tween singing sensation Justin Bieber recently over took pop artist Lady Gaga for the most viewed video on YouTube.  Bieber's "Baby" featuring Ludacris topped Gaga's "Bad Romance" yesterday afternoon.  "Baby" has managed to receive 246,353,903 views.  "Bad Romance", the former top video, has received 245,688,071 views.  In distant third is the classic baby video, "Charlie bit my finger".

     In terms of music video, Miley Cyrus has a strong YouTube presence.  Her "Party In The U.S.A." is the third most watched video, while "7 Things" lands at No. 5 and "The Climb" at No. 7.  Strangely, Pitbull's "I Know You Want Me" is No. 4 (Who watches that?).  Lady Gaga also placed a second video in the top ten with "Just Dance" at No. 6.

     See the full list after the jump.

Nielsen SoundScan Announces Decade's Best Selling Albums, Singles

Nielsen SoundScan, the organization responsible for tracking sales for the music industry, has announced the decade's best selling albums and singles.

The Beatles' 2000 hits compilation 1 tops the album list, selling over 11 million copies. "Low" a hit for Flo Rida in 2007 is the most purchased single of the decade with over 5 million downloads.

A quick look at the list shows the dramatic shift the record industry has undergone in the 2000s. No album on the list was released after 2004, and the oldest song is from 2007.

At the turn of the century, album sales were at a record high, but illegal downloading soon began eating away at sales. iTunes and other digital downloading service arose as a legal alternative, but it changed consumer music buying habits making 99 cent songs the purchase of choice over a full length album.

Eminem is the only artist with two albums on the list while Lady Gaga scores two singles on that respective list.

Best Selling Albums of the Decade in U.S.

1. The Beatles, 1 (2000) - 11,499,000 copies sold
2. *NSYNC, No Strings Attached (2000) - 11,112,000
3. Norah Jones, Come Away With Me (2002) - 10,546,000
4. Eminem, The Marshall Mathers LP (2000) - 10,204,000
5. Eminem, The Eminem Show (2002) - 9,799,000
6. Usher, Confessions (2004) - 9,712,000
7. Linkin Park, Hybrid Theory (2000) - 9,663,000
8. Creed, Human Clay (1999) - 9,491,000
9. Britney Spears, Oops! … I Did It Again (2000) - 9,185,000
10. Nelly, Country Grammar (2000) - 8,461,000

Best Selling Singles of the Decade

1. Flo Rida feat. T-Pain - “Low” (2007) - 5,214,000
2. Lady Gaga feat. Colby O’Donis - “Just Dance” (2008) - 4,690,000
3. Jason Mraz - “I’m Yours” (2008) - 4,619,000
4. Timbaland feat. OneRepublic - “Apologize” (2007) - 4,439,000
5. The Black Eyed Peas - “Boom Boom Pow” (2009) - 4,349,000
6. Soulja Boy Tell’em - “Crank That” (2007) - 4,315,000
7. Lady Gaga - “Poker Face” (2008) - 4,200,000
8. Coldplay - “Viva la Vida” (2008) - 4,140,000
9. Taylor Swift - “Love Story” (2008) - 4,005,000
10. Katy Perry - “Hot N Cold” (2008) - 3,945,000

Britney Spears' "Toxic" Named "Sexiest Music Video of All Time"

British newspaper the Telegraph reported both the top ten sexiest as well as least sexiest music videos of all time.

The lists, a result of an online poll by music video website muzu.tv, reveals that either we're living in the sexiest era in the history of mankind, or that people who use the Internet have a compulsive attitude about sexiness.

Britney Spear's Joseph Kahn directed clip for "Toxic" topped the list. "She Wolf" by Shakira was runner-up and "Beat Again" by British boy band JLS came in third.

Eight of the top ten sexiest videos were released this decade, and four of them ("She Wolf", "Beat Again", "Untouchable" by British girl group Girls Aloud, and "Single Ladies" by Beyonce) are a year old or less. Have video producers really brought sexy back in such a dramatic way these past ten years?

The least sexy list was topped by Madonna's "Hung Up". Her John Travolta inspired disco video barely beat out "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga. The "Least Sexy" list is a lot less 2000s-centric than the other one, with Pink's "Get The Party Started" the only other clip from the decade to make the top ten.

"So was this just the most roundabout way of saying that 20-somethings are hotter than 50-somethings? Go figure!" said chachwitablog on Idolator.

Let's be honest, if you say "Toxic" is the sexiest video ever, "Hung Up" can't be the least sexiest. "Hung Up" is what Britney is going to be doing in 30 years.

"I think number one and two in the Least Sexy category points to the general public’s fear and hatred of leotards," said Nicolars, another Idolator commenter.

People need to quit hating on leotards and realize that "Jump In My Car" by David Hasselhoff is much much worse than "Hung Up".



Sexiest Music Videos "of All Time"
1. "Toxic" - Britney Spears
2. "She Wolf" - Shakira
3. "Beat Again" - JLS
4. "Untouchable" - Girls Aloud
5. "Spinning Around" - Kylie Minogue
6. "Umbrella" - Rihanna
7. "Love, Sex, Magic" - Ciara feat. Justin Timberlake
8. "Pray" - Take That
9. "Single Ladies" - Beyonce
10. "Addicted To Love" - Robert Palmer

Least Sexiest Music Videos "of All Time"
1. "Hung Up" - Madonna
2. "Poker Face" - Lady Gaga
3. "Wannabe" - Spice Girls
4. "Get the Party Started" - Pink
5. "Never Gonna Give You Up" - Rick Astley
6. "You Are Not Alone" - Michael Jackson
7. "Do What You Like" - Take That
8. ""Achy Breaky Heart" - Billy Ray Cyrus
9. "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" - Wham!
10. "Jump In My Car" - David Hasslehoff

Top Twenty Biggest Selling Singles of the Decade Announced

"Robert of the Raddish", a blogger for Y! Music posted the top twenty biggest selling singles of the decade today. The article claims that every song on the list has sold over 5 million copies but the article is absent of any other numbers and there are zero sources to back any of this. I have serious doubts about the validity of the article because 1. I don't believe that many people bought "My Humps" and 2. The New York Post said "Womanizer" is Britney's biggest selling single.

Regardless, the decade is almost over and I am ready to overwhelmed with all manner of lists. This list is devoid of rock songs save one Green Day track and, it's dominated by pop stars. 80% of the singles were released by female pop singers. Shakira leads with four entries including the alleged best selling single of the 00s, "Hips Don't Lie". Britney Spears is the only other artist with multiple entries, landing three right next to each other.

Another interesting thing to note is how many of these songs are still relatively new. Two of the songs, "Oops!...I Did It Again" and "Stan" were released in 2000 giving them almost ten years to rack up sales but "Womanizer", "I Kissed A Girl", "Just Dance", "Bleeding Love", and "So What" are all less than eighteen months old. That equates to a quarter of the songs on this list not even being two years old showing how dominant a player in music sales iTunes has become.

Once again, not too sure how legit this list is but, for what it's worth, take a look.
1. "Hips Don't Lie" - Shakira
2. "Crazy In Love" - Beyonce
3. "My Humps" - The Black Eyed Peas
4. "Toxic" - Britney Spears
5. "Womanizer" - Britney Spears
6. "Oops!...I Did It Again" - Britney Spears
7. "Stan" - Eminem
8. "Low" - Flo Rida
9. "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" - Green Day
10. "I Kissed A Girl" - Katy Perry
11. "Just Dance" - Lady Gaga
12. "Bleeding Love" - Leona Lewis
13. "Hung Up" - Madonna
14. "We Belong Together" - Mariah Carey
15. "So What" - Pink
16. "Umbrella" - Rihanna
17. "Whenever Wherever" - Shakira
18. "Underneath Your Clothes" - Shakira
19. "La Tortura" - Shakira
20. "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" - Kylie Minogue

Readers' Choice Singles of the Year

Thanks to everyone who participated in the poll. 17 Tracks readers have voted Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" the song of the year. "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz came in second followed by Britney Spears' "Womanizer". Perhaps the most intersting song to make the top ten is "Hillary" by local Provo band and winners of Muse Music's 2008 Battle of the Bands. Well done boys -- you should have beat David Archuleta, and you nearly did. The winner of the free CD will be announced...shortly. I'm on vacation now, can you blame me for taking forever?
1. "Viva La Vida" - Coldplay
2. "I'm Yours" - Jason Mraz
3. "Womanizer" - Britney Spears
4. "Pork & Beans" - Weezer
5. "Low" - Flo Rida
6. "Forever" - Chris Brown
7. "Love Story" - Taylor Swift
8. "I Kissed A Girl" - Katy Perry
9. "Crush" - David Archuleta
10. "Hillary" - The Yaks

End of an Era: Ten Years of TRL

Despite the fact that MTV hasn't played a full length music video since 2005, its flagship music video program, Total Request Live, has remained on the air up until its final episode last night. TRL, which was created in the hopeful pre-9/11 climate marked by the rise of teen pop, has been on the air for ten years. To commemorate its run, MTV aired the TRL finale featuring Carson Daly, Beyonce, and the top ten most important music videos of the era. Of course, in traditional TRL mode, the videos were NOT shown in their entirety. I guess that's what YouTube's for, right? Britney topped the list, just in time for Circus to leak in its entirety all over the net. Kid Rock's inclusion makes me happy. I'll bet Kanye will be PISSED when he finds out MTV dissed him again.

10. "Hey Ya!" - OutKast
9. "What's My Age Again?" - Blink 182
8. "Yeah" - Usher & Co.
7. "Crazy In Love" - Beyonce feat. Jay-Z
6. "Bawitdaba" - Kid Rock
5. "Dirrty" - Christina Aguilera
4. "Bye Bye Bye" - N*Sync
3. "I Want It That Way" - Backstreet Boys
2. "The Real Slim Shady" - Eminem
1. "...Baby One More Time" - Britney Spears

These are the top 50 songs to ever chart on the Billboard Hot 100. (Click on the chart to see a larger image.) How did they determine this list? Billboard explains it all here. Chubby Checker's "The Twist" is the top song of all time. It's actually the only song to ever hit #1 two different years, once in 1960 and once in 1962. There are three songs that made the list that never made it to #1. They are LeAnn Rimes' "How Do I Live" (#4), Jewel's "Foolish Games/You Were Meant For Me" (#15), and OneRepublic's Timbaland-remixed "Apologize" (#50) all peaked at #2. The Bee Gees and Boyz II Men are tied with the most tracks on the list with three apiece. The Beatles and Mariah Carey scored two apiece. If Paul McCartney is counted in all his incarnations (with the Beatles, Wings, and solo) he comes in with four in the top 50. As a family, the Gibbs add a single by their brother Andy to their three Bee Gees hits.

17 Tracks Summer '08 Mix

Mixes are like time capsules. You make them, listen to them a few times, and then let them collect dust in the center console of your car. With the rise of iTunes playlists, mixes are becoming less necessary, which is a shame. They become snapshots of our musical tastes that we can look back on with both nostalgia and disgust. This weekend I had a ten hour drive through the desert and decided that I should make a mix to sum up the past three months. It would serve as both a reminder of summer '08 and provide better sound quality than my radio station tuning iPod would. Some of these tracks are summer blockbusters and deserve a place on the mix whether you like 'em or not. Others barley made a blip on radio waves but are so good that it would be a crime not to be included. Without further adieu, I present to you, the 17 Tracks Summer '08 Mix (in no particular order).







01. "If I Never See Your Face Again"
Artists: Maroon 5 feat. Rihanna
Albums: It Won't Be Soon Before Long and Good Girl Gone Bad Reloaded
Chart Placing: US #51 UK #28
Why: Rihanna had two #1's this summer and this song wasn't one of them. In fact, it is one of the few things that she touched that didn't turn to gold. Regardless, it made Rihanna more legit and it made Maroon 5 more new wave.







02. "Pork And Beans"
Artist: Weezer
Album: Weezer (The Red Album)
Chart Placing: US #64 UK #33 US Rock Chart #1
Why: The video alone makes this song a worthy candidate. However,the celebration of YouTube celebrities and culture aside, the song's remarks about Timbaland and taking pictures while looking in the mirror are so mid-to-late 00's it isn't funny.







03. "Spiralling"
Artist: Keane
Album: Perfect Symmetry
Chart Placing: UK #28
Why: "Spiralling" is hands down, the best free download of the year. It doesn't hurt that it sounds like a Killers track from the future or maybe the 80's (the future sounds like the 80's, doesn't it?) with Tom Chaplin giving his best Brandon Flowers impression. The album is due out in October featuring production from none other than Stuart Price.







04. "My Drive Thru"
Artists: Santogold, Julian Casablanca, Pharrell
Album: NA
Chart Placing: NA
Why: Another amazing free download. Each artist wrote their own track and then N.E.R.D. stitched each part together to produce the ultimate mash-up. Despite its three separate and distinct parts, "My Drive Thru" flows together flawlessly.







05. "4 Minutes"
Artists: Madonna & Justin Timberlake
Album: Hard Candy
Chart Placing: US #3 UK #1 US Dance Chart #1
Why: Let's be honest, the best part of the song is the beginning where Timbaland is mumbling about four minutes. As the anticipation reaches its climax, the rest of the song is a relative disappointment. Still, it's Madonna's biggest hit in eight years and the first time since 1989 that fourteen year olds know the words to one of her songs.







06. "Black And Gold"
Artist: Sam Sparro
Album: Sam Sparro
Chart Placing: UK #2
Why: Cool synthesizers slink along as Sparro describes looking up in wonder at the night sky. Sparro claims the song is about the very existence of God, which, if it's true, is the catchiest religious dance song of the century.







07. "Paper Planes"
Artist: M.I.A.
Album: Kala
Chart Placing: Currently US #5
Why: It took being featured on a film trailer and Rihanna's section of the Glow In The Dark tour, but M.I.A. has finally got a major hit on her hands. Like "I Kissed A Girl", this track should have angered a lot of people but for some reason didn't. Sure she was censored on Letterman, but everyone knows that all she wants to do is bang bang bang bang and take your money. (She's got more records than the KGB.)







08. "I Kissed A Girl"
Artist: Katy Perry
Album: One Of The Boys
Chart Placing: US #1 UK #1
Why: It should piss of gay rights activists because of its appropriation of homosexuality only OK if its girls and they are just playing. It should piss of conservatives because, well, it's about girls kissing girls. Somehow, no one is upset and it's a transatlantic #1 hit.







09. "L.E.S. Artistes"
Artist: Santogold
Album: Santogold
Chart Placing: US #27
Why: The L.E.S. isn't French, it stands for Lower East Side, as in the avant garde part of New York City. It comes across as an updated version of "Complicated", bashing pretentious starving artists but it's much more believable coming from someone who isn't "complicated" themselves.







10. "Dance Wiv Me"
Artist: Dizzee Rascal feat. Calvin Harris
Album: NA
Chart Placing: UK #1
Why: Great Britain has a love for disposable dance songs and this is a perfect example. How often does a black rapper feature a white pop songwriter on a track? Not often. If you find one, hold onto it tight.







11. "The Geeks Were Right"
Artist: The Faint
Album: Fasciinatiion
Chart Placing: NA
Why: In a summer of washed up sea monster sightings, rumors of Bigfoot finally being caught on the front page of Drudge Report, and fears of China on the rise, this horror song at least gave us something to dance to as we worried.







12. "Everyone Nose:
Artists: N.E.R.D. feat. Kanye West
Album: Seeing Sounds
Chart Placing: UK #41
Why: You'll never look at all the girls standing in the line for the bathroom the same way again. Sure it's about groupies using cocaine, but the beat is so sick that it doesn't matter.







13. "Bleeding Love"
Artist: Leona Lewis
Album: Spirit
Chart Placing: US #1 UK #1
Why: "Bleeding Love" is one of the few gems from a slew of sappy reality television winner songs. Written by Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic and Jesse McCartney, the track was better than any song ever recorded by either of them. You can bet Mariah Carey's blood boiled with envy upon hearing the distorted organ and Lewis' opening coos for the first time.







14. "Viva La Vida"
Artist: Coldplay
Album: Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends
Chart Placing: US #1 UK #1
Why: Coldplay officially took their spot as biggest band of the decade this summer and "Viva La Vida" was the song that took them there.







15. "Mercury"
Artist: Bloc Party
Album: Intimacy
Chart Placing: UK #16
Why: If Britney Spears was a male rock star who wielded a guitar rather than a female pop star who wielded her sexuality, this would be her "Toxic". The "4 Minutes"-esque horns blare amid the remixed shouts of "my mercury's in retrograde" and it takes you too high that you can't come down.







16. "Closer"
Artist: Ne-Yo
Album: The Year Of The Gentleman
Chart Placing: Currently US #10 UK #1
Why: If Usher was concerned about reclaiming his crown as King of Pop from Timberlake, this is the song he would have made. Apparently he's more concerned about being the first Usher than the next Michael Jackson but we still have "Closer" so everyone is a winner.







17. "Yes We Can"
Artist: Will.I.Am feat. Barack Obama
Album: NA
Chart Placing: NA
Why: Even if you are voting for McCain, you have to admit that this song is inspiring. It doesn't touch on energy policies, the war in Iraq, or abortion, and after the Saddleback debate, I'm not sure that Obama talking about real issues would sound as eloquent anyways. That wasn't the point though; it was all about hope.