Justin Timberlake swept iTunes’ 2013 awards, snagging the Album of the Year prize, as well as spots on the retailers’ lists for Top Tracks and Top Albums. Apple Inc. this week released its annual lists of best-sellers, as well as a handful of awards for songs, albums and podcasts that its editors handpicked. The lists are particularly interesting because of Apple’s market dominance, owning 63% of digital music downloads in the U.S. This year’s big winner is Justin Timberlake, who waltzes away with the award for Artist of the Year, as well as the No. 1 top-selling album with “The 20/20 Experience” and No. 10 best-selling track with “Mirrors.” Macklemore and Ryan Lewis also are whistling their way to the bank with the No. 1 track, “Thrift Shop,” and the No. 6 best-selling album, “The Heist.”
One caveat: Though the list includes Beyoncè’s surprise Dec. 13 release of her self-titled album, the list is based on downloads up to Dec. 16, capturing just a few days of her album’s sales, which has already broken iTunes’ records for first-week album sales. The strong performance all but ensures that Beyoncè’s album will be No. 1 on this week’s Billboard 200 list. Here is a partial list of the winners:
Artist of the Year: “The 20/20 Experience,” Justin Timberlake
Album of the Year: “The Heist,” Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Song of the Year: “Royals,” Lorde
Breakthrough Album: “Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City,” Kendrick Lamar
Top Albums:
“The 20/20 Experience,” Justin Timberlake
“Beyoncé,” Beyoncé
“Night Visions,” Imagine Dragons
“Magna Carta… Holy Grail,” JAY Z
“Nothing Was the Same,” Drake
“The Heist,” Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
“Pitch Perfect,” Various Artists
“Babel,” Mumford & Sons
“The Marshall Mathers LP2,” Eminem
“Random Access Memories,” Daft Punk
