The year it all broke

Britney Spears got all the headlines. Miley Cyrus got all the complaints. And Radiohead got all the praise.

It was an eventful and pivotal year in popular music.

While CD sales declined big time (to no one's surprise), the rules of the game began to change significantly. Radiohead became the most prominent act to let fans decide how much to pay to download an album (and a very good one, at that). MySpace.com launched hit singles by complete unknowns, including Colbie Caillat and Ingrid Michaelson. The Eagles gave Wal-Mart the exclusive rights to their first studio album in nearly 30 years. Prince distributed 2.8 million copies of his new CD free in a London newspaper. And Madonna signed a revolutionary new multi-purpose deal with concert promoter Live Nation to encompass recording, management and concerts.

The music-industry machine is broken. The visionary artists aren't trying to fix it; they are merely trying to invent their own maverick models, which may not work for other artists.

Miley Cyrus, 15, who plays the uber-popular tween queen Hannah Montana on TV's Disney Channel, proved that the current concert-ticketing system doesn't work. The most in-demand tour ticket in history, Miley caused a massive controversy among moms this fall. It was a volatile combination of newbie concert-ticket buyers -- who don't hesitate to spoil their little Madelines -- battling resourceful scalpers equipped with high-tech software. In the end, the Moms blamed Miley and her poorly run fan club and touring operation.

The only hotter ticket was Led Zeppelin's one-day blockbuster reunion this month in London, which elicited a staggering 1 million requests for the 20,000 tickets.

Reunions ruled all year, with the Police, Van Halen, Genesis, Smashing Pumpkins and the Spice Girls (?) all hitting the road.

No pop figure garnered more attention in 2007 than Britney Spears -- for all the wrong reasons. Bad parenting, bad hair, bad performance on the MTV Video Music Awards. Actually, her CD -- remember she released "Blackout"? -- wasn't half-bad. But no one really cared.

Speaking of train wrecks, by year's end Amy Winehouse was garnering more attention for bad behavior than for her music. That's too bad, because she is my artist of the year. Her "Back to Black," a forward-looking retro R&B collection with modern lyrics and seductive vocals by the unforgettable young woman with beehive hair, Cleopatra eyeliner and sailor tattoos, was my favorite album of 2007. Throw in the U.S. release of Winehouse's 2003 U.K. debut, "Frank," a jazzier but equally sharp-tongued effort, and she had a one-two knockout punch.

Runners-up for artist of the year are Arcade Fire, an original, visionary band that made a superb album and presented an even better concert, and Robert Plant, whose left-field collaboration with Alison Krauss proved to be as inspiringly understated and organic as his reuniting with Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham was inspiringly obvious and thrilling.

What do we have to look forward to in 2008? A Led Zeppelin reunion tour; trials for R. Kelly (for child porn) and Phil Spector (for murder, once again); Jersey Week in the Twin Cities (Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi and the Frankie Valli-inspired musical "Jersey Boys" will all be here in mid-March), and Britney's 16-year-old baby sister, actress Jamie Lynn Spears, showing off her parenting skills.

Jon Beam • 612-673-1719