It's that time of year again when the endless, and always entertaining, year-end lists come out. The search engines have already had their say with Yahoo's top searches of 2009 , the most popular search questions of 2009 , and the top search term of the year . But no series of year-in-review articles would be complete without the hottest selections from the iTunes Store--one of the most popular retail stores on the planet.

The editorial team at iTunes spent some time before the holidays mulling over what they believe to be the best of the best in all of iTunes' departments including Music, Movies, Television, Podcasts, Audiobooks, and of course, iPhone Apps. You can check out the complete iTunes Rewind 2009: The Best of the Year compilation on the iTunes Store, but here are some highlights from each category.

Artist of the Year: Michael Jackson

Album of the Year: Only By The Night by Kings of Leon

Best New Artist: Lady Gaga

Best Alternative Album: Union byThe Boxer Rebellion

Best Country Album: Fearless by Taylor Swift

Hip-Hop/ Rap Best Single: Empire State of Mind by Jay-Z (featuring Alicia Keys)

Best Pop Single: Wonderful by Gary Go

Best New Rock Artist: Charm City Devils

Best Singer/Songwriter Album Reissue: Leonard Cohen (Live at the Isle of Wight 1970)

Best R&B/Soul Single: Pretty Wings by Maxwell

Movies

Up
Star Trek
The Hangover
Adventureland
Tyson
Inglorious Basterds
500 Days of Summer
Sunshine Cleaning
Drag Me To Hell: Unrated Director's Cut
Sin Nombre
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
Coraline

More: http://pcworld.com/article/185663/