SWIFT GRABS THE SPOILS

Our final chart tally of the year goes to the Swift—Taylor, that is—as the young Country phenom caps an incredible year by landing back at #1 with her sophomore Big Machine album, Fearless, racking up 254k in sales, up almost 40%.

Another pair of dazzling divas follow, as Britney Spears’ Jive/ZLG album Circus drops down to #2, and Beyonce’s Columbia smash, I Am…Sasha Fierce, remains at #3.

Roadrunner’s Nickelback (#4) and Chop Shop/Atlantic’s Twilight soundtrack (#5) round out the Top 5.

The rest of the Top 10 includes Roc-a-Fella/IDJ’s Kanye West (#6), UMe’s Now 29 (#7, +30%), Columbia’s AC/DC Wal-Mart exclusive (#8, +33%), Disney’s High School Musical 3 (#9, +29%) and 19/RCA/RMG’s David Cook (#10, +18%).

That gives Doug Morris’ UMG two in the Top 10 (Taylor and Kanye), tied with Steve Barnett’s Team Columbia (Beyonce and AC/DC) and Barry Weiss’ BMG Label Group (Britney and Cook).

Atlantic’s Musiq Soulchild is the week’s top debut at #11. Other new entries include Geffen’s Common (#12), Epic’s Brandy (#15), Capitol R&B crooner Avant (#27) and Atlantic’s Zac Brown Band (#48). 19/Arista/RMG country star Carrie Underwood’s Carnival Ride reenters the chart at #50.

Leading gainers for the week are, not surprisingly, holiday-themed albums like Yo-Yo Ma’s Sony Classical release, Songs of Joy & Peace (#32-23, +78%), Decca’s Mamma Mia! soundtrack, building on the release of the DVD (#40-35, +61%), Atlantic’s Jason Mraz (#44-40, +55%), Mercury Nashville’s Sugarland (#36-33, +52%), LaFace/ZLG’s P!nk (#22-18, +46%), Hollywood’s Miley Cyrus (#24-20, +43%), Lyric Street’s Rascal Flatts (#25, +43%), Taylor Swift’s Big Machine debut (#28, +42%) and UMe’s Now Essential Christmas (#32, +40%).

Geffen’s Keyshia Cole, Island/IDJ’s Fall Out Boy, J/RMG’s Jamie Foxx and DGC/Interscope’s All American Rejects hit stores today, but since this is our last chart of the year, we’ll check back in 2009 for their progress.