Idolator

If there’s one thing to assess from looking over the list of Neilsen SoundScan’s best-selling albums and singles of the ’00s [via About.com], perhaps it’s what a drastic shift from an albums market to a singles market the music biz became in the latter half of the decade—thanks in no small part to the advent of illegal downloading.

The tally of the Top 10 albums of the decade, sales-wise, doesn’t contain a single LP released after 2004. And if we’re to underscore the point even further, the Beatles compilation 1 was the best-seller of 2000, with over 11 million copies sold, while Taylor Swift currently stands at the top in 2009 with Fearless, which moved 2.53 million units this year.

Hop below to see what CDs (remember those?) folks were buying in the early part of the new millenium, and what singles ended up cashing in once iTunes and other digital retailers came along. (Hint: Lady Gaga and Ryan Tedder non-fans will not be pleased.)

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

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