We here at MTV News are a pretty diverse bunch, so the views expressed by some in our more official-type year-end lists (like James Montgomery's Top 25 Albums and Best Songs, and the Mixtape Monday Awards) are not necessarily shared by the rest of the newsroom. So, this week we gave everyone else a chance to chime in with their own lists and explain (or defend) their choices. You'll find the staff faves of 2008 all together here.
By Jocelyn Vena, Writer
Let's face it, 2008 was the year of the pop artist. And, since I am the resident pop expert around these parts, I decided to make my top 10 list all about the greatest pop albums to hit the charts in the last 12 months.
10. Pink, Funhouse: Her tough-girl attitude paid off with this album. She performed her single, "So What," at the VMAs and soon after, it was everywhere. Read More...
Hey there, Beyoncé.We here at MTV News have a theory you might be interested in hearing. 
It used to be that the Grammy nominations were a relatively staid affair, one held very early in the morning in a nondescript banquet hall of a hotel in New York or Los Angeles. A group of musicians — usually a rock band, a pop tart, some country songbird and always Jimmy Jam and/or Terry Lewis — were herded onto a platform, thrust before microphones and forced to read off the names of nominees. Someone would inevitably make a joke about being hung over. Barely awake reporters and cameramen watched listlessly. There was usually also coffee and Danishes for everyone. 
Oh, 
How can I tell Taylor Swift is one of music's biggest artists? Not by record sales — although her self-titled debut has sold more than 3.5 million copies — and not by the company she's kept, because