Forbes' Louis Hau, one of the top three music business journalists out there, has a piece titled "The Year's Hottest New Music Stars." In it, Hau uses these measures to rate 2008's breakthrough artists: P2P searches and downloads, 2007 digital track and album sales, and mastertone sales.

Who came in the top ten? Lots of R&B singers and rappers, which isn't surprising given the metrics. In Hau's top ten are Souljah Boy, Kingston, Holiday, Jordan Sparks, Flo Rida, Plies, Huey, Hurricane Chris, OneRepublic and Colbie Caillat.

It's odd that metrics such as online video streams (that little company called YouTube) or MySpace page visits should be taken into account. "Nowadays, a marketing plan always has a significant element that is based around the Web," said Lee Trink, president of EMI Group's Capitol Records.

Call me old fashioned, but I don't think ringtone sales and downloads should be weighted the same as albums. A P2P download for which nobody parted with any money shouldn't be weighed the same as a purchase. And, of course, ticket sales should be part of the equation.

Hau thinks along those lines:

Many of those hitmakers fail to generate much in the way of album sales. With sales of albums dropping sharply across all genres, why does that matter? Because album sales can reflect how interested consumers are in a recording artist, as opposed to just their hit song. And that, in turn, can be a barometer of a music act's ability to sustain a career beyond their debut on the pop charts.

It should go without saying that eight or nine of the ten artists are going to fade into obscurity in the coming years. Their catalogs won't be worth much -- R&B and rap back catalogs don't sell nearly as well as rock and pop. Labels and artists will do what they do best: cash in as quickly as possible.

Hau's ranking system underscores the importance of looking beyond album sales. The album is far from dead, but it's more alive in some genres than others and is just one medium for a fan to enjoy music.

The one thing all ten artists have in common is huge radio play. Some things never change. If you're gonna aim for the bleachers, you need radio.