And all along I thought Taylor Swift was a country singer.

Guess not, if you put any stock in the American Music Awards.

Sunday night, Swift was selected as "favorite pop/rock female" by the AMAs, a popularity recognition award that goes to top sellers. She also picked up the favorite country female, favorite country music album and artist of the year awards.

Combine that with the Country Music Association's Entertainer of the Year nod that Swift received a couple weeks ago and, well, she must be the absolute best recording artist and performer on the planet these days.

Maybe not.

My point here isn't to disparage Swift, who is plenty talented. But the widespread acclaim for the 19-year-old singer/songwriter illustrates much about the musical era of the first part of the 21st century.

With CD sales in a death spiral and a splintering of music into ever-smaller niches, big sellers aren't what they were in the past, opening the way for a genre-crossing artist like Swift to move the most product in a given year.

But she is also representative of the pop turn that has saturated all musical styles over the last handful of years. From Beyonce to Miley Cyrus, Rascal Flatts to the Jonas Brothers, The Black Eyed Peas to every American Idol, pop is now dominating mainstream music.

There's nary a young rock band to be found. Green Day, the AMA winners for favorite alternative rock, is made up of guys in their late 30s. Bono turns 50 next year. Bruce Springsteen is 60, and the Rolling Stones are in their mid-to-late 60s.

Nor is traditional country getting much attention these days. The descendants of old Hank are on the margins, passed over by pop that appeals to teens and twentysomethings who don't want to hear the fiddle and steel. Hence, Swift is country's entertainer of the year.

The new pop era isn't a bad thing. Much of the music is great fun, and some real talents, including Swift, are creating it. But pop is, by definition, ephemeral and ultimately disposable.

What that creates are fewer artists with long-term careers. In a pop world, once you're past a certain age or the sound du jour changes, you're done.

That's already happened to Kelly Clarkson, who, despite a string of hit singles, couldn't draw more than about 3,000 people to her shows this fall and averaged fewer than 2,000.

It's hard to guess what the pop shift means for the future of music, particularly with the rocky transition to digital delivery still under way. But for now, Swift's success typifies our new pop era.

So enjoy the fluff and have as much fun as possible. That's what pop's about.

What are the best records of the past decade?

In December, we're going to put together some lists of the best of the 2000s. I've got some ideas about what records are going to be on my accounting of the decade: The White Stripes, The Strokes and Eminem pop to mind.

But I'd love to hear what you think are the best records released from 2000 to 2009 and why. And I'd really like to get a list of the top local releases, meaning bands from Lincoln or recordings made in Lincoln.

If you've got some nominees, drop me an e-mail, comment on this column on the Web or snail mail them to me at Lincoln Journal Star, 926 P St., Lincoln, NE 68508.

Reach L. Kent Wolgamott at 473-7244 or kwolgamott@journalstar.com.