Forbes has tallied the results and Madonna tops the list of top earning musicians from June 2008 to June 2009. The Material Girl has consistently brought in $40 to $50 million since 2002, but jumped up to an impressive $110 million in earnings this past year due to a massive sold-out worldwide tour, international sales of her album Hard Candy, and multiple endorsement deals.
Next in line is another strong female – Celine Dion. After a three-year run in Las Vegas, Dion returned to the road, grossing $237 million from her Taking Chances world tour. She also released her first English language greatest hits collection My Love: Essential Collection and introduced a sixth perfume to her fragrance collection.
Others on the list include Beyonce Knowles, AC/DC, The Eagles, Rascall Flats, and Coldplay – all relatively established artists in the music industry. In the last year, the top ten musicians earned a combined $719 million, compared to just $500 million a year ago. That $219 million dollar increase mainly originates from touring. According to Pollstar, ten shows individually grossed more than $10 million in the last twelve months. Only four single shows reached that accomplishment for the year ending June 2008.
Ticket prices also climbed at a record pace in the past year, despite the global economic recession. Face value jumped up $5.26 per ticket on average to $67.33, representing the largest single-year increase in fifteen years. Consequently, gross revenue for the top 100 touring acts was also up 6.5 percent to $2.4 billion, even though there were 5 percent fewer shows.
A major touring act now makes about $20 per ticket today, while selling one physical album results in just $1 of earnings. And you cannot forget the additional monetary benefit of merch when on the road. While most musicians will never reach this level of fame and fortune, no one should discount the value of touring income.
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