It may be a digital age, but live is still the big cash driver
for the top 40 earners on
Billboard’s annual list
 |
| Madonna |
Concerts make up 68.9% of revenue for the 40 artists on
Billboard's Moneymakers list, which tallies artists' annual earnings. Remove
Adele and Taylor Swift, both of whom didn't earn any U.S. touring income in
2012, and the average increases to 72.5%-a figure on par with the 72.6% in 2010
and the 68.3% that touring represented in 2011.
Perhaps Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino said it best during a
conference last week, noting that music artists now make "90% of their
money on the road. It's truly become the center of their financial world."
 |
| Bruce Springsteen |
Madonna tops the 2012 list, in part because 93.5% of her
total revenue came from concerts. Bruce Springsteen, a close second, earned 92%
of his revenue from live shows. Roger Waters, a distant third, had the highest
concert share on the list with 93.6%. The entire top 10 averaged 84.2% of their
income from concerts, and the number would have been higher, if not for Justin
Bieber's mere 60.1% share at No. 10 dragging down the average.
Billboard estimates the 2012 Moneymakers artists pocketed
$373 million from concerts after paying agents, managers and expenses. That was
up from $329 million in 2011 but down from $383 million in 2010. For all
Moneymakers artists, touring income accounted for 72.8% of revenue in 2011 and
75.1% of revenue in 2012. Artists at the top of the list got an even greater
share of revenue from touring. A top 10 artist made 84.2% of income from
concerts in 2012 compared with 75.8% in 2011 and 81.7% in 2010.
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