Madonna crowned top music earner in 2012 due to world tour

http://music.yahoo.com/ne...330446.htm

Reuters – Fri, Feb 22, 2013 1:37 PM (Reuters) - Madonna was named the biggest money maker in music in 2012 on Friday, with a world tour helping her take home up to $34.6 million (22.6 million pounds) and highlighting the earning power of live performances as the industry increasingly goes digital.

The 54-year-old Material Girl topped Billboard Magazine's annual list of 40 top money makers for the second time after earning an estimated $32 million - 93.5 percent of her revenue - from her 88-date "MDNA" tour, 2012's biggest tour.

Madonna, who also led the list in 2008 due to tour income, was the only woman in the top 10 with last year's winner, Taylor Swift, who fell to 15th place as she did not tour in 2012.

In second place in the music magazine's list was Bruce Springsteen whose $33.4 million revenue was also primarily driven by touring, playing to sold-out stadiums and arenas.

Springsteen, who also released a No. 1 album, "Wrecking Ball," last year, earned 92 percent of his revenue from live shows where strong merchandise sales also boosted takings.

Roger Waters, founder of Pink Floyd, came a distant third with earnings of $21 million largely from "The Wall Live" tour and Van Halen was fourth with $20 million after touring in support of their album "A Different Kind of Truth".

"When it comes to making the biggest score, the most money always comes from high-paying live performances," Billboard's editorial analyst Glenn Peoples wrote in explaining the list.

"Ironically, the most popular touring artists are usually well past their peaks on the album sales charts."

Country music veteran Kenny Chesney, the Dave Matthews Band, country's Tim McGraw and Jason Aldean, and British band Coldplay came next on the list.

Canadian teen sensation Justin Bieber was 10th, earning almost $16 million of which about $10 million came from his sold-out "Believe" arena tour.

"The entire top 10 averaged 84.2 percent of their income from concerts, and the number would have been higher, if not for Justin Bieber's mere 60.1 percent share at No. 10 dragging down the average," said Billboard.

However touring was not vital for every act on the list such as Swift and Britain's Adele.

Swift earned $12.7 million after selling the most digital tracks in 2012. She sold more than 3 million digital albums and 15.6 million digital tracks driven by her hit "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together".

Adele took the year out after having a baby but still earned nearly $14 million, putting her 11th in the rankings, due to continuing strong physical and digital sales for her album "21".

Maroon 5, ranked 33rd in the list, took the highest share of streaming revenue which made 3.5 percent of its $7.2 million.

Billboard said streaming music online to paying customers has not caught on with older generations and was small in percentage terms but growing.

"Yet even in the coming years, as streaming services become a more important revenue source, possibly replacing digital downloads and CD sales, one thing is unlikely to change: concerts will have the greatest influence of top earners' overall earnings," said Peoples.

The list was compiled by Billboard editors using data for Boxscore archives of U.S. concert gross figures, Nielsen SoundScan data for sales, YouTube, and Nielsen BDS data.

The full list can be seen at billboard.com/moneymakers EST

• MADONNA
• FEBRUARY 23, 2013
• BY: JEMUEL DASILVA

Yesterday, Billboard came up with its list of the top money-making musical acts of 2012 and Madonna, like usual, came out on top. This is because of her hugely successful MDNA Tour, which we rated the best concert tour of 2012. Bruce Springsteen, another veteran, came in at number 2. But where wasLady Gaga, the self-proclaimed Queen of the Universe?

It turns out that Mother Monster didn't even make the list. Lady Gaga seems to sit back while her fans bully other artists, but it doesn't seem to be helping her career. When cancelling her recent tour, Billboard noted that she had to refund approximately 200,000 tickets for 22 shows. That means she sold an average of about 9,100 tickets for each show. The venues she plays in have a capacity of 15,000 or more. Billboard tried to spin the shows as "almost completely sold out," but industry insiders, even one who actually works for Billboard, tell us that this is far from the truth.

Madonna is believed to be taking a long deserved break this year, although we hear that a soundtrack song will be released. We also hear that a tour of Australia, Africa, and Asia, with a few sprinkled dates in the United States, is being planned for 2014. Madonna may not be viewed as "hip" as some other artists, but she still rules the planet as evidenced by Billboard's latest list.

Veteran artists took the top four spots but you have to go down to number 20 before you reach the next one. Overall, they have thirteen of the top 40 with nine not appearing on the 2012 list.

The top ten and the veterans on the rest of the list (2012 rank):

• 01. (--) Madonna ($34.6 million)
• 02. (--) Bruce Springsteen ($33.4 million)
• 03. (--) Roger Waters ($21.2 million)
• 04. (--) Van Halen ($20.2 million)
• 05. (03) Kenny Chesney ($19.1 million)
• 06. (--) Dave Matthews Band ($18.9 million)
• 07. (19) Tim McGraw ($18.3 million)
• 08. (09) Jason Aldean ($17.6 million)
• 09. (--) Coldplay ($17.3 million)
• 10. (35) Justin Bieber ($15.9 million)
• 20. (--) Barbra Streisand ($10.6 million)
• 21. (--) Neil Diamond ($10.5 million)
• 25. (--) Red Hot Chili Peppers ($9.5 million)
• 26. (--) Rolling Stones ($9.3 million)
• 28. (32) Rush ($8.7 million)
• 29. (13) Elton John ($8.6 million)
• 31. (--) Phish ($7.3 million)
• 35. (12) Journey ($7.0 million)
• 38. (29) Rod Stewart ($6.5 million)

Where the hell is Gaga?

Shawy89 said:

Where the hell is Gaga?

that's a good question.I know she just cancelled a bunch of upcoming dates,but I assume that she played many dates in 2012,right?

I don't fault her hussle...

Don't like her music anymore, but she's a hard worker!

But look who's right on her ass nipping her heels?

The Boss...

To me I find that more impressive...

Mostly because he threw in a whole bunch of free fundraisers for Obama...

it's interesting that the older artists are the ones who are having the most successful tours.Madonna and Bruce Springsteen are no longer in their "heyday" and yet,their ticket sales are more impressive than many of the younger,"hip" artists.

"When cancelling her recent tour, Billboard noted that she had to refund approximately 200,000 tickets for 22 shows. That means she sold an average of about 9,100 tickets for each show. The venues she plays in have a capacity of 15,000 or more"

Isn't this about 2013? what does the cancellation of her US tour have to do with 2012?

i can't believe she made less than 6 million from toruing around the world for a year.

SoulAlive said:

it's interesting that the older artists are the ones who are having the most successful tours.Madonna and Bruce Springsteen are no longer in their "heyday" and yet,their ticket sales are more impressive than many of the younger,"hip" artists.

this is natural.
Veterans have the baggage of classic hits.... each of us know any of their songs since childhood and want to hear at the concert ... many come just to see a living legend ..
I was at a Madonna concert with friends in the summer, none of us fan and no one was impressed with her concert, but we saw it live and it's nice. I would go to Bruce, Neil and Barbara, too, if they come to my country.

young artists do not have this safety factor of the past.

who are interested in new music of U2? not many ... but they have 800 million dollars for the tour.
MDNA album was unsuccessful, and did not even make the top 20 best-selling albums in 2012, but people go to a concert.
If the Rolling Stones world tour now, I think they would have cross the mark of 1 billion dollars, because millions of people are willing to pay big money to see the legend.

not impressed figures overall, to be honest

robertlove said:

"When cancelling her recent tour, Billboard noted that she had to refund approximately 200,000 tickets for 22 shows. That means she sold an average of about 9,100 tickets for each show. The venues she plays in have a capacity of 15,000 or more"

Isn't this about 2013? what does the cancellation of her US tour have to do with 2012?

i can't believe she made less than 6 million from toruing around the world for a year.

I think Billboard calculates income earned in the U.S. only!
because 30 million per year globally - a very small number ...
usually 3-5 artists do in a year more than 50 million dollars.
since most of the concerts in the U.S. Gaga had to cancel her revenue in the U.S. is very small.

LiLi1992 said:

robertlove said:

"When cancelling her recent tour, Billboard noted that she had to refund approximately 200,000 tickets for 22 shows. That means she sold an average of about 9,100 tickets for each show. The venues she plays in have a capacity of 15,000 or more"

Isn't this about 2013? what does the cancellation of her US tour have to do with 2012?

i can't believe she made less than 6 million from toruing around the world for a year.

I think Billboard calculates income earned in the U.S. only!
because 30 million per year globally - a very small number ...
usually 3-5 artists do in a year more than 50 million dollars.
since most of the concerts in the U.S. Gaga had to cancel her revenue in the U.S. is very small.

ok thanks, the tickets have been sold in 2012 of course.

I didn't realize this was only for the US.

SoulAlive said:

the Beatles (#24), Paul McCartney (#25)

Speaking of Beatles, I saw Dhani Harrison and his group Fistful of Mercy on TV the other day.

SoulAlive said:

Madonna tops list of music earners while Lady Gaga goes missing

• MADONNA
• FEBRUARY 23, 2013
• BY: JEMUEL DASILVA

Yesterday, Billboard came up with its list of the top money-making musical acts of 2012 and Madonna, like usual, came out on top. This is because of her hugely successful MDNA Tour, which we rated the best concert tour of 2012. Bruce Springsteen, another veteran, came in at number 2. But where wasLady Gaga, the self-proclaimed Queen of the Universe?

It turns out that Mother Monster didn't even make the list. Lady Gaga seems to sit back while her fans bully other artists, but it doesn't seem to be helping her career. When cancelling her recent tour, Billboard noted that she had to refund approximately 200,000 tickets for 22 shows. That means she sold an average of about 9,100 tickets for each show. The venues she plays in have a capacity of 15,000 or more. Billboard tried to spin the shows as "almost completely sold out," but industry insiders, even one who actually works for Billboard, tell us that this is far from the truth.

Madonna is believed to be taking a long deserved break this year, although we hear that a soundtrack song will be released. We also hear that a tour of Australia, Africa, and Asia, with a few sprinkled dates in the United States, is being planned for 2014. Madonna may not be viewed as "hip" as some other artists, but she still rules the planet as evidenced by Billboard's latest list.

I want to hear where Lady Gaga proclaimed herself the "Queen Of The Universe".

Who is this "journalist"?

Never, ever, liked her voice, but she's made the money. *shrug* Another one whose concerts I've never been to, and won't be going.

MadamGoodnight said:

Never, ever, liked her voice, but she's made the money. *shrug* Another one whose concerts I've never been to, and won't be going.

I went to the "Re-Invention" show and my take; She kinda gets lost in the big venues she plays. She has these concepts and all but I guess depending on how close you are it doesn't come across in an arena, and I'd hate to see her in a stadium (or anyone. I don't see the point of stadium shows). Since she's not a rocker she can't let loose like one would. She's not a vocalist so she can't fill the arena with emotion or soul.

But b!tch sells tickets!

Madonna always has these big production shows and she still has a fan base that loves them. So as long as that's still there, Madonna will always sell out. No ifs, ands or buts about it. Can't knock her hustle. Stefani didn't make the list because of low ticket sales, a good chunk of her concerts weren't even sold out. Plus her canceling the tour will allegedly cost Live Nation $30 million.

When Gaga was kicking off this crazy tour her manager emphasized that this would be a non-momeymaking tour, and apparently there are such things, as in "intentional". He stated they were hitting off-the-beaten-path locales to foster future good will. Places people rarely play like southeast asia and korea et al.

The production was so over-the-top and elaborate that it was hard to transport number one. Number two I'm not sure about the sales figures for her American dates and there seems to be confusion as to whether sales were poor or not. But the fact remains (and her manager also pointed this out and I agree with) that Gaga is still an upcoming artist, no matter how much success she's had after two proper albums. She was doing an American leg not too soon after she just did one, only this time it happened in between an album that was past it's chart life AND an album that isn't even out yet. No radio action or video play at all.

I've heard of loss-leader shows before. U2 have put on more then one production (Starting with their Zooropa shows) that the band knew would never make money, and those were sold out tours.

^ I'm not buying that excuse. She wanted to make money and only ended up losing money...lol

I think Gaga's problem was that she focused so much money on production that she forgot about advertisement. Gaga went on tour and didn't really tell anybody about it. I had to find out for myself. Also there was so much protest over her shows in Asia so who knows how that affected ticket sales. On another note.... Good job M and Bruce!!

aardvark15 said:

I think Gaga's problem was that she focused so much money on production that she forgot about advertisement. Gaga went on tour and didn't really tell anybody about it. I had to find out for myself. Also there was so much protest over her shows in Asia so who knows how that affected ticket sales. On another note.... Good job M and Bruce!!

I think her problem was also releasing her album just as soon as her other tour was finished. That helped in her not being as successful as before. And the tour that finally emerged from it was atrocious. No wonder she didn't make the list. I know some of her fans would defend why she wasn't in it. But it's clear her tour wasn't a really big profitable success. Her timing was way off and it cost her dearly.

Timmy84 said:

Her timing was way off and it cost her dearly.

She was still on her first tour when Born This Way came out

Congradulations Madonna but this is not really surprising.

CynicKill said:

SoulAlive said:

Madonna tops list of music earners while Lady Gaga goes missing

• MADONNA
• FEBRUARY 23, 2013
• BY: JEMUEL DASILVA

Yesterday, Billboard came up with its list of the top money-making musical acts of 2012 and Madonna, like usual, came out on top. This is because of her hugely successful MDNA Tour, which we rated the best concert tour of 2012. Bruce Springsteen, another veteran, came in at number 2. But where wasLady Gaga, the self-proclaimed Queen of the Universe?

It turns out that Mother Monster didn't even make the list. Lady Gaga seems to sit back while her fans bully other artists, but it doesn't seem to be helping her career. When cancelling her recent tour, Billboard noted that she had to refund approximately 200,000 tickets for 22 shows. That means she sold an average of about 9,100 tickets for each show. The venues she plays in have a capacity of 15,000 or more. Billboard tried to spin the shows as "almost completely sold out," but industry insiders, even one who actually works for Billboard, tell us that this is far from the truth.

Madonna is believed to be taking a long deserved break this year, although we hear that a soundtrack song will be released. We also hear that a tour of Australia, Africa, and Asia, with a few sprinkled dates in the United States, is being planned for 2014. Madonna may not be viewed as "hip" as some other artists, but she still rules the planet as evidenced by Billboard's latest list.

I want to hear where Lady Gaga proclaimed herself the "Queen Of The Universe".

Who is this "journalist"?

that article is taken from the Examiner I don't go there often,but I hear that the journalists can be brutal,if they're discussing an artist that they don't like,lol

http://www.examiner....ga-goes-missing

mjscarousal said:

Congradulations Madonna but this is not really surprising.

It really isn't.All of her tours have been hugely successful,beginning with the Virgin Tour in 1985.

CynicKill said:

MadamGoodnight said:

Never, ever, liked her voice, but she's made the money. *shrug* Another one whose concerts I've never been to, and won't be going.

I went to the "Re-Invention" show and my take; She kinda gets lost in the big venues she plays. She has these concepts and all but I guess depending on how close you are it doesn't come across in an arena, and I'd hate to see her in a stadium (or anyone. I don't see the point of stadium shows). Since she's not a rocker she can't let loose like one would. She's not a vocalist so she can't fill the arena with emotion or soul.

But b!tch sells tickets!

I wouldn't go for free, but hey, somebody is going! She would miss my _____ amount of dollars in ticket sales, that's for sure. She sings through her nose, and strains too much for my taste. *shrug*

CynicKill said:

SoulAlive said:

Madonna tops list of music earners while Lady Gaga goes missing

• MADONNA
• FEBRUARY 23, 2013
• BY: JEMUEL DASILVA

Yesterday, Billboard came up with its list of the top money-making musical acts of 2012 and Madonna, like usual, came out on top. This is because of her hugely successful MDNA Tour, which we rated the best concert tour of 2012. Bruce Springsteen, another veteran, came in at number 2. But where wasLady Gaga, the self-proclaimed Queen of the Universe?

It turns out that Mother Monster didn't even make the list. Lady Gaga seems to sit back while her fans bully other artists, but it doesn't seem to be helping her career. When cancelling her recent tour, Billboard noted that she had to refund approximately 200,000 tickets for 22 shows. That means she sold an average of about 9,100 tickets for each show. The venues she plays in have a capacity of 15,000 or more. Billboard tried to spin the shows as "almost completely sold out," but industry insiders, even one who actually works for Billboard, tell us that this is far from the truth.

Madonna is believed to be taking a long deserved break this year, although we hear that a soundtrack song will be released. We also hear that a tour of Australia, Africa, and Asia, with a few sprinkled dates in the United States, is being planned for 2014. Madonna may not be viewed as "hip" as some other artists, but she still rules the planet as evidenced by Billboard's latest list.

I want to hear where Lady Gaga proclaimed herself the "Queen Of The Universe".

Who is this "journalist"?

Apparently Ms. Gaga said it during a deposition in NY. She was being sued by her personal assistant for over time pay. Gaga didn't do herself any favors by going on a profanity infused ramage during the hearing. Gaga complained that her assitant thought she was the "queen of the world," and was not very good at her job. She then went on to say something to the effect that to work for her you have to hussle and it was more like being a slave than an employee and then she called herself the 'queen of the universe.' You can google it. It's all over the place.

SoulAlive said:

it's interesting that the older artists are the ones who are having the most successful tours.Madonna and Bruce Springsteen are no longer in their "heyday" and yet,their ticket sales are more impressive than many of the younger,"hip" artists.

I think that's due to the fact that most of today's artist don't have much of a personality and their catalogue is forgettable. They all sound the same. Especially the pop princesses.

Other than Madonna - who dragged up Gaga's name on multiple occassions - and the obvious Madonna fans here, who is comparing the two?

This is the first Madonna tour since Drowned World that I chose to skip. Instead I went to Lady Gaga. Twice. I can't speak for Madonna's show but the person above who said Gaga's tour was atrocious obviously didn't attend. The stage design was mindblowing, the choreography was the best I've seen since Michael and Janet's heyday, and the peformances (well, the two I watched) were awesome.

It should be no surprise Madonna's tour is number one in gross, though. With tickets above $300 and most around $150, and 88 stops, of course it's the top selling show. I may not think she's worth it but a lot of people do. There's a lot of 30+ year old professionals out there ready to fork over their cash - as evidenced by Madonna AND the Boss, who's in the number 2 spot.

I'm happy for Madonna. She busts her ass and deserves any and all $ that comes her way. She's a go-getter and it saddens me that "MDNA" was such a commercial disappointment because it truly is awesome. I'm glad the tour did her better than the CD, however, it would have been more lucrative had BOTH generated millions simultaneously. Either way, she's still KILLIN' the competition and HAS BEEN for the past 30 years. It's impressive.

California45 said:

Other than Madonna - who dragged up Gaga's name on multiple occassions - and the obvious Madonna fans here, who is comparing the two?

This is the first Madonna tour since Drowned World that I chose to skip. Instead I went to Lady Gaga. Twice. I can't speak for Madonna's show but the person above who said Gaga's tour was atrocious obviously didn't attend. The stage design was mindblowing, the choreography was the best I've seen since Michael and Janet's heyday, and the peformances (well, the two I watched) were awesome.

It should be no surprise Madonna's tour is number one in gross, though. With tickets above $300 and most around $150, and 88 stops, of course it's the top selling show. I may not think she's worth it but a lot of people do. There's a lot of 30+ year old professionals out there ready to fork over their cash - as evidenced by Madonna AND the Boss, who's in the number 2 spot.

bullshit