U2 Tops Billboard's Money Makers List

Billboard has released it's 2009 Money Makers list, detailing the top 40 earners in the music industry.  The tally takes into account sales of CDs and downloads, merchandise, and most importantly, concert tickets.  Touring is the most lucrative aspect of popular music, and it's evident with U2 topping the list.  The group is currently halfway through what is expected to be the highest grossing tour in history, the 360 Tour.  Billboard estimates that U2 earned $108,601,283 in 2009.  The 360 Tour is U2's first under their new all-inclusive music/touring/merchandise deal with concert promoters Live Nation.

Bruce Springsteen landed in second place after a successful year that included a Super Bowl performance, studio album, exclusive Wal-Mart hits compilation, as well as an extensive touring schedule.  Last year's chart topper, Madonna, came in third.  The Queen of Pop completed her Sticky & Sweet Tour which is now the most successful tour by a solo artist in music history.  Her touring revenues made up for her music sales which are lagging relative to earlier years.

AC/DC mixed touring revenues with music sales, including strong sales of their back catalog to finish in fourth.  Britney Spears came in fifth following her wildly successful Circus tour and strong digital download sales of her singles.  Rounding out the top ten are Pink, The Jonas Brothers, Coldplay, Kenny Chesney, and Metallica.

See the rest of the list after the jump.

Springsteen Crashes the Super Bowl

Can we stop and think about the mind boggling amount of money that is spent because of the Super Bowl? First off, you have the game itself and all the tickets that are purchased for the game, flights, hotels, etc. There are the incredibly expensive commercials, the massive amounts of chips and dip, and all the Cardinals memorabilia purchased by Arizonans quickly forgetting their lack of interest in the NFL team and jumping on the Cards bandwagon. The Super Bowl is a money making machine.

The music industry is no exception. Playing the half time show has always given artists a boost. In 2005, Paul McCartney experienced a 246% jump in sales for All The Best while last year, Tom Petty's Anthology: Through The Years achieved a similar feat with a 240% jump. The most dramatic sales increase however, followed Prince's 2007 performance which resulted in a 420% sales increase for Purple Rain.

Springsteen is hoping he'll see the same success with his new album Working On A Dream. Since it came out just days before the big game, he'll get an infinity% sales boost. Not even Prince can compete with that. But honestly, the guy didn't even sing "Born In The U.S.A." and he rammed his crotch into the camera. I don't know how I feel about all that. Luckily, no complaints have been filed with the FCC...yet.

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