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.

Beatlemania Never Looked So Demented

The Billboard website was having some glitches so the headlines to their top stories weren't in sync with the graphics. It made for some funny images.

Concert Revenue On The Rise...Sort Of...

The numbers are in and this summer's concerts grossed more than in summer 2007. From May 1 to Labor Day, concerts pulled in $1 billion dollars compared to last year's $948.5 million, a 5% increase. The only problem is that these numbers don't tell the whole story as actual attendance of concerts was down 4% this summer. Less tickets were sold, but the difference was made up through higher ticket prices. Kenny Chesney tops the list grossing $62.7 million with his show with the Police Reunion Concert at a distant second ($44.5 million). Another big winner was the American Idols Live tour which pulled $24.6 million after making only $15.6 million for the 2007 show.

Top Ten Highest Grossing Concerts of Summer 2008:
1. Kenny Chesney: $62.7 million
2. The Police: $44.5 million
3. Tom Petty/Steve Winwood: $34.6 million
4. Dave Matthews Band: $30.7 million
5. Bruce Springsteen: $28.4 million
6. Billy Joel: $25.6 million
7. The Jonas Brothers: $25.1 million
8. American Idols Live: $24.6 million
9. Neil Diamond: $22.4 million
10. Rascal Flatts: $21.4 million

USA Today

50, Will You Just Retire Already?

Early this morning, Kanye West's new single "Love Lockdown" took the top slot on iTunes. Just over a year ago, Mr. West took the top slot on another chart: the Billboard 200 Album chart. He had pushed up the release date of his third album, Graduation, to compete with rival 50 Cent's own third album, Curtis. 50 boasted that he would easily outsell Kanye and that if he didn't, he would retire. Unfortunatley, 50 Cent is still around. I guess going #1 in Switzerland and Ireland means something these days.

Curtis sold 691,000 copies in its first week behind Graduation which sold 957,000. The #3 album of that week was Kenny Chesney's Just Who I Am: Poets and Pirates. A year later, how do these albums stack up? Graduation is still the big winner with sales of 2,166,000. Just Who I Am might have lost the battle but won the war in the long haul with sales of 1,424,000. Curtis comes in a dissapointing third place with 1,336,000 copies sold.

Mr. West's next release, 808's and Heartbreak, is scheduled to come out December 16 and 50 Cent's Before I Self Destruct is currently slated for December 9. If Kanye moves his release date up to the 9th and beats 50 Cent, will he finally retire? We can only hope.

Well done Ye. Now enjoy the final single from his chart topping Graduation, the animated "Good Morning".