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1. Prince
$56.5 MILLION
ON THE ROAD It rained green, not purple, for
Prince in 2004. With $90.3 million in ticket sales, he returned to
center stage after a decade in the commercial wilderness, scoring
the year's second-highest-grossing tour. And thanks to low
production costs, his net take was larger than top grosser
Madonna's. (It took twenty-four trucks to haul around Madonna's
mammoth tour, while Prince's bare-bones show needed only twelve.)
Prince took a reported eighty-five percent of the profits from the
concerts, which earned an average $910,000 a night -- and he'll
command a higher percentage next time.
ON CD Prince sold 1.9 million copies of 2004's
Musicology, but that figure is misleading: In a unique
scheme, a ten-dollar CD surcharge built into his ticket prices
meant that every concertgoer got a copy of the album, whether they
wanted it or not. Nonetheless, free agent Prince strikes only
one-album distribution deals with record companies (Columbia, in
the case of Musicology), which means he earns more than
two dollars per CD.
Last year's rank: NA
2. Madonna
$54.9 MILLION
ON THE ROAD High ticket prices may be agony for
fans, but they put Madonna in second place on the list of
top-earning musicians. Despite playing only fifty-six concerts in
2004, Madonna hauled in more money on the road than any other
artist, charging as much as $300 a seat. She also demanded -- and
got -- ninety-five percent of her shows' profits. The hefty prices
helped her Re-Invention Tour draw in more than $2 million a night
in North America, a profitable figure despite monumental production
costs and weak sales in some cities.
ON CD Touring provided nearly all of Madonna's
music-related revenue in 2004: Her most recent album, American
Life, sold only 650,000 copies, and she has yet to earn back a
$20 million advance on future CD sales from 2002.
ON THE SIDE Madonna's remarkably successful
sideline as an author of children's books is helping her keep that
pricey kabbalah water flowing: In total, her four tomes (Yakov
and the Seven Thieves and The Adventures of Abdi were
published last year) have sold more than 1.5 million copies.
Last year's rank: NA
3. Metallica
$43.1 MILLION
ON THE ROAD The band's Madly in Anger With the
World Tour was the fourth-biggest in North America last year.
ON CD The members of Metallica don't need to lift
a finger, or bang a head, to earn million-dollar-plus salaries.
Credit goes to a shrewd mid-1990s renegotiation with Elektra
Records by the band's management company and consistent sales for
catalog albums. Metallica perennials the Black Album and Master
of Puppets helped the band sell 1.4 million units from catalog
alone in 2004. They earn close to three dollars for each CD --
which might help explain their aversion to file-trading.
ON THE SIDE Metallica haven't yet eked out a
profit from the theatrical and DVD release of their soul-baring
documentary, Some Kind of Monster, which they co-own with
its directors. But it can't hurt their financial picture that they
finally canned the $40,000-a-month therapist seen in the
film.
Last year's rank: 5
4. Elton John
$42.9 MILLION
ON THE ROAD John made his debut as a Vegas
entertainer in 2004, earning $18 million with an extravagant, David
LaChapelle-designed show. He grossed another $91 million outside
Vegas.
ON CD John and songwriting partner Bernie Taupin
picked up substantial publishing revenue from airplay and cover
songs, including Ray Charles' version of "Sorry Seems to Be the
Hardest Word," from 2004's Genius Loves Company.
Last year's rank: 22
5. Jimmy Buffett
$36.5 MILLION
ON THE ROAD Loyal Parrot Heads helped canny
businessman Buffett gross almost $29 million in his latest lap
around the nation's amphitheaters.
ON CD His first-ever country album, License to
Chill, debuted at Number One (a first for Buffett) and sold an
astounding 1.3 million copies. Buffett releases his CDs on his own
label, keeping far more profits than most artists do.
ON THE SIDE His Margaritaville chain of retail
stores, nightclubs and restaurants generates an eight-figure
income.
Last year's rank: 17
6. Rod Stewart
$34.6 MILLION
ON THE ROAD The Great American
Songbook is earning Stewart great American dollars: The rocker
turned crooner grossed $37 million with his classics tour, plus $10
million for private gigs.
ON CD Publishing revenue from past hits amounts to
more than $3 million a year, and his third standards album,
Stardust: The Great American Songbook, Vol. 3, has sold
1.2 million copies.
Last year's rank: NA
7. Shania Twain
$33.2 MILLION
ON THE ROAD Man, she feels like an ATM machine!
Raking in $63 million, Twain had the year's biggest county tour and
the third-highest-grossing overall.
ON CD Twain sold more than 4 million discs, led by
her greatest-hits collection.
Last year's rank: 8
8. Phil Collins
$33.2 MILLION
ON THE ROAD The solid success of Collins'
farewell outing wasn't exactly against all odds: Charging close to
eighty dollars a ticket, he played to more than 300,000 people in
North America.
Last year's rank: NA
9. Linkin Park
$33.1 MILLION
ON THE ROAD The tireless sextet embarked on
three separate tours in 2004 -- the Projekt Revolution
package with Korn and Snoop Dogg, a U.S. solo outing and an
overseas jaunt. The total haul: $35 million.
ON CD Meteora (2003) and last year's
Collision Course -- the CD/DVD document of their MTV
mash-up collaboration with Jay-Z -- each sold more than 1 million
copies. Another CD, Live in Texas, sold another 440,000.
Last year's rank: NA
10. Simon and Garfunkel
$31.3 MILLION
ON THE ROAD Last year the reunited duo split a
$1 million-per-night guarantee in the U.S. -- but distressed
promoters by earning little more than that at most venues. The two
had some impressive sellouts overseas, however, including a $4.5
million night in Hyde Park, London.
ON CD Catalog sales amounted to 500,000 copies
last year, and Simon nabbed $4 million in songwriting income.
Last year's rank: 9
11. Van Halen
$30.2 MILLION
ON THE ROAD High hopes for the first Van Hagar
tour in eight years led to guarantees of up to $1 million a night,
but ticket sales fell short. So, even as it counts a $38 million
2004 gross, the band will have to settle for less upfront next
time.
ON CD Catalog sales amounted to slightly fewer
than 500,000 units in 2004; publishing royalties brought in nearly
$2 million.
ON THE SIDE The band added to tour revenue by
selling T-shirts and hats at the impressive rate of ten dollars per
person.
Last year's rank: NA
12. Toby Keith
$27.7 MILLION
ON THE ROAD The king of ultra-patriotic country
earned 44 million mostly red-state dollars in an election-year
tour.
ON CD With help from "American Soldier," Keith
sold 4 million albums in 2004.
Last year's rank: 6
13. Kenny Chesney
$27.4 MILLION
ON THE ROAD The rising country hunk grossed $49
million on tour, despite a rock-bottom forty-four-dollar ticket
price. More than 1 million people attended his seventy-three U.S.
gigs, making this tour second only to Prince in tickets sold.
ON CD Chesney's When the Sun Goes Down
was the top-selling country album of the year, moving 3.1 million
units.
Last year's rank: 27
14. The Eagles
$27.3 MILLION
ON THE ROAD Don Henley and Co. grossed about
$26 million on a worldwide outing, with the band earning guarantees
of up to $1 million. Want to hire the Eagles for your corporate
party? That'll cost up to $2 million (they played five such events
last year).
ON CD Take it easy? No way. The Eagles sold 1.1
million cds in 2004. And thanks to a contentious 1978 settlement
with former manager David Geffen, they keep 100 percent of their
publishing royalties -- which added up to $5 million-plus.
ON THE SIDE Even after paying $100 a ticket,
concertgoers gobbled up an average of fifteen dollars each of
Eagles merchandise -- double what most teen-pop acts collect.
Last year's rank: 3
15. Sting
$26.7 MILLION
ON THE ROAD Sting grossed $52 million on his
2004 world tour, and he kept ticket prices at a relatively low
fifty dollars on average. He funnels the cash through his
production company, Steerpike, which pays him around $34 million a
year.
ON CD Sting's catalog sales -- even for Police
classics -- are surprisingly low.
Last year's rank: NA
16. Usher
$25.8 MILLION
ON THE ROAD Usher made his real money on tour,
with a nightly guarantee of $450,000 and forty-three U.S. dates.
Fans bought so many tickets that promoters at AEG Live say their
only disappointment was that they hadn't set up more shows.
ON CD Yeah! Usher's breakthrough smash,
Confessions -- which sold 8 million copies -- scored him
eight Grammy nominations and a profit of about $9 million.
Last year's rank: NA
17. David Bowie
$25.2 MILLION
ON THE ROAD Bowie earned $46 million on his
largest-scale greatest-hits tour since 1990.
ON CD Catalog sales and publishing royalties added
up to about $4 million, but Bowie won't see most of it: In 1997's
offering of "Bowie Bonds," he gave up the profits from his pre-1990
work in exchange for $55 million in cash.
Last year's rank: NA
18. Eric Clapton
$25.1 MILLION
ON THE ROAD Clapton made the all-Robert Johnson
disc Me and Mr. Johnson -- and grossed $35 million on the
blues-packed accompanying tour.
ON CD Me and Mr. Johnson sold more than
550,000 copies in 2004, and Clapton moved about the same number of
catalog albums.
Last year's rank: NA
19. 50 Cent
$24.9 MILLION
ON THE ROAD His Beg for Mercy Tour grossed $4
million.
ON CD Dr. Dre and Eminem's protege (who is
co-signed to their record labels, Aftermath and Shady) is now
out-earning both of them. 50 has earned $14 million in royalties
from Get Rich or Die Tryin' since its 2003 release, and a
record-contract renegotiation last year won him a reported extra $8
million payout. Not to mention the substantial royalties 50 earned
on cds by artists on his G Unit label (such as, er, G Unit and G
Unit member Lloyd Banks). Meanwhile, the Game's Number One debut
gave 50 Cent's 2005 a strong start.
ON THE SIDE Reebok sold more than 1 million pairs
of G Unit sneakers, netting 50 Cent at least $6 million in
royalties.
Last year's rank: 34
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20. Jay-Z
$24.7 MILLION
ON THE ROAD Jay-Z took on a hundredth problem
when his tour with R. Kelly fell apart contentiously halfway
through. The twenty-four dates they played earned $14 million --
but Kelly has filed a pending $75 million breach-of-contract
lawsuit. Jay-Z has countersued.
ON CD The Black Album sold 1.4 million
copies last year alone, and the Collision Course CD/DVD
collaboration with Linkin Park sold more than 1.2 million. How's
retirement going, Hova?
ON THE SIDE In December, Jay-Z and his partners
sold their remaining stake in his Roc-A-Fella Records label to
Island Def Jam Recordings for $10 million -- and Jay-Z became
Island Def Jam's president. He also took in at least $1 million in
salary from his Rocawear clothing line, and he has diversified his
interests: taking part ownership of the New Jersey Nets and opening
the 40/40 Club, a high-end sports bar, in Manhattan.
Last year's rank: NA
21. Celine Dion
$24 MILLION
ON THE ROAD For Dion, hanging out at home --
Caesars Palace in Las Vegas -- meant more than $20 million a year
in concert income.
ON CD Dion sold 1.5 million albums.
Last year's rank: 11
22. Red Hot Chili Peppers
$22.1 MILLION
ON THE ROAD The Peppers played the world's
highest-grossing concert stand last year, earning $17 million for
three shows in London's Hyde Park.
ON CD The band's 2003 Greatest Hits CD is
still selling, and it earned about $3 million in publishing
royalties.
Last year's rank: 41
23. Dave Matthews Band
$21.7 MILLION
ON THE ROAD Despite not releasing new music in
2004, Dave Matthews Band raked in Hacky Sack players' cash on tour,
taking in $38 million and playing before 900,000 people.
ON CD DMB sold almost 500,000 catalog CDs and
280,000 concert DVDs.
Last year's rank: 16
24. Bette Midler
$21.2 MILLION
ON THE ROAD Midler's Kiss My Brass tour earned
a reported $500,000-per-night guarantee for fifty-six shows.
Last year's rank: NA
25. Norah Jones
$21.2 MILLION
ON CD Jones' second album, Feels Like
Home, sold 8 million copies worldwide. And her 2002 debut,
Come Away With Me, didn't stop selling, moving another 1.3
million copies.
Last year's rank: 20
26. Tim McGraw
$20.3 MILLION
ON THE ROAD McGraw played to more than 700,000
people, averaging $540,000 per night for fifty-five shows.
ON CD 3.3 million albums sold.
Last year's rank: 35
27. Evanescence
$18.9 MILLION
ON THE ROAD Amy Lee and her band were anything
but evanescent in 2004, playing to 1 million fans at seventy shows
in the U.S. and overseas. The tour hit larger venues abroad,
helping them gross $30 million.
ON CD The band's debut, Fallen, sold more
than 11 million copies worldwide, making Evanescence one of the
only rock bands in 2004 to earn as much from record royalties as
they did from touring. Lee still splits the band's publishing
royalties with departed guitarist Ben Moody, with whom she shared
songwriting credits for the first album.
ON THE SIDE Lee earned several hundred thousand
dollars for "Broken," a duet with her boyfriend, Seether's Shaun
Morgan, which appeared on the soundtrack of The Punisher,
a Marvel Comics adaptation.
Last year's rank: NA
28. Paul McCartney
$18.6 MILLION
ON THE ROAD McCartney played only fourteen
shows in '04, grossing as much as $2 million a night.
ON CD McCartney takes in about $5 million a year
in publishing royalties.
ON THE SIDE He earned another $5 million from his
publishing company, MPL Communications, whose catalog includes his
solo work, Buddy Holly's songs and more.
Last year's rank: 43
29. Luis Miguel $18.5 MILLION
ON THE ROAD The Latin crooner took home
$500,000 a night for shows all over the Americas.
Last year's rank: NA
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30. Eminem
$18.3 MILLION
ON CD He's a rapper and a business mogul:
Eminem sold more than 4 million copies of his own CDs (including
3.5 million copies of 2004's Encore), and he earned
additional royalties on hit discs by 50 Cent, D-12 and G Unit, all
released by his Shady Records and Dr. Dre's Aftermath Records. The
Shady/Aftermath family sold 8 million cds.
ON THE SIDE Eminem's clothing line, Shady Ltd.,
earned at least $1.5 million.
Last year's rank: 28
31. George Strait
$18.1 MILLION
ON THE ROAD The country vet sold out most
dates, despite a relatively high ticket price.
ON THE SIDE Strait sold nine dollars a head of
merchandise per show.
Last year's rank: NA
32. Phish
$17.8 MILLION
ON THE ROAD Phish may be making their phinal
appearance on this list: They earned $23 million in 2004 on what
was billed as their last-ever tour, playing seventeen shows.
ON THE SIDE Phish sold 117,000 copies of their
video collection, Undermind, and earned several hundred
thousand dollars selling concert recordings through their Web site,
livephish.net.
Last year's rank: 31
33. Fleetwood Mac
$17.2 MILLION
ON THE ROAD Fleetwood Mac earned $28 million in
thirty-eight tour dates -- despite a paucity of sellouts.
ON CD Fans bought 620,000 back catalog CDs, with
The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac leading sales.
Last year's rank: 12
34. Beyonce
$16.1 MILLION
ON THE ROAD She earned $19 million touring with
Alicia Keys and Missy Elliott.
ON CD Beyonce's solo debut, Dangerously in
Love, sold 1.4 million copies, and her reunion with Destiny's
Child, Destiny Fulfilled, sold 2 million.
ON THE SIDE Beyonce signed on for a lead role in
the upcoming film The Pink Panther and lined up
endorsement deals with L'Oreal, Tommy Hilfiger and Pepsi worth
about $3 million. Her clothing line brought in an eight-figure
advance.
Last year's rank: NA
35. Aerosmith
$16 MILLION
ON THE ROAD The group earned $450,000 a night
in '04 -- about half of what it made on its last tour.
ON CD Last year's blues album Honkin' on Bobo
moved about 550,00 copies.
ON THE SIDE Aerosmith's music is a hot commodity
in advertising: Last year the group licensed "Dream On" to Buick
for a reported $2 million.
Last year's rank: 25
36. U2
$13.9 MILLION
ON CD U2 get a $12 million payout from
Interscope Records just for delivering an album -- which they did
last year, with November's How to Dismantle an Atomic
Bomb. The CD has sold 2 million copies, and a deluxe edition
sold another 400,000 (they earn as much as five dollars a unit on
the latter). A megabucks tour begins in March.
ON THE SIDE Apple and U2 are reportedly splitting
a fifty-dollar markup placed on a U2-branded iPod.
Last year's rank: NA
37. Britney Spears
$13.8 MILLION
ON THE ROAD Spears cut short her Onyx Hotel
Tour, citing a knee injury -- but the $750,000-a-night grosses were
enough to push her back onto our list (she fell off after a
tour-free 2003).
ON CD Most artists would be grateful for sales
that were low by Britney's standards: 1.3 million in the U.S. for
In the Zone and 850,000 for a greatest-hits disc.
Last year's rank: NA
38. Kiss
$13.7 MILLION
ON THE ROAD They earned $13.1 million on their
farewell tour.
ON THE SIDE The Kiss licensing juggernaut -- from
T-shirts to band-theme coffins -- brought in at least $5
million.
Last year's rank: 26
39. Rush
$13.3 MILLION
ON THE ROAD The Canadian power trio grossed $21
million on its latest U.S. tour -- more than Kiss or Ozzfest.
ON THE SIDE Sales were strong for the 2003 Rush in
Rio DVD.
Last year's rank: NA
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40. Josh Groban
$12.1 MILLION
ON THE ROAD The operatic balladeer played
seventy-five dates, performing before an average of 7,000 fans a
night.
ON CD 3.7 million units sold.
ON THE SIDE He took in Hollywood cash for tunes
featured in The Polar Express and Troy, and he
sold 500,000 copies of his two concert DVDs.
Last year's rank: NA
41. Sean "P. Diddy" Combs
$11.7 MILLION
ON CD Combs' Bad Boy Records label had no
breakout hit in 2004. But Combs is reportedly seeking a new
distributor for the label (currently distributed by Universal), a
deal that could be worth $30 million.
ON THE SIDE Combs' clothing label, Sean John, is
growing fast -- it had wholesale revenues of about $225 million
last year, with a likely profit margin of around ten percent.
Last year's rank: 38
42. R. Kelly
$11.5 MILLION
ON THE ROAD Kelly's tour with Jay-Z grossed $14
million before it was canceled amid feuding.
ON CD Child-porn charges haven't slowed Kelly
down: His latest solo album, Happy People/U Saved Me, sold
nearly 1 million copies -- not bad for a double CD.
ON THE SIDE Kelly continued his highly profitable
career as a producer and songwriter, working with artists from
Ruben Studdard to Twista.
Last year's rank: 36
43. Cher
$11.4 MILLION
ON THE ROAD After three years of what might be
the longest-running farewell tour ever, Cher was still drawing in
about 9,000 fans a night.
Last year's rank: 10
44. Dr. Dre
$11.4 MILLION
ON CD For artists connected to his Aftermath
label, Dr. Dre charges a "friends and family" rate of $75,000 to
produce a song. But that's just the beginning: Dre also earns a
five percent production royalty as well as label profits. Dre had
reason to be pleased by the sales of 50 Cent, G Unit, Lloyd Banks,
D-12 and Obie Trice.
ON THE SIDE For outside projects such as the Gwen
Stefani/Eve collaboration "Rich Girl," seeing the Doctor is
expensive: Dre earns roughly $250,000 per track.
Last year's rank: 32
45. The Beatles
$11.4 MILLION
ON CD The Beatles saw big sales in 2004,
boosted by Capitol's first-ever CD releases of the band's first
four albums in their American formats. The total came to more than
2 milliON CDs sold, far more than any other act
sold in catalog albums.
ON THE SIDE The writers' share of the Beatles'
publishing royalties amounted to at least $10 million, and
merchandising brought in additional profits.
Last year's rank: 19
46. Hilary Duff $10.7 MILLION
ON THE ROAD Duff made the transition from
Disney Channel moppet to arena rocker in 2004, pulling in $19
million during her U.S. tour -- more than David Bowie, despite
fewer shows.
ON CD Duff sold about 4 million albums.
ON THE SIDE She scored a $2 million salary for a
role in the film A Perfect Man.
Last year's rank: NA
47. OutKast
$10.6 MILLION
ON CD OutKast continued to collect big
royalties from 2003's 10-million-selling smash Speakerboxxx/The
Love Below.
ON THE SIDE Andre 3000 and Big Boi signed on to
star in an HBO film, reportedly set to air in June.
Last year's rank: NA
48. John Mayer
$10.5 MILLION
ON THE ROAD Mayer's tour behind 2003's
Heavier Things grossed $24 million in North America -- the
bulk of his earnings for the year.
ON CD Heavier Things sold nearly 750,000
CDs, and his debut, Room for Squares, added 400,000 copies
to the total.
Last year's rank: 33
49. Bob Dylan
$10.5 MILLION
ON THE ROAD The sixty-three-year-old legend
played eighty-seven gigs, including twenty-two dates at
minor-league baseball stadiums with Willie Nelson, and a
three-night stand in Detroit that included a guest appearance by
the White Stripes' Jack White.
ON CD Buoyed by Columbia's release of remastered
versions of fifteen classic albums, Dylan sold 787,000 CDs from his
catalog last year. He also earned $5.6 million in songwriting
royalties.
ON THE SIDE Dylan's autobiographical book,
Chronicles: Volume One, was nominated for a National Book
Critics Circle award and sold more than 312,000 copies, earning
Dylan royalties of at least $1 million. Meanwhile, he took in $1.25
million for his, um, work on a Victoria's Secret commercial that
showed him surrounded by lithe models as "Love Sick" played in the
background.
Last year's rank: NA
50. Alicia Keys
$10 MILLION
ON THE ROAD Fans kept fallin' for Keys' Ladies
First Tour with Missy Elliott and Beyonce: It grossed $19 million
in North America.
ON CD Diary of Alicia Keys sold more than
2 million copies in the U.S. Keys earned additional royalties from
her duet with Usher, "My Boo."
ON THE SIDE Keys' first book, Tears for Water:
Songbook of Poems and Lyrics, generated as much as
$500,000.
Last year's rank: NA
HOW WE DID IT
Success Secret: The "Moneymakers" list was compiled from extensive
interviews with record-company executives, managers, lawyers,
agents and publicists, and uses figures derived from Nielsen
SoundScan, Pollstar, the Recording Industry Association of
America, Amusement Business/Billboard, The Yellow Pages of
Rock and ArtistDirect. Net figures reflect what performers
take home after recording expenses have been deducted and managers,
agents and lawyers have taken their cuts. All figures should be
considered estimates. Robert LaFranco, a former editor at
Forbes, wrote the 2004 "Rich List" in RS 944.