Rolling Stones get satisfaction
2007-01-27 11:40
New York - The Rolling Stones are rolling in cash, leading Forbes magazine's list of top moneymakers in the music industry in 2006 with $150.6m in earnings.
Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and the rest of the band "don't sell many discs these days, but they have little trouble luring fans to see them live," the magazine wrote in its latest issue.
The group's "Bigger Bang" tour grossed a whopping $138.5m last year, the magazine said, putting them ahead of country music's biggest acts and pop icon Madonna.
With the advent of the internet, the Stones and other music stars no longer earned big money from selling their recordings but by performing on the road, the magazine wrote.
Behind the Stones, the country music couple Tim McGraw and Faith Hill ranked second with earnings of $132m, country trio Rascal Flatts followed with $110.5m and Madonna came in fourth at $96.8m.
While her recordings no longer generate major sales as in past decades, singer Barbara Streisand came in fifth with her 20 US concerts raking in a total of $95.8m. Average tickets for her concerts cost nearly $300.
By contrast, Streisand's album sales came to less than $4m, the magazine said.
The rest of the top 10 music moneymakers were singer Kenny Chesney at $90.1m, Canadian pop star Celine Dion at $85.2m, Bon Jovi at $77.5m, Canadian rockers Nickelback at $74.1m and the Dave Mathews Band with $60.4m.
The Forbes' list was based on revenues from North American concert tours reported by trade magazine Pollstar and United States album and digital sales from Nielsen SoundScan.
- SAPA