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January 26, 2007

Music's Top Moneymakers Of 2006

This week, Forbes released its annual list of music industry power earners, and not surprisingly, you listen to 10% of 'em.

01. The Rolling Stones ($150.6 million)
02. Tim McGraw / Faith Hill ($132 million)
03. Rascal Flatts ($110.5 million)
04. Madonna ($96.8 million)
05. Barbra Streisand (95.8 million)
06. Kenny Chesney ($90.1 million)
07. Celine Dion ($85.2 million)
08. Bon Jovi ($77.5 million)
09. Nickelback ($74.1 million)
10. Dave Matthews Band ($60.4 million)
That's a collective intake of $973 million (down from $994 million, but cry us a river). The list only includes U.S. tour grosses and album sales, which means it doesn't include sponsorships, merch, ringtones, or music and ticket sales from the rest of the world. The industry's still fucked though; tour revenues go straight to band, so this doesn't help record companies. (Look for tour profit sharing, coming soon!) And this is the Stones second year on top, with $138.5 million coming from the road. Any wonder why Mick's still doing the strutting chicken dance?

Posted at 10:00 AM
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26 Comments

what are the rascal flatts? am I that out of the loop to have never heard of someone who makes $110 million??? do that many people like nickleback? man there are a lot of stupid people spending money

Posted by: flappppppppa at 01/26/07 10:54 AM | Reply
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So....which 10% do I listen to?

Posted by: mrbenning at 01/26/07 10:55 AM | Reply
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How are these old bags making money?
and who the fuck likes nickelback??!!!???

Posted by: London Gazette at 01/26/07 11:20 AM | Reply
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Rascal flats
Big dumb ass country....for our big dumb ass country
Not to say these people arent making money but is this based solely on box office sales ?
The production costs of a Rolling Stone tour are probably pretty staggering...but then again they also have tour sponsors...
Mick, Keith , Charlie & Ron would be lucky to see 5 million a piece at the end of the tour.
How can they survive on that ? :)

Posted by: jo jo at 01/26/07 11:23 AM | Reply
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yeah, nickelback being so far up there is by far the most disturbing thing ive ever come across...

Posted by: george at 01/26/07 11:24 AM | Reply
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i want to interview the person who ranks this as their personal top ten list of favorite artists.

we all need a good laugh.

Posted by: EJ @ Louderoft at 01/26/07 11:28 AM | Reply
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Streisand made . . . Celine did . . . (out of breath). I didn't even know they really toured any more!

Posted by: gorjus at 01/26/07 11:35 AM | Reply
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If you throw in Hinder's "Lips of an Angel" you should get a good picture of the music situation in my office. I hear we're hiring if you're interested...

Posted by: mr.dennis at 01/26/07 11:42 AM | Reply
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Country music rules! Over 1/3 of the money to our lil' redneck city, hahahahaha.

Posted by: Nashville at 01/26/07 11:52 AM | Reply
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Wait...NICKELBACK??????!!!!!!

Posted by: Jay at 01/26/07 11:53 AM | Reply
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Celine is doing her Vegas thing. Pretty damn impressive if that's been her only real income to be on that list.

I didn't know there were that many gay men who loved Barbara Streisand.

Posted by: Tim at 01/26/07 12:05 PM | Reply
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You missed Forbes List of Top Ten Artists/Groups most likely to suffer a fatality on account of accidentally hearing their own music on the radio:

01. Tim McGraw / Faith Hill
02. Rascal Flatts
03. Madonna
04. Barbra Streisand
05. Kenny Chesney
06. Celine Dion
07. Bon Jovi
08. Nickelback
09. Dave Matthews Band
10. Creed

Note: The Rolling Stones were not concidered in this catagory b/c they are already considered the walking dead.

Posted by: Laura at 01/26/07 12:12 PM | Reply
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bon jovi? rascal flats?? kenny chesney??? WHAT?

Posted by: hi at 01/26/07 12:24 PM | Reply
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don't worry about nickelback. this video basically sums up 95% of their fanbase:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrtw0eevCfk

Posted by: chameleonic at 01/26/07 12:30 PM | Reply
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Seeing Nickelback on this list confirmed to me that the guy outside my office with the "The End is Nigh" sign is not crazy after all.

Posted by: Chris at 01/26/07 12:36 PM | Reply
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nickelback, rascal flatts, fucking kenny chesney?!?! my god, the music industry of today is really screwed.

yay for dave matthews for squeezing into that horrible list.

Posted by: finn at 01/26/07 12:40 PM | Reply
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attention wallmart shoppers !

the results are in and its official you buy lots of shitty music !

Posted by: Bangum' smurf at 01/26/07 1:08 PM | Reply
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Record labels are in fact already signing deals to share in merchandise and touring with their bands. I know that Korn, for one, signed a deal like this (although do they still tour? Do they still make any money from said touring? Does anyone want to see them? Doesn't sound like the most brilliant band to start with, but whatevs). For the life of me, I can't figure out why a band would do this-- "So all this money that we used to just get all to ourselves... now we're gonna give you some of it? For.... nothing? Really?" Doesn't seem smart.

Posted by: Dan at 01/26/07 1:27 PM | Reply
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fucking nickelback!!

Posted by: Jake at 01/26/07 1:31 PM | Reply
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don't worry about nickelback. this video basically sums up 95% of their fanbase:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrtw0eevCfk
Posted by: chameleonic at January 26, 2007 12:30 PM

Five people favourited that youtube vid, what's worse: little kids that lip sync to Nickelback and post it on youtube or people actually watching/enjoying it. The lead singer is such a douche, he doesn't deserve that much cash.

Posted by: TheHumanComa at 01/26/07 2:13 PM | Reply
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All school-age children should memorize the following logic sequence:

nickelback=creed=shite.

Posted by: Chris at 01/26/07 2:40 PM | Reply
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I keep telling you f'ers, go see my movie.

Posted by: Mike Judge at 01/26/07 2:51 PM | Reply
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madonna's still good....fuck off.

Posted by: feelgoodtime05 at 01/26/07 3:34 PM | Reply
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This is ourrrr Countrryyyy!!!!!!

Posted by: pat at 01/26/07 4:44 PM | Reply
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OMG what if the people supporting these artists were allowed to vote? Just imagine the idiot they'd elect president. Oh wait...

Posted by: T at 01/26/07 4:45 PM | Reply
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That Nickelback song sounds just like modern country music. It all makes sense now.

Posted by: pablo at 01/26/07 6:11 PM | Reply
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