The list is calculated on the basis of the artists share of income from touring, sales (CD/digital), streaming services and publishing (mechanicals only).


U2 108.601.283
Bruce Springsteen 57.619.037
Madonna 47.237.774
AC/DC 43.650.466
Britney Spears 38.885.267
Pink 36.347.658
Jonas Brothers 33.596.576
Coldplay 27.326.562
Kenny Chesney 26.581.141
Metallica 26.564.234
Fleetwood Mac 24.751.540
Nickelback 23.674.124
Beyoncé 23.658.131
Elton John 22.141.315
Miley Cyrus 21.285.996
Il Divo 20.909.735
Dave Matthews Band 20.046.148
André Rieu 19.468.768
Rascal Flats 17.996.964
Michael Jackson 17.301.639

Wot ? No P Diddy, Black Eye Peas, Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg etc? Guess the "new" black singers aint as popular as they thinks they is.

The one name on this list that had me going WTF is André Rieu, anyone else share the same surprise

The numbers are gross revenue so shouldn't be confused with profit. According to various reports the production costs of U2's tour were so high it made a cash loss in 2009. This will change in 2010 as they are still touring to turn things around.

Giles don't talk like an ignorant fool. 2 black singers Beyonce and MJ is 10%
of the list and a decent entry for people of colour so shut up!

Sorry, I should have posted the link:



The interesting bit are the details for each artists.

The tour income is not "gross profits". It's the artists share after costs (as calculated by Billboard).

Il Divo? Burn the handcart, we've already crashed in hell.