Madonna’s Money

The list of top musician moneymakers for the past year was just released. The vast amounts of money as well as the diversity in styles of music is quite astounding. Here is a little taste:

1. Madonna: $242,176,466
2. Bon Jovi: $157,177,766
5. Celine Dion: $99,171,237
6. Kenny Chesney: $90,823,990
9. Jonas Brothers: $62,638,814
10. Coldplay: $62,175,555
11. The Eagles: $61,132,213
12. Lil Wayne: $57,441,334
13. AC/DC: $56,505,296
15. Miley Cyrus: $48,920,806
19. Mary J. Blige: $43,472,850

A few immediately noticeable items are that most of the highest grossing artists are either very well established artists who made their musical mark 20, 30, even 40 years ago. A second list of artists graces this elite list, and those are hip hop artists or artists that appeal to a very young fan base (Jonas Bros, Miley Cyrus).

Looking deeper into Madonna’s numbers, we notice additional trends in the music industry. First of all, Madonna’s album was not a huge success. It only reached a high of 50th place in top albums for the year. 10 years ago, the album would have placed a much more important role in the percentage of money an artist had made that year. In this case, a top selling album was unnecessary for Madonna to make the top of the list.

Secondly, Madonna’s Sweet & Sticky tour during 2008 took in $229,886,340 gross at the ticket office. It is estimated that up to 40% of that gross could have been eaten up by production costs. Nevertheless, nearly $138 million after production costs would be a full 57% of her $242 total. Thus, touring will continue to take a more important role for artists. But to look at Madonna’s grueling schedule is to realize this is not easy work. Madonna will also be extending her tour another 25 dates this ’09 summer within the U.K. and Europe.

Third, the estimate is that Madonna made $18 million just in selling merchandise. That’s nearly 7.5% of her total. Artists must have a great collection of items for sale through a band website and at the concerts.

Another important piece of information that Madonna’s money shows us is that Live Nation may have been on to something when they signed Madonna last year for a reported $120 million deal over 10 years. As part of this deal, Live Nation would receive a cut of all aspects of Madonna’s income streams (tours, merchandise, album sales, etc). We are in year #2 of this deal and it appears that Live Nation will be able to make back their $120 million and then some.

Stay tuned,
Erik
erikrostad.com