The Effect Of A Possible Ticketmaster-Live Nation Merger Exemplified In The Release Of Billboard’s Annual MoneyMakers List

With all the recent buzz about a possible merger between Ticketmaster and Live Nation , we found Billboard Magazine ’s annual listing of the top earners in music even more intriguing than usual. It seems the majority of those millions come directly from touring and ticket sales, leaving us wondering just what’s at stake for artists and fans in this possible merger? Billboard’s annual Moneymakers List ranks the top 20 money-earning artists. The numbers represent album sales, concert ticket sales, ringtone sales and digital track sales. But it’s not an even spread, the top five MoneyMakers are also the five acts that earned the most on tour, and — because not supporting albums — in the exact same order of touring revenue. In the top ten, a total of eight were also top earners on tour; each of the 20 artists or bands on the full list toured in some capacity in 2008, and for the majority, touring generated the most revenue. Conversely, the artist who ... (link)