Reference: Lists & Rankings: Music's Top 40 Money Makers 2012

via Billboard:

As the concert business rebounded in 2011, touring remained the biggest source of income for the top earners in the U.S. music business. Billboard’s sixth annual Money Makers ranking includes veteran road warriors U2, Kenny Chesney and Bon Jovi, as well as other artists emerging in recent years as A-list arena headliners, from Taylor Swift to Lady Gaga. But not all of the 40 artists on the Money Makers list relied heavily, if at all, on touring income.
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To provide a consistent snapshot of the top Money Makers’ earnings power, we focused exclusively on U.S. income sources, ranking artists based upon how much each of them earned in 2011 from a variety of income streams, including touring, recorded-music sales, publishing royalties and payments from an array of digital services. Our calculations were based on each artist’s U.S. net earnings, not gross revenue. Due to a lack of sufficient data, our figures do not include revenue from sponsorships, merchandise sales or synchronization deals.

Direct to List
Top 10

1. Taylor Swift-$35,719,902
2. U2-$32,116,315
3. Kenny Chesney-$29,837,103
4. Lady Gaga-$25,353,039
5. Lil Wayne-$23,178,722
6. Sade-$16,382,809
7. Bon Jovi-$15,835,856
8. Celine Dion-$14,261,515
9. Jason Aldean-$13,409,011
10. Adele-$13,081,909

Direct to Complete 2012 List (Top 40)
See Also: Music’s Top Money Makers 2011  ||| Music’s Top Money Makers 2010
See Also: Top Albums, Songs, Tours and Artists Of 2011

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