Billboard recently released their year in music charts for 2008 and it looks like some old favorites made some serious coin with their 2008 concert tours.
Here's the short version:
Worldwide concert dollars for 2008 were $4 billion, up almost 13% from 2007. Bon Jovi, Madonna, and The Police had the highest grossing tours of the year.
Interestingly, despite the uptick in earnings, worldwide attendance was basically flat and North American concert attendance was down nearly 2%. But more on that in a second.
First, let's take a look at the ten highest earning concert tours of 2008…
- 10 Rascal Flatts Bob That Head Tour *$55,800,000
- 9 Eagles Long Road out of Eden Tour$56,600,000
- 8 Spice Girls Reunion Tour$70,000,000
- 7 Neil Diamond 2008 World Tour$81,200,000
- 6 Kenny Chesney Poets & Pirates Tour *$86,000,000
- 5 Celine Dion Taking Chances Tour$91,000,000
- 4 The Police Reunion Tour *$150,000,000
- 3 Madonna Sticky & Sweet Tour$162,000,000
- 2 Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band Magic Tour$204,500,000
- 1 Bon Jovi Lost Highway Tour$210,600,000
- * Also appeared on 2007 list
So in any case, how is it possible that concert tour earning are up and attendance is flat?
Simple. There were 6% fewer shows this year, but each one made more money. In the US, for example, the average box office gross for a single show was up 18% from last year, with a 6.3% bump in attendance.
Sounds like a double dose of weak-sauce for concertgoers like you and me.
For starters, you've got fewer choices in shows which can't be a good thing. And what shows remain are more crowded so you've got less room to rock out. Weak-sauce indeed.
Personally I'm thinking 2009 will be more of the same — but it sure would put a smile on my face to see Phish make the list!
P.S. Speaking of weak-sauce, concert tickets on the secondary market (often the only place you can buy them thanks in large part to professional concert ticket brokers) got more expensive in 2008. Learn more about that in our post about The Most Expensive Concert Tickets of 2008.
