quantumRadio

NASHVILLE – If anyone had any doubt that touring is where the money is in today’s music business, a look at Billboard’s top moneymakers of 2008 should hammer the point home.

Regardless of genre, retail sales or radio play, each of the 20 acts on the moneymakers list toured last year. For almost all of them, touring generated the most revenue. And in a year when recorded-music sales declined yet again, many earned more at the box office than ever before.

Madonna was No. 1 on the list with $242.2 million. She had the 50th-best-selling album in the country and ranked 14th on the list of digital track sellers — but had the highest-earning 2008 tour.

(continue reading…)