The results of Nielsen SoundScan’s ranking of the 10 biggest-selling performers of 2008 and Pollstar’s Top 10 highest-grossing North American concert tours are out, and Coldplay are in sixth place with a combined income in 2008 of $81.6 million:
6. Coldplay ($81.6 million). Although finishing sixth, Coldplay is in the enviable position of balancing its power in concert and at retail. About $40.8 million worth of concert tickets were bolstered with $35 million in CD sales and $6 million worth of 99-cent track downloads. Average ticket price: $79.87.
The road is still where artists tend to make the most money. Only three of the Nielsen SoundScan biggest-selling artists of 2008 — AC/DC, Coldplay and the Jonas Brothers — make the Ultimate Top 10, even folding in their revenue from digital track sales. That leaves the upper reaches of the Ultimate Top 10 to the veterans, and no one outperformed Madonna, whose combined income of $120 million is a drop from last year’s winner, the Police, which logged $140.7 million.
Read the full top ten list at the Coldplay forum here
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