Music

8 bands that make more than a doctor's salary in a single concert

by Mark Teo

In 2014, monocle-toting Monopoly men look like Avenged Sevenfold.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that music, as all industries, is experiencing a disparity in wealth. While some artists earn pennies in revenue (leading some bands to find hacks in how streaming services pay up), the stark truth remains—according to some studies, in music, 1 per cent of artists earn 77 per cent of the profits. Ouch.

How much does music’s 1 per cent make? Along with sales of their music, live performances are a major source of income—and Billboard’s box score hastabulated how much major musicians made at the box office in 2014. And the results are astounding: Many top acts make more than the bougiest 1 per cent.

So, we’ve done some number crunching to reveal how many artists can make more than a doctor’s annual salary—$307,000 per year in Canada—in a single show. It should be noted that these artists don’t walk away with the entire sum of their ticket sales—venues and opening bands cut into profits, while merch sales are unaccounted for.

And some artists, too, didn’t make this list, but still earn shocking amounts: Avril Lavigne earned a quarter million in sales from a single show. Rob Zombie earned $70,000. Schoolboy Q headed an event that managed $150k in sales. But none were as shocking as what these 8 artists earn.

 

Armin Van Buuren

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that EDM is a major, major cash cow. But who knew it was this big? Van Buuren’s top-selling show of 2014—thus far—happened in Mexico city, and it earned $1.1 million. And beyond that, he’s had shows that grossed $750,000 and $250,000, respectively, this year. From those three shows, he made 6.5 times what an average Canadian MD makes in a year.

 

Cher and Cyndi Lauper

Cher and Cyndi Lauper have played a whopping 14 shows that, individually, have made more than a doctor. The stats: Their highest-earning show, in Philadelphia, sold $1.5 million. Nine of those shows earned more than a million. Their lowest grossing of the 14? Roughy $750,000. Welp.

 

Dave Matthews Band

Now, Dave Matthews Band might be the punchline for insipid sitcom jokes, but there’s no denying that the dude has fans. Especially in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where the Birkenstock and wool-sock toting masses pumped more than $540,000 into a single show.

 

Scorpions

When we think of Scorpions, we think of the type of band that’s hot on the casino circuit. (If it’s even possible to be hot on the casino circuit.) But damn, were we ever wrong. They’re supposedly huge in Germany, where earlier this month, they played a Hamburg show that netted more than $700,000 in sales. Who knew?

 

Michael Buble

Michael Buble might release the type of albums you’d buy at a Chapters-Indigo, but there’s no denying that the crooner’s a major musical force. He only had one show rank in Billboard’s list, but that show—in Australia—earned $6.2 million in gross sales. Let that sink in. That could pay the annual salary of 20 Canadian doctors.

 

Michael Jackson’s Immortal World Tour by Cirque de Soleil

The Immortal World Tour isn’t exactly a band—it’s actually a production put on by Montreal-based circus production Cirque de Soleil. Still, it’s based on Jackson’s timeless music, and it does nothing but earn: Six shows made more than a doctor’s annual salary in a sitting, with the top-grossing production topping out at $1.5 million in gross sales.

 

Avenged Sevenfold

We’ve long known that mall metal is profitable, but Avenged Sevenfold take it the next level. The band has ridden fedoras, aviator sunglasses, and guyliner right to the top, and in Canada’s most metal-obsessed province—Quebec, natch—they earned more than $500,000 at a Montreal show. Hopefully, they shared the profits with openers Hellyeah and Adrenaline Mob.

 

Megadeth

Mexico sure loves their Megadeth. Like, a lot. They earned nearly $320,000 playing Mexico City, and if that wasn’t enough, two more shows in Monterrey and Guadalajara weren’t far behind.