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Los Angeles - Madonna was music's biggest earner in 2012.
The singer topped Billboard's list of money makers, taking home $34.5m from her 88-date MDNA World Tour, also the highest grossing live tour of the year.
Madonna, 54, narrowly beat rocker Bruce Springsteen to take the crown with 93.5% of her earnings coming from the tour, which made her a reported $32m from a $305m gross. The star earned additional millions for physical and digital sales of her latest studio album of the same name, which topped the album charts in the UK and US.
Her nearest rival, Bruce, earned $33.4m, also mainly from touring. Others to make the top ten included former Pink Floyd member Roger Waters with $21m, Coldplay with $17m and Justin Bieber with $16m.
Many of the acts' millions came from their respective tours, but record sales made a significant sum for some artists, including Taylor Swift and Adele.
Skyfall hitmaker Adele was the 11th biggest earner of 2012, taking home $14m for the continued success of her worldwide smash second album, 21, despite a lack of touring or promotion from the artist, who settled down and started a family.
Taylor, who topped the list in 2011, fell to 15th place as she didn't tour but still made $12.6m based on record-selling, advertising and sponsorship deals. The singer sold three million physical copies and over a million digital copies of fourth studio album, Red, and a staggering 15.6m digital copies of tracks I Knew You Were Trouble and We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.
Billboard's top 10 musical earners of 2012:
1. Madonna ($34.5m)
2. Bruce Springsteen ($33.4m)
3. Roger Waters ($21.1m)
4. Van Halen ($20.1m)
5. Kenny Chesney ($19.1m)
6. Dave Matthews Band ($18.9m)
7. Tim McGraw ($18.3m)
8. Jason Aldean ($17.5m)
9. Coldplay ($17.3m)
10. Justin Bieber ($15.9m)
The singer topped Billboard's list of money makers, taking home $34.5m from her 88-date MDNA World Tour, also the highest grossing live tour of the year.
Madonna, 54, narrowly beat rocker Bruce Springsteen to take the crown with 93.5% of her earnings coming from the tour, which made her a reported $32m from a $305m gross. The star earned additional millions for physical and digital sales of her latest studio album of the same name, which topped the album charts in the UK and US.
Her nearest rival, Bruce, earned $33.4m, also mainly from touring. Others to make the top ten included former Pink Floyd member Roger Waters with $21m, Coldplay with $17m and Justin Bieber with $16m.
Many of the acts' millions came from their respective tours, but record sales made a significant sum for some artists, including Taylor Swift and Adele.
Skyfall hitmaker Adele was the 11th biggest earner of 2012, taking home $14m for the continued success of her worldwide smash second album, 21, despite a lack of touring or promotion from the artist, who settled down and started a family.
Taylor, who topped the list in 2011, fell to 15th place as she didn't tour but still made $12.6m based on record-selling, advertising and sponsorship deals. The singer sold three million physical copies and over a million digital copies of fourth studio album, Red, and a staggering 15.6m digital copies of tracks I Knew You Were Trouble and We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.
Billboard's top 10 musical earners of 2012:
1. Madonna ($34.5m)
2. Bruce Springsteen ($33.4m)
3. Roger Waters ($21.1m)
4. Van Halen ($20.1m)
5. Kenny Chesney ($19.1m)
6. Dave Matthews Band ($18.9m)
7. Tim McGraw ($18.3m)
8. Jason Aldean ($17.5m)
9. Coldplay ($17.3m)
10. Justin Bieber ($15.9m)
