Metallica, Tool and AC/DC Among Highest-Earning Bands of 2020

Billboard has published their annual list of the highest-earning musicians, and the numbers for 2020 have some metal and metal-adjacent names ranking in the top 40.

The methodology for the ‘Money Makers’ chart is as follows:

“Money Makers was compiled with 2020 U.S.-only MRC Data and Billboard Boxscore statistics. All revenue figures cited are Billboard estimates and, due to rounding, an artist’s total may not equal the sum of the subcategories. Revenue from merchandising, synchronization and sponsorship — and livestream concerts — is not included. Unless otherwise noted, streaming totals consist of combined on-demand audio, video and programmed streams.”

AC/DC landed at #13 with a total of $10.1 million, Metallica raked in $9 million to get them to #18, and Tool, one of the few artists on the list to benefit from live income before the Covid-19 lockdown, hit #32 with $6.17 million ($4.2 million from touring).

Queen, Kiss, The Rolling Stones and Aerosmith are some other rock acts to make the list. Taylor Swift took the #1 spot, and Post Malone #2.

You can read the full list here, including breakdowns of each artist’s revenue sources.

[via Blabbermouth]