One Direction, Fleetwood Mac, and Rolling Stones Lead Midyear Tour Numbers

Pollstar has released its 2015 midyear report, which indicates that One Direction is the highest-earning touring act of the year thus far, while the Rolling Stones have been rocking North American, both musically and financially.

One Direction is at the top of the Global Charts rankings, having brought in $107.7 million so far (our sister-in-law will contribute to that total in Kansas City tonight). The boy band had played 33 shows in 22 cities through June, and brought in roughly $4.9 million a show. The group is followed by Fleetwood Mac as the second-highest earner, as the rock group brought in $92 million from 56 shows (obviously smaller gigs than what One Direction pulls). Those rankings are glorious for the Creative Artists Agency, the agency that represents both acts.

Granted, if the Rolling Stones wanted to top that list, it wouldn't take too much work. The group is at no. 3 on the global list and no. 1 in North America, the result of $80.7 million in gross earnings. The band has only played 10 shows however, 23 less than One Direction. Age has slowed the rockers, but they know they can make healthy numbers based on ticket prices. The $178.44 average ticket price is the second-highest on the list (trailing only Andrea Bocceli), and when you multiply that by venues the size of Ohio Stadium, you get a sizable paycheck.

Garth Brooks, the no. 4 earner so far in 2015, takes the exact opposite approach as the Stones. He represents the hustle, selling tickets at the relatively low (for an arena concert) average of $66.23. He's only hit 13 cities so far but he's played 74 shows between them, milking each market for everything it's worth. The approach has made him $79.9 million.

Sometimes it just helps to play one, huge run. Paul McCartney, the fifth highest earner so far, tops the single concert grosses list with the three shows that he played at the Tokyo Dome, which brought a total of $21.75 million between them. The Japanese audiences are willing to pay out: One Direction had the fourth-largest run with its four shows at the Saitama Super Arena, worth $18 million.

Tags

One Direction, The Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, Andrea Bocelli, Garth Brooks, Paul McCartney