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CNN Live At Daybreak
Pollstar: Springstein is No. 1 Moneymaker in '03
Aired December 24, 2003 - 06:44 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well time now for a little 'Business Buzz.' Concerts, love going to those all year, right? Well I bet you can't even guess on who may have been bringing in all the big record receipts this year? Could it be Britney, Justin, Beyonce? There are some surprises out there.
Carrie Lee joins us from the Nasdaq market site with the list -- Carrie.
CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, some people may be surprised to hear that it's the older music groups that are raking in the most cash. It might be that young people are really the ones going to concerts, spending the money, but older groups very often charge quite a bit for tickets. Their fans can afford it. And so these groups rake in the most cash.
A publication from Pollstar found that the Boss, Bruce Springstein and his E Street Band, hosted the biggest moneymaking concert tour for 2003. It earned $116 million this year, and that is the second biggest of all time. The top spot goes to the Rolling Stones back in 1994, earning $121 million.
Now according to Reuters, more than 1.6 million fans listened live to Bruce's "Glory Days" and songs about the working man. In at No. 2 last year, or this year, rather, Celine Dion. She's been performing in Las Vegas, bringing in about $80 million. And then No. 3 goes to the Eagles, followed by Fleetwood Mac and Cher. So there's really a trend here, groups that have been around for a while bringing in the most money.
And we're seeing a similar trend in CD holiday sales this season. A lot of oldies but goodies, groups packaging things the best of and that type of trend, Fredricka. Kind of gives new meaning to glory days and the Bruce band thinking maybe these are the glory days for Bruce Springstein.
WHITFIELD: No kidding. That's a great sale. I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that so many of those older groups have big bands and people love that. At least I got a chance to see one out of that top five, which was Fleetwood Mac.
Let's talk about how Wall Street might be celebrating Christmas.
LEE: Well, it looks like we could see a little bit of weakness in the markets right now following a very nice gain yesterday on the Nasdaq. That index up about 1 percent. The mad cow disease scare, certainly affecting some beef stocks. We watched McDonald's last night fall about 4 percent. So that's one thing weighing on markets, although it's been a good month for stocks. In fact, the Dow is up 5.7 percent so far for December. And of course, Fredricka, for investors, it's been a very good year.
Back to you.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks very much, Carrie, happy holidays.
LEE: Same to you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired December 24, 2003 - 06:44 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well time now for a little 'Business Buzz.' Concerts, love going to those all year, right? Well I bet you can't even guess on who may have been bringing in all the big record receipts this year? Could it be Britney, Justin, Beyonce? There are some surprises out there.
Carrie Lee joins us from the Nasdaq market site with the list -- Carrie.
CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, some people may be surprised to hear that it's the older music groups that are raking in the most cash. It might be that young people are really the ones going to concerts, spending the money, but older groups very often charge quite a bit for tickets. Their fans can afford it. And so these groups rake in the most cash.
A publication from Pollstar found that the Boss, Bruce Springstein and his E Street Band, hosted the biggest moneymaking concert tour for 2003. It earned $116 million this year, and that is the second biggest of all time. The top spot goes to the Rolling Stones back in 1994, earning $121 million.
Now according to Reuters, more than 1.6 million fans listened live to Bruce's "Glory Days" and songs about the working man. In at No. 2 last year, or this year, rather, Celine Dion. She's been performing in Las Vegas, bringing in about $80 million. And then No. 3 goes to the Eagles, followed by Fleetwood Mac and Cher. So there's really a trend here, groups that have been around for a while bringing in the most money.
And we're seeing a similar trend in CD holiday sales this season. A lot of oldies but goodies, groups packaging things the best of and that type of trend, Fredricka. Kind of gives new meaning to glory days and the Bruce band thinking maybe these are the glory days for Bruce Springstein.
WHITFIELD: No kidding. That's a great sale. I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that so many of those older groups have big bands and people love that. At least I got a chance to see one out of that top five, which was Fleetwood Mac.
Let's talk about how Wall Street might be celebrating Christmas.
LEE: Well, it looks like we could see a little bit of weakness in the markets right now following a very nice gain yesterday on the Nasdaq. That index up about 1 percent. The mad cow disease scare, certainly affecting some beef stocks. We watched McDonald's last night fall about 4 percent. So that's one thing weighing on markets, although it's been a good month for stocks. In fact, the Dow is up 5.7 percent so far for December. And of course, Fredricka, for investors, it's been a very good year.
Back to you.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks very much, Carrie, happy holidays.
LEE: Same to you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
