According to a post published by Pollstar, Metallica holds the title of the most financially successful band in metal.
They put this information into a list of the top 150 acts. This report, last updated in July 2022, includes data going back to 1981, which is when Pollstar first started keeping track of these numbers.
Metallica is the only metal band among the eight highest-earning names, with $1,219,599,179 in box office ticket sale earnings. The Rolling Stones are not just the highest-earning rock band in ticket sales according to Pollstar, but they also lead in all live music earnings. They’ve made $2,165,280,638 from ticket sales. Here is the list:
The Rolling Stones ($2,165,280,638)
U2 ($2,127,771,684)
Elton John ($1,748,183,036)
Bruce Springsteen ($1,527,407,373)
Bon Jovi ($1,329,891,400)
The Eagles ($1,314,544,780)
Metallica ($1,219,599,179)
Paul McCartney ($1,193,812,645)
Estimating Metallica’s Streaming Royalties
There are also guesses on how much money Metallica might have made from Spotify streaming royalties this year. Billboard has a streaming royalty calculator developed by Manatt, Phelps & Phillips. This calculator estimates revenue from streaming based on various payments, including sound recording, mechanical royalties, and performance royalties to rights organizations like ASCAP, BMI, GMR, and SESAC.
While Metallica hasn’t released their 2023 Spotify streaming numbers yet, we can estimate based on their past data. They had 1 Billion streams in 2019, and it increased to 1.6 Billion in 2022. So, for 2023, it’s likely they had at least 1.25 Billion streams. According to Billboard’s calculator, this could mean around $6 Million in royalties.
