Madonna has emerged as the top earning musician of the year after she raked in £77m in ticket and merchandise sales, beating the likes of Lady GaGa and Bon Jovi who fell in at second with £49.6 m and third with £49m respectively.

Madonna
The List Shows That Madonna Is Completely Loaded.

The veteran popstar, who is clearly still very much on her game, made this year's mega millions between June 2012 and June 2013, mainly thanks to her MDNA world tour, 'Material Girl' clothing line, perfume brand and merchandise sales, according to Forbes Magazine.

Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga & Madonna's Rivalry Continues.

Madonna's rich list topping powers above Gaga's comparatively lowly second place serves to only fuel the rumours of the rivalry between the world-dominating pop powerhouses. Meanwhile country music star Toby Keith and British rockers Coldplay took the fourth and fifth spots with £40.3 million and £39.7 million respectively, and teen popster Justin Bieber was named sixth with an estimated £36 million earned.

However, the highest earning musician of the year is the late King of Pop Michael Jackson whose Cirque du Soleil shows and merchandise sales helped net £99 million for the dead star's estate.

Toby Keith
Toby Keith Is Exceedingly Rich.

Apparently, the biggest revenue stream for top artists nowadays is concert sales as album ownership decreases and illegal downloading increases. It's a fact that's hardly surprising considering the planet's biggest popstars routinely charge upwards of £50 for a ticket for a concert held in what is often a 50,000+ capacity arena. The maths is boggling.

Justin Bieber
Justin Bieber's Earnings Were Dwarfed By Five Other Stars.

Plus, as music purchases decrease, concert attendances remain healthy with a projected increase of around 15% in the next year, according to Stifel analyst Benjamin Mogil, via Forbes. Apparently the rise of live electronic dance music performances as well as the ever-popular festivals are both catalysts in the extremely healthy live music scene.