There was no lack of news in 2009 that impacted ticket values. In the world of sports, the unfolding Tiger Woods story, Michael Vick’s reinstatement and signing by the Eagles, Shaq’s move to the Cavaliers, and Manny Ramirez’s fifty game suspension from the Dodgers were all big news but:

The #1 sports tickets story in 2009 was the courtship and signing of Brett Favre by the Minnesota Vikings.

Rumors that Brett Favre might come out of retirement kept market prices for Minnesota Vikings tickets in the weeks around the fourth of July at about $125. On July 29th, however, Favre announced that he would stay retired — sending Vikings tickets market prices down to $103 the week of August 9th. On August 19th, Favre reconsidered and signed with the Vikings, whose ticket market prices rose and have stayed at about $150 since.

Concert tickets too were in the news in 2009. U2 tickets for their stadium tours were in huge demand. Blink 182 reunited and toured for the first time in years. The Weezer, Aerosmith, and Elton John/Billy Joel tours were interrupted by a bus crash, stage fall, and the flu, respectively. Kanye West’s interruption of the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) led to the end of the planned ‘Fame Kills’ tour with Lady Gaga, who is now headlining her own highly successful tour. Lady Gaga tickets are among the hottest concert tickets currently found with FanSnap. All exciting, but Kanye’s antics had another impact:

The #1 concert tickets story in 2009 is the rapid rise in popularity of Taylor Swift immediately following the VMAs

Market prices for Taylor Swift tickets during the summer had been holding steady at about $250. Immediately after the VMAs on Sep 13th, Taylor Swift ticket market prices rose to as high as $317 as demand exploded. Of course, demand creates supply as the Taylor Swift camp has subsequently added 34 dates to their tour, which is moderating market prices.

The L.A. Times released the top artists of 2000-2009. The numbers were calculated based on album sales and concert tickets. Celine Dion’s stint in Las Vegas was huge for her ticket sales and propelled her to the top of the list. If that trend holds, look for Garth Brooks to top this list in 2020.

The Ultimate Top 10 of the Decade:

1. Celine Dion (tickets), $747.9 million. Dion pulled in $522.2 million in concert-ticket sales for the decade. Adding $225.7 million worth of album sales during those same 10 years.

2. Kenny Chesney (tickets), $742 million. His total includes $455.6 million in concert ticket sales and $286.4 million in album revenue.

3. Dave Matthews Band (tickets), $737.4 million. Matthews’ decade concert total of $529.1 million put him first on the list of top North American live music attractions of the decade, as calculated by the concert-tracking publication Pollstar. The band posted $208.3 million in album sales.

4. The Beatles, $627.3 million. Although the quartet disbanded 30 years before the decade began, the Beatles still managed to generate $392.3 million from sales of 30.2 million albums (using an average of $13 per album). The $627.3 million includes ex-Beatle Paul McCartney ($221.4 million) and Ringo Starr ($13.6 million), given that their concert audiences consist in large part of Beatles fans. The Fab Four also logged the single bestselling album of the decade, the “1″ hits collection, with 11.5 million copies.

5. U2 (tickets), $609.7 million. The Irish rock quartet brought in $391 million at the box office and $218.7 million in album sales.

6. Toby Keith (tickets), $591.9 million. The second of three country acts in the Top 10, the Oklahoma singer and songwriter logged $273.8 million on the concert trail, $318.1 million from album sales.

7. Bruce Springsteen, $588.3 million. On the road, both with the E Street Band and his various non-E Street tours, the Boss brought in $444.3 million. His album take: $144 million.

8. The Rolling Stones, $569.6 million. The Stones also benefited heavily from touring, earning $426.9 million at the box office in addition to $142.7 million in album sales. Rolling Stones tickets

9. Tim McGraw (tickets), $550.7 million. Strictly as a solo act, the country singer-songwriter ranks No. 14 on the list. But he toured several times with his wife, Faith Hill, during the decade. California being a community property state, we are awarding him half the revenue those outings generated. So his total includes $322 million in album sales, $133.7 million from his own tours and $95 million for his half of the McGraw-Hill shows.

10. Britney Spears, $494.3 million. Despite a rocky decade personally and professionally, Spears pulled in $195.7 million at the box office and sold $298.6 million worth of albums for the 10-year period.

The L.A. Times created the same list for artists in 2009. Here is the list. Check the L.A. Times for the details.

1. U2 — $137.3 million ($123 million box office, $14.3 million albums). U2 tickets
2. Springsteen — $102 million ($94.5 million box office, $7.5 million in albums)
3. Michael Jackson — $100 million in album revenue
4. Brittney Spears — $89.5 million ($82.5 million in concert ticket sales and $7 million in album revenue)
5. Elton John/Billy Joel — $88 million at the box office Elton John/Billy Joel tickets
6. AC/DC — $83.8 million ($77.9 million in concert tickets, $5.9 million in album sales). AC/DC tickets
7. Taylor Swift — $83.2 million ($25.5 million at the box office, $57.7 million in album sales). Taylor Swift tickets
8. Kenny Chesney — $81 million ($71.1 million in concert, $9.9 million in album sales). Kenny Chesney tickets
9. Jonas Brothers — $77.9 million ($69.8 million in concert revenue, $8.1 million in album sales) Jonas Brothers tickets
10. Dave Matthews Band — $69.8 million ($56.9 million in concert tickets, $12.9 million in album sales). Dave Matthews Band tickets

Christian

Our favorite artists and bands are starting to announce their 2010 concert tour schedules. This promises to be a huge year for monster tours. In fact, concert tour announcements have gone from one or two a week to two and three a day. In addition to some of the biggest acts in the world — U2 tickets and Taylor Swift tickets topped our hot tickets list of 2009 — extending their 2009 tours into 2010, here are  concert tours being announced this week.

Zac Brown Band tickets for concert tour stops in the Western U.S. were announced today.

Five For Fighting tickets and dates for a U.S. tour following up the band’s October release, “Slice,” which we think should have been called, “Slashing,” were also announced today.

The National tickets for a handful of U.S. stops were announced today.

The Eagles, yes, one of the biggest bands in history, announced more dates and stops on what is now just a few stops on the west coast for the band’s Long Road Out Of Eden tour. Fingers crossed that they announce a full blown tour very soon. Check out Eagles tickets for So. Cal., No. Cal.,  BC and Phoenix.

Jeff Beck tickets to his out headlining tour were announced earlier this week. Jeff Beck is currently on the road with Eric Clapton now and will continue his own tour in April. Eric Clapton will continue touring with Roger Daltrey and then Steve Winwood through the spring.

Elvis Costello tickets to 20 concert dates in April and May were announced this week.

Michael Buble tickets for 17 more stops to his tour were announced — extending it from March into July.

Hank Williams Jr. tickets to a handful of shows in the south hit the ticket market this week.

Hank’s Family Tradition buddy, MY NAME IS KID Rock tickets to a handful of shows also hit the ticket market this week.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra tickets to “Beethoven’s Last Night” 2010 were announced at the beginning of the week.

Kenny Chesney tickets to a few shows in Vegas were announced this week. We know there are a  lot of Kenny Chesney fans out there wondering if Kenny will hit the road this summer. We’ll let you know. We’ll also look for Mr. You Had Me At Hello at the Super Bowl where he’s sure to be rooting on his buddy Payton Manning.

Harry Connick Jr. tickets to 12 dates in February that have the Jazz man crisscrossing the south were announced this week.

The Peter Gabriel tickets and dates announcement on Monday kick the week off with us singing “Sledge Hammer” and “In Your Eyes” and then debating which was the best Cameron Crowe movie.

Christian

Carrie Underwood announced her Play On concert tour via her website — letting fans know the AMA hosting, Christmas Special starring, crossover hit maker will perform across North America starting in March 2010. The 45-date Play On Tour will kick off at Sovereign Center Arena in Reading, PA and run through May 30, wrapping up at Spokane Arena in Spokane, WA,

The season 4 American Idol winner’s 2008 “Carnival Ride Tour” wrapped after 137 shows with 1.2 million fans in attendance. Carrie Underwood’s third album, Play On, debuted at #1 on both the country and pop album sales charts. Underwood is a four-time GRAMMY winner, ACM Entertainer of the Year, a three-time CMA and three-time reigning ACM Female Vocalist winner, and a member of the Grand Ole Opry with total album sales now in excess of 11 million.

The question is, whose concert tickets will be bigger, Carrie Underwood tickets or her friend Taylor Swift tickets?

• Carrie Underwood Sovereign Center - Arena (Reading, PA) Mar 11, 2010 Tickets
• Carrie Underwood Times Union Center (Albany, NY) F  Mar 12 Tickets
• Carrie Underwood Dunkin Donuts Center (Providence, RI) Mar 13  Tickets
• Carrie Underwood Cumberland County Civic Center (Portland, ME) Mar 15, 2010  Tickets
• Carrie Underwood Arena at Harbor Yard (Bridgeport, CT) Mar 16, 2010  Tickets
• Carrie Underwood MGM Grand at Foxwoods (Ledyard, CT) Mar 20, 2010  Tickets
• Carrie Underwood DCU Center (Worcester, MA) Mar 21, 2010  Tickets
• Carrie Underwood Copps Coliseum (Hamilton On, ON) Mar 23, 2010  Tickets
• Carrie Underwood Scotiabank Place (Kanata On, ON) Mar 24, 2010 Tickets
• Carrie Underwood Sun National Bank Center (Trenton, NJ) Mar 26, 2010 Tickets
• Carrie Underwood Mullins Center (Amherst, MA) Mar 27, 2010 Tickets
• Carrie Underwood Wachovia Arena (Wilkes Barre, PA) Mar 29, 2010  Tickets
• Carrie Underwood Blue Cross Arena (Rochester, NY) Wed, Mar 31, 2010 TBA - No tickets found. Alert Me
• Carrie Underwood Petersen Events Center (Pittsburgh, PA) Apr 1, 2010  Tickets
• Carrie Underwood Eastern Kentucky Expo Center (Pikeville, KY) Apr 3, 2010  Tickets
• Carrie Underwood Schottenstein Center (Columbus, OH) Apr 6, 2010  Tickets
• Carrie Underwood Peoria Civic Center Arena (Peoria, IL) Apr 7, 2010  Tickets
• Carrie Underwood Conseco Fieldhouse (Indianapolis, IN) Apr 9, 2010  Tickets
• Carrie Underwood Rockford MetroCentre (Rockford, IL) Apr 10, 2010  Tickets
• Carrie Underwood Allen County Memorial Coliseum (Fort Wayne, IN) Apr 12, 2010  Tickets
• Carrie Underwood Dow Event Center (Saginaw, MI) Apr 13, 2010 Tickets
• Carrie Underwood Jack Breslin Student Events Center (Lansing, MI) Apr 14, 2010 Tickets
• Carrie Underwood Van Andel Arena (Grand Rapids, MI) Apr 23, 2010 Tickets
• Carrie Underwood Lucas County Arena (Toledo, OH) Apr 24, 2010 Tickets
• Carrie Underwood US Bank Arena (Cincinnati, OH) Apr 25, 2010 Tickets
• Carrie Underwood Richmond Coliseum (Richmond, VA) Apr 27, 2010 Tickets
• Carrie Underwood Charleston Civic Center (Charleston, WV) Apr 28, 2010 Tickets
• Carrie Underwood Colonial Life Arena (Columbia, SC) May 1, 2010 Tickets
• Carrie Underwood James Brown Arena (Augusta, GA) May 2, 2010 Tickets
• Carrie Underwood Pensacola Civic Center (Pensacola, FL) May 5, 2010 TBA - No tickets found. Alert Me
• Carrie Underwood UNO Lakefront Arena (New Orleans, LA) May 7, 2010 Tickets
• Carrie Underwood Lafayette Cajundome (Lafayette, LA) May 8, 2010 Tickets
• Carrie Underwood Ford Park TX (Beaumont, TX) May 10, 2010 Tickets
• Carrie Underwood Frank Erwin Center (Austin, TX) May 12, 2010 Tickets
• Carrie Underwood American Bank Center (Corpus Christi, TX) May 13, 2010 Tickets
• Carrie Underwood Tucson Arena (Tucson, AZ) May 15, 2010 Tickets
• Carrie Underwood Save Mart Center (Fresno, CA) May 18, 2010 Tickets
• Carrie Underwood Arco Arena (Sacramento, CA) May 20, 2010 Tickets
• Carrie Underwood Reno Events Center (Reno, NV) May 21, 2010 Tickets
• Carrie Underwood Orleans Arena (Las Vegas, NV) May 22, 2010 Tickets
• Carrie Underwood Comcast Arena at Everett Events Center (Everett, WA) May 29, 2010 Tickets
• Carrie Underwood Spokane Arena (Spokane, WA) May 30, 2010 Tickets

Christian

Taylor Swift keeps on racking up awards. This time it was the American Music Awards. Taylor Swift took home  Favorite Female Pop / Rock Artist, Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist, Favorite Female Country Artist, Favorite Country Music Album (Fearless), and Artist of the Year.

Taylor Swift was rehearsing in London for the 2010 leg of her Fearless tour and could not attend the awards show. She was available “live via satellite” (I love how they still use that term) to accept her awards and was her gracious, adorable self.

Taylor Swift tickets continue to be among the hottest on FanSnap. In 2009, Taylor Swift tickets were second to only U2 tickets and Bruce Springsteen tickets in demand. In 2010, Lady Gaga is giving Taylor Swift a run for her money, at least in the ticket demand category. Lady Gaga clearly has a flare for the dramatic as you can see below from her performance at the AMAs.

We love that on our iPods, music award shows and the concerts we want to go to, a country girl singing about bad breakups while strumming the guitar and masked rocker singing “Gaga Ooh la la…” are at the top of the list.

David Itzkoff has more memorable moments from the AMAs in his pieces, Proud to Be an American: Remembering the 2009 American Music Awards here.

Read more about Taylor Swift here, here, here and here. Read more about Lady Gaga here, and here.

Christian

Two of the biggest news makers in the music industry, Lady Gaga and Beyonce have a new video out for Beyonce’s ‘Video Phone.’ If only Taylor Swift was included, it would have been the perfect storm of female recording artists. Come to think of it, adding Taylor Swift to a song with Beyonce and Lady Gaga seems pretty tough, but would probably make for a pretty funny spoof video.

Here’s the real thing:

Lady Gaga tickets to her Monster Ball tour are among the hottest on FanSnap. Second only to Taylor Swift tickets at the moment.

Jim Farber of the New York Daily News has a review of the video here.

Christian

Nineteen year old Taylor Swift is having a year. In addition to Taylor Swift tickets being the hottest concert of 2009-10, the teen singer, song-writer, producer who just hosted Saturday Night Live four days ago while on a break from the 2009 leg of her white hot, Fearless tour tonight took home the top prize at the CMAs. Yes, that sounds busy to us too.

Taylor Swift beat out country legends, Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, George Strait and Keith Urban to win Entertainer of the Year. According to CMT.com, “At age 19, Swift is the youngest person ever named the CMA’s Entertainer of the Year.” More from CMT here.

In addition to Entertainer of the Year, Taylor Swift also walked away with Album of the Year, Music Video of the Year, Female Vocalist of the Year,

As we’ve noted before, we are huge Taylor Swift fans here at FanSnap. You’ve got one more chance this year to catch Taylor Swift in concert (Dec. 11 Madison Square Garden in New York).

Taylor Swift’s Fearless tour kicks into gear for 2010 on March 4 in Tampa, FL.

Christian

We’ve quickly become Taylor Swift fans here at FanSnap. Sure, in part it’s because Taylor Swift Tickets top FanSnap’s Most Popular Artists for October, and was near the top of our hot artist lists all summer. We occasionally break into song at the office — singing about exes who dumped us, just like Taylor. Mostly we just love the way she’s handled and then risen above the Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Kanye VMA debacle and how successful her tour has been (Taylor Swift Announces New Fearless Tour Dates in 2010) in spite of others who attempted to grab her limelight.

On Saturday, Taylor Swift host SNL and was very funny.

When Taylor Swift announced new dates for the continuation of the Fearless tour in 2010 with Kellie Pickler, tour dates sold out within minutes at box offices across the U.S. and Canada, but fans can still find thousands of tickets — using FanSnap ticket search — for most tour stops. We will be keeping a close eye on this rising star. We expect to see her win entertainer of the year in Nashville in a few weeks. If you want to catch a glimpse of Taylor Swift, here is a list of upcoming dates:

Taylor Swift tickets in New York, NY (Madison Square Garden) Dec. 11, 2009 — 2,000+ ticket listings

Taylor Swift tickets in Tampa, FL (St Pete Times Forum) Mar 4, 2010 — 5,000+ ticket listings

Taylor Swift tickets in Orlando, FL (Amway Arena) Mar 5, 2010 — 3,000+ ticket listings

Taylor Swift tickets Sunrise, FL (Bank Atlantic Center) Mar 7, 2010 — 6,000+ ticket listings

Taylor Swift tickets Austin, TX (Frank Erwin Center) Mar 10, 2010 — 2,000+ ticket listings

Taylor Swift tickets Dallas, TX (American Airlines Center) Mar 11, 2010 — 3,000+ ticket listings

Taylor Swift tickets Corpus Christi, TX (American Bank Center) Mar 12, 2010 — 1,000+ ticket listings

Taylor Swift tickets Philadelphia, PA (Wachovia Center) Mar 18 & 19, 2010 — 5,000+ ticket listings

Taylor Swift tickets Charlottesville, VA (John Paul Jones Arena) Mar 20, 2010 — 3,000+ ticket listings

Taylor Swift tickets Auburn Hills, MI (Palace of Auburn Hills) Mar 26, 2010 — 3,000+ ticket listings

Taylor Swift tickets Cincinnati, OH (US Bank Arena) Mar 28, 2010 — 4,000+ ticket listings

Taylor Swift tickets Oklahoma City, OK (Ford Center) Mar 31, 2010 — 6,000+ ticket listings

Taylor Swift tickets Wichita, KS (InTrust Bank Arena) Apr 1, 2010 — fewer than 100 ticket listings

Taylor Swift tickets Kansas City, MO (Sprint Center) Apr 2, 2010 — 3,000+ ticket listings

Taylor Swift tickets Denver, CO (Pepsi Center) Apr 6 & 7, 2010 — 10,000+ ticket listings

Taylor Swift tickets Fresno, CA (Save Mart Center) Apr 10, 2010 — 3,000+ ticket listings

Taylor Swift tickets in San Jose, CA (HP Pavilion) Apr 11, 2010 — 3,000+ ticket listings

Taylor Swift tickets in Los Angeles, CA (Staples Center) Apr 15, 2010 — 15,000+ ticket listings

Taylor Swift tickets in Lexington, KY (Rupp Arena) Apr 29, 2010 — fewer than 100 ticket listings

Taylor Swift tickets Columbia, SC (Colonial Life Arena) Apr 30, 2010 — 100+ ticket listings

Taylor Swift tickets in Raleigh, NC (RBC Center) May 1, 2010 — 4,000+ ticket listings

Taylor Swift tickets in Des Moines, IA (Wells Fargo Arena IA) May 6, 2010 — 4,000+ ticket listings

Taylor Swift tickets in Saint Paul, MN (Xcel Energy Center) May 7, 2010 — 4,000+ ticket listings

Taylor Swift tickets in Moline, IL (i wireless Center) May 8, 2010 — 5,000+ ticket listings

Taylor Swift tickets in Newark, NJ (Prudential Center) May 12 &13, 2010 — 8,000+ ticket listings

Taylor Swift tickets in Uniondale, NY (Nassau Coliseum) May 14 & 15, 2010 — 6,000+ ticket listings

Taylor Swift tickets in Kanata On, ON (Scotiabank Place) May 20, 2010 –1,000+ ticket listings

Taylor Swift tickets in Toronto, ON (Air Canada Centre) May 21, 2010 — 2,000+ ticket listings

Taylor Swift in Houston, TX (Toyota Center) May 25 & 26, 2010 — 3,000+ ticket listings

Bayou Country Superfest Featuring Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Kellie Pickler, David Nail and Gloriana in Baton Rouge, LA (Tiger Stadium) May 29, 2010 at 4:00PM — 3,000+ ticket listings

Taylor Swift tickets in Washington, DC (Verizon Center) Jun 2, 2010 — 4,000+ ticket listings

Christian