The big money being made by the Top 20 highest paid touring acts

Beyonce performs during the Formation World Tour at Ford Field on Tuesday, June 14, 2016, in Detroit.

Buying concert tickets can be a wallet draining experience these days. While some balk at the upwardly creeping prices, for others a hefty ticket cost is a small price to pay to see their favourite musician or band performing live.

After all, you can't put a price on experience and fans have often waited years and years to see their musical heroes perform.

Now that the cash from the recorded music business has totally crashed, touring has become the main source of revenue for musicians.

So how is that working out for them? Pretty, pretty, good... providing you made this list.

Pollstar, a concert industry trade publication, crunched the data from concert promoters and venue managers to came up with this Top 20 list of the highest grossing worldwide touring acts right now. Artists were ranked and ordered according to their average box office gross per city worldwide.

And while it's no surprise to see so many legacy acts hauling it in, the list does contain a few surprises.

And if you thought Beyonce would be the easy claimant to this crown... well, you'd be wrong...

Bruce Springsteen plays the Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland 1 March 2014 Herald on Sunday Photograph by Chris Loufte NZH 03Mar14 - Bruce Springsteen is a showman's showman, and at Mt Smar

All figures have been converted into our very own New Zealand dollar to give you a crystal - or should that be Cristal? - clear idea of just how much bank someone like Rihanna pockets after each show.

The Top 20

1. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band; $9,149,166
2. Beyonce; $7,884,616
3. Guns N' Roses; $7,593,584
4. Paul McCartney; $4,746,084.
5. Kenny Chesney; $3,307,788
6. Dead & Company; $2,638,872
7. The Tragically Hip; $2,526,352
8. Justin Bieber; $2,263,787
9. Rod Stewart; $2,229,776
10. Sting / Peter Gabriel; $2,188,743
11. Rihanna; $1,891,894
12. Zac Brown Band; $1,667,014
13. Iron Maiden; $1,512,007
14. Lionel Richie; $1,480,178
15. Luke Bryan; $1,313,740
16. Dixie Chicks; $1,281,963
17. Dave Matthews Band; $1,266,571
18. Mumford & Sons $1,259,981
19. Andre Rieu; $1,220,629
20. The Cure; $1,164,212