The Top-Earning Women In Music

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"It takes a really big man to fill my shoes," Madonna once quipped. Apparently, it also takes a really rich man to fill those formidable size eights. The 49-year-old pop superstar tops Forbes' first-ever Cash Queens of Music list of the top-earning female musicians, banking $72 million between June 2006 and June 2007.

Madonna earned much of that from her landmark Confessions tour, the highest-grossing tour for a female artist, earning $260 million worldwide. During that time-frame, Madonna also enjoyed income from record sales, her deal with hipster retailer of choice H&M and payment from NBC for rights to broadcast her concert performance at London's Wembley Stadium.

The Material Mom isn't slowing down one bit as she swings toward her 50th birthday this August. In October, the famously shrewd musician ditched Warner Music Group (nyse: WMG - news - people ), her record label of 20 years, for an unprecedented 10-year deal with concert promoter Live Nation (nyse: LYV - news - people ) worth an estimated $120 million.

Madonna
$72 million

The ever-morphing singer still outsells artists half her age. She tops the Cash Queens list thanks largely to her record-breaking Confessions tour, plus income from album sales, an apparel line with retailer H&M and a deal with NBC to air concert footage.

Barbra Streisand
$60 million

The 65-year-old legend, with 145 million albums sold worldwide to her credit, drew legions of die-hard fans to her short (and rare) concert series that wrapped in Europe last summer. Some tickets sold for upward of $1,000 apiece.

Celine Dion
$45 million

The Canadian diva's landmark Las Vegas concert drew some 3 million fans and grossed upward of $450 million during its five-year run, which ended in December.

The Most Expensive Celebrity Baby Photos

1. Vivienne Marcheline & Knox Leon

Chalk up another No. 1 ranking for Brangelina, arguably the most famous celebrity couple on planet Earth.
An exclusive first glimpse of twins Vivienne Marcheline and Knox Leon, the highly anticipated offspring of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, tops our latest rundown of the most expensive celebrity baby photos. According to published reports, People magazine, which is owned by Time-Warner (nyse: TWX - news - people ), along with London-based Hello! magazine coughed up between $11 million and $15 million for exclusive first shots. (In the U.S. and Canada, People holds the rights, while Hello! has international rights to the pics.)

This comes just two years after the tabloid-staple couple peddled pictures of their pouty newborn--and first biological child--Shiloh Nouvel. Rather than pocket the loot, the humanitarian duo donated the funds to African charity. The reported sum: a then-record $4.1 million--and that doesn't include the $3.5 million that Hello! reportedly shelled out for the British rights to the pictorial.









2. Max & Emme

Celeb parents: Jenifer Lopez and Marc Anthony
People magazine
March 2008
Reported price tag: $6 million
Lopez scored big buzz--not to mention a lavish spread--by staying mum on her not-so-secret bump for much of her pregnancy.

3. Shiloh Nouvel

Celeb parents: Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt
People magazine
June 2006
Reported price tag: $4.1 million
The first biological offspring of two of Hollywood's hottest stars became a (pricey) must-see for the masses.

4. Levi Alves

Celeb parents: Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves
OK! magazine
August 2008
Reported price tag: $3 million
The newborn son of the Tinseltown heartthrob and his Brazilian model girlfriend drummed up gobs of tabloid ink.

5. Tie: Dannielynn

Celeb parents: Anna Nicole Smith and Larry Birkhead
April 2007
OK! magazine
Reported price tag: $2 million
Forced to deal with her mother's death and her father's custody battle, the saga of the pint-sized A-lister sent tabloids flying.

6. Tie: Max

Celeb parents: Christina Aguilera and Jordan Bratman
People magazine
February 2008
Reported price tag: $1.5 million
A window into the pop star's glamorous world seemed reason enough to fork over the big bucks.

7. Tie: Honor Marie
Celeb parents: Jessica Alba and Cash Warren
OK! magazine
July 2008
Reported price tag: $1.5 million
A first glimpse of the Fantastic Four beauty's firstborn warranted myriad stories and a lofty sum.

8. Tie: Maddie Briann

Celeb parents: Jamie Lynn Spears and Casey Aldridge
OK! magazine
July 2008
Reported price tag: $1 million
The much-covered subject of teen pregnancy stories everywhere, the younger Spears' offspring sent tabloids flying off stands.

A Tight Grip Can Choke Creativity

On Friday, a lawyer named Anthony Falzone filed his side’s first big brief in the case of Warner Bros. Entertainment and J. K. Rowling v. RDR Books. Mr. Falzone is employed by Stanford Law School, where he heads up the Fair Use Project, which was founded several years ago by Lawrence Lessig, perhaps the law school’s best-known professor. Mr. Falzone and the other lawyers at the Fair Use Project are siding with the defendant, RDR Books, a small book publisher based in Muskegon, Mich. As you can see from the titans who have brought the suit, RDR Books needs all the legal firepower it can muster.
Skip to next paragraph

Ric Francis/Associated Press
The author J. K. Rowling is suing to stop publication of a Harry Potter companion book.
As you can probably also see, the case revolves around Harry Potter. J. K. Rowling, of course, is the creator of the Harry Potter series — “one of the most successful writers the world has ever known,” crowed Neil Blair of the Christopher Little Literary Agency, which represents her. Warner Brothers holds the license to the Harry Potter movies. Of the two plaintiffs, though, Ms. Rowling appears to be the one driving the litigation.
“I feel as though my name and my works have been hijacked, against my wishes, for the personal gain and profit of others and diverted from the charities I intended to benefit,” she said in a declaration to the court.
And what perfidious act of “hijacking” has RDR Books committed? It planned to publish a book by Steven Vander Ark, who maintains a fansite called the Harry Potter Lexicon. The Lexicon publishes Harry Potter essays, finds Harry Potter mistakes, explains Harry Potter terminology, devises Harry Potter timelines and does a thousand other things aimed at people who can’t get enough Harry Potter. It’s a Harry Potter encyclopedia for obsessive fans.
So long as the Lexicon was a free Web site, Ms. Rowling looked kindly upon it. But when Mr. Vander Ark tried to publish part of the Lexicon in book form — and (shudder!) to make a profit — Ms. Rowling put her foot down. She claims that she wants to publish her own encyclopedia someday and donate the proceeds to charity — and a competing book by Mr. Vander Ark would hurt the prospects for her own work.
But more than that, she is essentially claiming that the decision to publish — or even to allow — a Harry Potter encyclopedia is hers alone, since after all, the characters in her books came out of her head. They are her intellectual property. And in her view, no one else can use them without her permission.
“There have been a huge number of companion books that have been published,” Mr. Blair said. “Ninety-nine percent have come to speak to us. In every case they have made changes to ensure compliance. They fall in line.” But, he added: “These guys refused to contact us. They refused to answer any questions. They refused to show us any details.”
They fall in line. There, in that one sentence, lies the reason Mr. Falzone and his colleagues have agreed to help represent RDR Books. And it’s why Mr. Lessig decided to start the Fair Use Project in the first place.
•
It’s an odd twist that this dispute centers around a book, because ever since the recording industry first sued Napster, most of the big legal battles over copyright have centered on the Internet. The lawsuit Viacom filed against YouTube last year to prevent people from posting snippets of Viacom’s copyrighted television shows is the most obvious recent example.
But if you look a little further back, you’ll see that for a long time now, copyright holders have made a series of concerted efforts to extend copyright protection and make it an ever-more powerful instrument of control.
More than a century ago, copyrights lasted for 14 years — and could be extended another 14 if the copyright holder petitioned for an extension. Today, corporate copyrights last for 95 years, while individuals retain copyrights for 70 years after their deaths. The most recent extension of copyright, passed by Congress in 1998, was nicknamed the Mickey Mouse Protection Act, because Disney’s lobbyists were intent on keeping Mickey Mouse from falling into the public domain — and on preserving billions in profits for Disney.
At the same time, though, copyright holders have tried to impose rules on the rest of us — through threats and litigation — that were never intended to be part of copyright law. They sue to prevent rappers from taking samples of copyrighted songs to create their own music. Authors’ estates try to deprive scholars of their ability to reprint parts of books or articles because they disapprove of the scholar’s point of view. Mr. Lessig likes to cite a recent, absurd case where a mother posted a video of her baby dancing to Prince’s song “Let’s Go Crazy” on YouTube — and Universal Music promptly demanded that YouTube remove the video because it violated the copyright. Have these efforts had — as we like to say in the news business — a chilling effect? You bet they have.

In Pictures: Five Celebrity Dealmakers To Watch

Zac Efron
The 20-year-old tween idol has won hearts as athlete-turned-singer Troy Bolton in Disney's High School Musical franchise.



Schinman Envisions: A high-six-figure beverage deal.
Schinman's Rationale: "I would love to see him in a Pepsi ad. Pepsi is synonymous with pop culture, and who better to epitomize youth pop culture than Zac? With his clean-cut résumé, there's no real risk here, and you're getting someone who looks and sounds great."

Blake Lively
At 20, the blonde beauty has garnered a devoted following as star of the CW Television Network series Gossip Girl

Schinman Envisions: A mid-six-figure fashion deal.
Schinman's Rationale: "Some call her the high school Sarah Jessica Parker. She went to the latest Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute gala and attends Chanel events, so she's an obvious candidate for high-end fashion. However, more affordable brands like Prada's Miu Miu line have a history of using Hollywood starlets such as Lindsay Lohan, Kirsten Dunst, Camilla Belle and Maggie Gyllenhaal."

Leona Lewis
Since triumphing on the British TV talent show The X Factor, this 23-year-old singer-songwriter has been grabbing headlines and fans on both sides of the Atlantic. Schinman Envisions: A mid-six-figure mobile-phone deal.
Schinman's Rationale: "I'd love to see her sign a worldwide, multiple-platform cellphone deal that includes ringtones, original content, sponsorship rights, personal appearances and her likeness in advertising. She has beauty, personality and talent--a rare triple threat in the music industry."

Jessica Biel
At 26, the former 7th Heaven TV star has successfully transported her looks and talent to the big screen.

Schinman Envisions: A two-year, seven-figure cosmetics deal.
Schinman's Rationale: "She's definitely going to get picked up by L'Oréal, Revlon, CoverGirl or Neutrogena. She is a safe choice, and is one of the few untapped young, hot female stars without a beauty contract: Keira Knightley does Chanel, Scarlett Johansson does L'Oréal, Jessica Alba does Revlon, Vanessa Hudgens and Jennifer Garner do Neutrogena and Drew Barrymore does CoverGirl."

Chris Brown
The 19-year-old rhythm-and-blues singer-songwriter pops up equally often on Billboard charts and tabloid spreads.

Chris Brown
Schinman Envisions: A variety of seven-figure deals.
Schinman's Rationale: "He already has deals with For, and will continue to get bigger deals in the coming year, including beverage, automotive and fashion campaigns. Maybe he'll launch his own fragrance, too, which is the most lucrative product a celebrity can license. Watch out, Usher and Diddy!"

Most Poweful Celebrity

#1 Oprah Winfrey

No.1 Ratings for the self-made billionaire's flagship production, The Oprah Winfrey Show, may have diminished, but her earning power appears bulletproof—at least for now. She will debut the Oprah Winfrey Network in partnership with Discovery Communications next year. She also has a three-year, $55 million deal with XM Satellite Radio (nasdaq: XMSR - news - people ). Her Harpo production company helped create Dr. Phil and The Rachael Ray Show. Less successful: a recent reality-TV show, Oprah's Big Give.

#2 Tiger Woods
Power Rank 2 Pay $115 mil Category: Athletes
Pay Rank
7
Web Rank
12
Press Rank
1
TV/Radio Rank
3Tiger chalked up another monster year on and off the course in 2007. He won his ninth PGA Player of the Year award and a seventh Vardon Trophy (given to the PGA Tour's leader in scoring average) and was the top money winner for an eighth time. He won the inaugural FedEx Cup, adding a $10 million payout to his bursting retirement account. Off the links he parted ways with American Express after a decade together. He still has big contracts with Nike, Accenture, Buick and Gillette. His latest endorsement: a five-year agreement for his own line of Gatorade drinks.

#3 Angelina Jolie
Power Rank 3 Pay $14 mil Category: Actresses
Pay Rank
73
Web Rank
1
Press Rank
9
TV/Radio Rank
15Despite the paparazzi, pregnancy and peace activism, the owner of the world's poutiest lips still managed to play a lusty animated witch and the wife of a slain Wall Street Journal reporter in the same year. Photos of her twins should fetch the highest price ever for baby snaps. She'll probably give the money to charity.

#4 Beyonce Knowles
Power Rank 4 Pay $80 mil Category: Musicians
Pay Rank
11
Web Rank
3
Press Rank
32
TV/Radio Rank
14After ditching Destiny's Child to go solo in 2003, the Houston native has released two platinum albums and built a wildly successful entertainment empire that includes fashion, film and publishing deals. She sold $50 million in tickets on a recent tour. Her endorsement contracts, with L'Oréal, American Express and others, bring in $10 million annually.

#5 David Beckham
Power Rank 5 Pay $50 mil Category: Athletes
Pay Rank
16
Web Rank
10
Press Rank
3
TV/Radio Rank
18Coming to America paid off for England's soccer sensation despite the injuries that plagued his first season with the Los Angeles Galaxy. His base salary with the team was only $5.5 million, but that figure more than doubled with his cut of the team's ticket, merchandise and sponsorship revenues. He added deals with Sharpie, Giorgio Armani and vitamin company GO3 to an existing roster of sponsorships that includes Adidas, Motorola and Pepsi.

#6 Johnny Depp
Power Rank 6 Pay $72 mil Category: Actors
Pay Rank
13
Web Rank
17
Press Rank
19
TV/Radio Rank
36
He became an unlikely mainstream star with his boozy turn as Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean series. Last year he found time to star in his pal Tim Burton's movie version of Sweeney Todd, which grossed $154 million. He earned his third Best Actor Oscar nomination for his portrayal of the Demon Barber of Fleet Street

#7 Jay-Z
Power Rank 7 Pay $82 mil Category: Hip-hop impresario
Pay Rank
10
Web Rank
6
Press Rank
43
TV/Radio Rank
41Brooklyn-born Jay-Z had a monster year, releasing a second platinum comeback CD, American Gangster. In April he signed a $150 million, 10-year recording, touring and merchandising deal with concert promoter Live Nation—and days later married his longtime girlfriend Beyoncé on the roof of his New York City penthouse.

#8 The Police
Power Rank 8 Pay $115 mil Category: Musicians
Pay Rank
7
Web Rank
15
Press Rank
20
TV/Radio Rank
51The late-1970s rock band, famous for not getting along, reunited at the 2007 Grammys performing its hit "Roxanne." The Sting-fronted group then set off on a world tour, selling out stadiums and arenas on five continents. They sold $200 million worth of tickets and played to 4 million fans.

#9 J.K. Rowling
Power Rank 9 Pay $300 mil Category: Authors
Pay Rank
1
Web Rank
23
Press Rank
27
TV/Radio Rank
64It was wizardry that transformed J.K. Rowling from a destitute single mother on welfare into a best-selling billionaire. Her adventures of teenage magician Harry Potter and his classmates at Hogwarts became a children's literary sensation in 1998 with the U.S. publication of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. It and the six subsequent books have now sold 375 million copies worldwide. The final one, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, has sold 44 million since it was published last July, including 15 million in the first 24 hours.

#10 Brad Pitt
Power Rank 10 Pay $20 mil Category: Actors
Pay Rank
66
Web Rank
4
Press Rank
8
TV/Radio Rank
7Rendered permanently cool with his roles in Fight Club, Seven and Ocean's Eleven, Pitt remains one of Hollywood's most bankable actors. Up next: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Spends down time flying around the world working for charities—and adopting babies—with his girlfriend, actress Angelina Jolie.

Say what you will about Rachael Ray, but the jaunty chef-next-door knows how to build a brand.
She began winning audiences with catch phrases like "EVOO" (for extra-virgin olive oil) on her first Food Network show, 30 Minute Meals, in 2001. Today, she has four Food Network programs, including Tasty Travels and $40 a Day. Her nationally syndicated, Oprah-backed talk show, Rachael Ray, is averaging 2.6 million viewers this season, and her Every Day With Rachael Ray magazine has 1.5 million readers. She endorses Dunkin' Donuts too--all to the tune of $18 million a year.
More established chefs also know how to play her game. Wolfgang Puck pulls in $16 million a year. The Austrian-born patriarch of celebrity chefdom got his start with the ritzy Los Angeles restaurant Spago in 1982. That hot spot, once frequented by Orson Welles and Sidney Poitier, now counts Brad Pitt and Jamie Foxx among its regulars. Today Puck owns 15 other fine-dining brands, including Chinois, Cut and the Source, and he also sells sandwiches to weary airport travelers at Wolfgang Puck Express. He's got Wolfgang Puck Bistros in suburbia and sells soups in the grocery aisle and cutlery on the Home Shopping Network.
In Depth: Top-Earning Celebrity Chefs
Others of their sort include Paula Deen ($4.5 million), Alain Ducasse ($5 million) and Mario Batali ($3 million).

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Ducasse's empire includes 22 restaurants from Tokyo to Paris. The French chef's first New York spot shuttered in 2006 after critics said the food was too fussy; he opened two humbler joints there this year.
Deen, the queen of Southern cuisine, serves up butter-drenched casseroles and motherly charm on two Food Network shows. Her loyal audience laps it up, and her cookbooks, memoir and magazine are all bestsellers.
And Batali, a culinary school dropout, is now a master of Italian cuisine who owns 13 restaurants in New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Reservations at his New York spots Babbo and Del Posto are especially hard to get.
Small-Screen Standouts Branded television shows play a big role in the success of many of the chefs on our list.
Anthony Bourdain's Travel Channel show, No Reservations, where he explores delights like roasted warthog rectum, has become the network's top hit. The Food Network's female fans swoon over Bobby Flay's Southwestern cooking. He hosts Throwdown!, Boy Meets Grill and The Next Food Network Star. And Tom Colicchio is a judge on Bravo's Top Chef cooking competition.
But none can beat Ray's network gig. Her 2.6 million viewers undoubtedly think it's Yum-O.

The World's Most Powerful Celebrities

It is the year of the tween. Coming off a massive concert tour, a hit 3-D movie--and a risqué picture in Vanity Fair--pop star Miley Cyrus (aka Hannah Montana) leads a slew of young stars onto Forbes' annual Celebrity 100 ranking of the world's ultra-famous.
Also building buzz, and drawing dollars, from the under-18 crowd were Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe, teen crooners the Jonas Brothers and High School Musical stars Zac Efron and Ashley Tisdale.
Oprah Winfrey remains No. 1 on the Celebrity 100, a power ranking based on both earnings and fame. Despite weakening television ratings and magazine circulation, Winfrey earned $275 million before taxes in the past 12 months, and she remains one of the most famous faces in the world.

The Celebrity 100 is Forbes' list of the world's most powerful--and best-paid--celebrities. To generate the list, Forbes estimates celebrity earnings, then factors in media metrics like Google hits, press mentions as compiled by Factiva, TV/radio mentions from Lexis/Nexis and the number of times an A-lister appears on the cover of more than 50 consumer magazines.
Earnings estimates are for June 2007 to June 2008 and consist of dollars earned solely from entertainment-related income. Management, agent and attorney fees are not deducted.
Golf star Tiger Woods retained the No. 2 spot on the list, raking in $115 million on and off the course, while actress Angelina Jolie soared to the third spot, combining $14 million in earnings with unrivaled levels of fame.
Joining Jolie in the top 10 is boyfriend Brad Pitt, with whom she is expecting twins. Pitt banked $20 million in the past 12 months and was often spotted on the covers of magazines with Jolie as the two traveled the world promoting movies and working for various charities.
Another power couple in the top 10: pop star Beyoncé Knowles (No. 4) and hip-hop mogul Jay-Z (No. 7). Beyoncé had a monster year, pulling in $80 million between a highly successful concert tour, private shows, a fashion line, endorsement deals and film work. Jay-Z left Def Jam Records to sign a $150 million deal with concert promoter Live Nation (nyse: LYV - news - people ). The deal provides the rapper and entrepreneur with money for recording, tours and other entertainment endeavors for the next decade.
Hip-hop impresario 50 Cent was the third-highest earner on the list (he ranked 26th overall), taking in $150 million before taxes. Last summer Coca-Cola (nyse: KO - news - people ) paid $4.1 billion for Glaceau, the beverage company that owns Vitamin Water. The self-admitted former drug dealer owned a small stake in the company.
The highest-ranked actor on the list is Johnny Depp, in sixth place. Depp made $72 million last year, much of it earned on the "back end" of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, which grossed more than $950 million worldwide. Will Smith, ranked 11th, is the highest paid actor in Hollywood, bringing home $80 million, including an estimated $20 million for his role in the upcoming anti-superhero flick Hancock.
This year 27 newcomers make the list. Among them: rock band the Police, who sold $200 million worth of tickets and played to 4 million fans during a massive international tour. Daily Show host Jon Stewart, The Office's Steve Carell and reality-TV personality Lauren Conrad are also notable new members.
Methodology
The Celebrity 100 measures power, which boils down to two components: money and fame. Earnings estimates are for June 2007 to June 2008. We included income from endorsements, movies or other ventures only if the celebrity has been paid, applying the same rules to entertainment-related ventures. Management, agent and attorney’s fees have not been deducted. Figures were rounded off where appropriate. Sources include Billboard, Pollstar, Adams Media Research, Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen BookScan and SNL Kagan. How do we “calculate” fame? From Web hits on Google Blog Search, TV/radio mentions on LexisNexis, overall press mentions on Factiva and the number of times a celebrity’s image appeared on the cover of 55 consumer magazines.

Hollywood' Best Paid Twins

They may not be of age to drink legally. Some aren't even old enough to drive a car. But when it comes to banking millions, these folks are already pros.
Hollywood's 10 top-earning tweens collectively pulled down $107 million between June 1, 2007 and June 1, 2008. Though many of the stars on Forbes' list have already aged out of the 8-to-14-year-old demographic themselves, the bulk of their work still caters to that advertiser-beloved tween set.
According to Alloy Media and Marketing, it's a rabid and often indulgent fan base: America's 20 million kids aged 8 to 12 spend $51 billion of their own money annually and influence $150 billion more in spending by their doting parents.
In Pictures: Hollywood's 10 Best-Paid Tweens
Tied for the top spot: Hannah Montana star Miley Cyrus and Harry Potter lead Daniel Radcliffe. The young talents each banked a cool $25 million in the last year.
At just 15 years old, Cyrus is the face of a billion-dollar brand. Her TV series proves a ratings stalwart for the Disney channel, and everything from lunch boxes to backpacks bear her face.
What's more, her sold-out Best of Both Worlds 70-date concert tour raked in $54 million, and the 3-D concert movie brought in nearly $70 million more. Next up: a Hannah Montana flick for the big screen.
Though Cyrus' saccharine-sweet image was temporarily tested when she posed for a Vanity Fair shoot in what appeared to be only a bed sheet, her cult-like fan base remained loyal. Proof: in its first week, her recently released, solo debut album Breakout sold some 371,000 copies. Its chart-topping success makes Cyrus the youngest star ever to have three No. 1 albums in a two-year span.
Radcliffe similarly tapped into the tween zeitgeist, thanks to his role as boy wizard Harry Potter in Warner Brothers' $4.5 billion film franchise. Last summer, the British-born star signed a contract worth an estimated $50 million to continue his leading role in the last two Potter installations. The final story, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, has since been split into two movies, which could mean even more cash for the 19-year-old star.
When he isn't mixing potions, Radcliffe is doing his best to broaden his range--and his audience. He recently played the title role in My Boy Jack, a television movie about Rudyard Kipling's ill-fated son. Next, he'll make his Broadway debut in a revival of Peter Shaffer's play Equus. Radcliffe's earlier rendition, a stage play in London's West End, drew tremendous media attention when the young star appeared nude.
Tabloid staples Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen place third on the list, banking an estimated $15 million over the course of the year. Though the 22-year-old starlets are no longer in the tween demographic, their tween-focused retail empire, Dualstar (which they assumed control of when they turned 18) continues to find buyers.
Now the fashion-forward twins, still best known for their shared role as precocious tot Michelle Tanner on ABC's Full House, are trying to attract an older audience with two adult-focused fashion lines, the Row and Elizabeth & James.
Another set of siblings takes the no. 4 spot with earnings of $12 million. They are tween sensation the Jonas Brothers.
After a rocky start--the New Jersey-reared brothers were dropped by their Sony (nyse: SNE - news - people ) recording label--the clean-cut trio has proved they have enduring star power. Their franchise has already raked in upwards of $50 million from touring, album sales and merchandise.
When it comes to the Jonas Brothers, that's only the beginning. In March, the brothers signed a multimillion-dollar, 140-show contract with concert promoter Live Nation (nyse: LYV - news - people ). They kicked off their Burning Up tour in July and have a new CD, A Little Bit Longer, set for release this month. They also have a Disney channel series, titled J.O.N.A.S. (for Junior Operatives Networking As Spies) in the works, and a 3-D concert film coming to movie theaters in 2009.
Rounding out the top five is High School Musical star Zac Efron, who raked in $5.8 million in the last year.
Thanks to his success in the lucrative Disney franchise as well as last year's summer blockbuster Hairspray, the 20-year-old heartthrob has scored parts in a slew of upcoming flicks. Among them: the Big-esque comedy Seventeen Again, indie biopic Me and Orson Welles and Disney's highly anticipated silver-screen feature High School Musical 3.

World's Costliest Ski Chalets

The most expensive ski home in the world, the $135 million Hala Ranch in Aspen, has a master suite with a beauty and barber room for massages, pedicures and styling. There's a tennis court, indoor swimming pool and a mechanical shop with a car wash and gasoline pumps. Its 95 acres are under constant video surveillance, and its 15 bedrooms have views of the surrounding mountains.
Not a bad place to warm your feet. Yet this home is only one of several fantasy ski retreats--some for sale, others for rent--found by Forbes.com. We compiled our list by scouring listings and talking to brokers in the know.
As you might expect, most of the finest homes were in Aspen, Lake Tahoe or the Swiss Alps. Tranquility, a $100 million, eight-building compound in Zephyr Cove, Nev., sits on 210 acres of land and has nine bedrooms, 14 full and five half-baths, a 19-seat movie theater, a private lake and two par-three golf holes.
Complete List: World's Costliest Ski Chalets
European chalets aren't usually listed for public sale. Like châteaux, many of Europe's finest properties are shopped in private. In Switzerland, some cantons have regulations against foreign ownership, so rentals prevail.
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Here, a Klosters chalet commands $13,297 a night during peak season, but is only two minutes from prime ski runs. An Italian property, in the Piedmont region, does one better: It has its own cable car up the mountain. A ski-in, ski-out French chalet, on the Face de Bellevarde piste in Les Carats, rents for almost $100,000 per week during peak season and has its own spa, sauna and massive indoor swimming pool, not to mention a private chef and concierge.
Stateside Stunners In some U.S. markets, zoning restrictions restrict the supply of top-end ski homes. Cities like Aspen and the areas around Lake Tahoe have significant growth constraints that limit how many homes can be built. Often the combination of national parks, difficult terrain and city regulations mean prime ski areas aren't as susceptible to the sort of overbuilding that's driving market corrections in many locales.
What's more, the highest end of the luxury market has the most immunity to general trends because it's the most supply-constrained. There just aren't many sprawling ski-in, ski-out mansions that are steps from gondolas. Some of the most luxurious include a $43.8 million Tuscan-style estate in Aspen, and a $23 million, 56-acre spread in Park City, Utah.
"We have strong demand from a very wealthy segment of the population across the country, and we have limited supply," says Steve Walker, a broker with Leverich & Carr Real Estate Company in Aspen. He says that downturns in the larger real estate market can have an effect in a place like Aspen, though not necessarily on price. "What does sometimes occur, but hasn't started here yet," he says, "is that it might take longer to sell higher-end properties."
Based on data from Land Title, a Denver title insurance and transaction tracking company, Aspen sales (measured in units) are off from last year, but in dollar terms, 2007 has been at a record high. While sales of middle and low-range properties have slowed, sales at the high end have spiked--a trend seen in other skiing destinations.
"We're expecting the market to continue to correct in the lower to middle price ranges through mid-2008 to the end of 2008," says Susan Lowe, vice president of Chase International, a Lake Tahoe based real estate company. "The high end market should continue to stay extremely strong. I think the wealthy understand the value of a place like Lake Tahoe."
In 2006, there were six homes sold for over $10 million around Lake Tahoe.
So far this year, 10 have been sold, eight on the Nevada side and two on the California side. Before you attribute that to Nevada's tax haven status, keep in mind that if the buyer earns their income in California--or any other state for that matter--Nevada's tax exemptions don't mean much.
And while it may be late in the year, ski home sales activity stays strong in the winter and there has been a conspicuous absence of $30 million plus sales in the ski areas this year.
Just think, it's the perfect gift for the billionaire who has everything.

America's most Lustful City

Forget Paris or Rome. If you're desperately seeking sex, head to San Antonio or Cincinnati instead.
Residents of these metros enjoy vigorous sex lives--at least their condom and contraceptive purchases at grocery and drug stores indicate as much. These purchases placed them in the top 10 of our survey of America's Most Lustful Cities.
In the absence of government or academic research on the sexual practices of Americans in the country's 50 largest cities, we turned to the market for answers. Research firm ACNielsen provided us with a per-capita index of over-the-counter contraceptive purchases in major U.S. markets for the past 52 weeks. The average index was 100.
Complete List: America's 10 Most Lustful Cities
Denver topped the list with an index of 289, which translates into 189% more contraceptives sales than normally expected for a market its size. Other cities that ranked in the top 10 were Seattle, Washington, D.C. and Salt Lake City. Metropolitan areas one might expect to see ranked, like New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, had average or below average indexes.
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Though condom and contraceptive sales are an imperfect way of measuring sexual desire--this is especially true for monogamous couples and those in same-sex relationships--they do provide a broad picture of sexual activity in each city.
Dr. Kees Rietmeijer, director for the Sexually Transmitted Diseases Control Program at the Public Health Department in Denver, says higher-than-average purchases of condoms in the Mile-High City could be the result of demographics. A younger consumer might be more apt to buy protection consistently, for example, and Denver is crawling with young professionals. On the other hand, Rietmeijer says public health officials have been proactive about education and STD screening since the mid-90s.
"I would love for Denver to be the condom capital of the U.S.," Rietmeijer says. "We do have campaigns to educate the public about avoiding unwanted pregnancy and STDs." Those outreach efforts recently included a highly visible billboard featuring a man wearing a quizzical look and the tag line: "Who brought syphilis to the party?" The ad was prompted by a spike in the number of local syphilis cases.
While Denver's numbers are encouraging, condom maker Trojan has found that, though condom use has kept apace with population growth, single Americans between 18 and 54 use condoms during only one in four of the two billion sex acts they engage in yearly. In 2002, the Centers for Disease Control found that, on average, 40% of men 15 to 44 had used a condom during their most recent sexual experience.
This is troubling news for public health experts, who blame a recent "mainstreaming of sex" for higher rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) nationwide.
Indeed, Americans' sex lives are thriving in private, but also in ever-present images on TV, billboards, the Internet, song lyrics and in the movies. A prime example: The turning point for the sex toy industry, says Anne Semans, marketing director for the adult retail company Babeland, was the 1998 episode of "Sex and the City" in which the normally demure Charlotte became obsessed with a vibrator called the Rabbit. Sales of the device skyrocketed.
The added endorsement of sex toys from celebrities like Eva Longoria, who has discussed her purchases publicly, emboldened more women and couples to be open about their sexual practices and preferences.
"For years, the people who bought our sex toys were women trying to learn how to orgasm or masturbate, and they did it in private," says Semans. "In the last [few] years, it was a noticeable change that women were buying and using sex toys with their partners. It's reached a level of acceptance it hadn't before."
Semans says vibrators comprise about 75% of Babeland's in-store sales and 90% of its online sales, and that overall sales have consistently grown in recent years. In order to develop new products and services, the company frequently surveys its customers about their intimacy habits. It has also compiled data on the location of Babeland's online customers.
From Jan. 1 through Nov. 30, 2007, New Yorkers frequented the site more than residents of any other city, comprising 22% of its total traffic. Seattle, the third most lustful city on our list, was second to New York, making up 9% of the site's visitors. Portland, Ore., and Washington, D.C., were two other cities in our top 10 that also contributed a significant portion of Babeland's online traffic.
But while the mainstreaming of sex might be good for business, some say, without "sexual literacy," STIs are sure to follow.
Dr. Michael Reece, director of the Center for Sexual Health Promotion at Indiana University, says that we are still woefully undereducated about the consequences of sexual contact. He notes that rising cases of STIs, including chlamydia and the human papillomavirus (HPV), reflect a costly ignorance. About half of all STIs occur in young people between the ages of 15 and 24.
According to the CDC, chlamydia cases rose from 50.8 to 347.8 cases per 100,000 population between 1987 and 2006. From 2000 to 2006, the number of cases of genital warts nearly doubled. The CDC attributes the higher numbers to better screening and detection.
"We have an amazingly low sexual health literacy," says Reece, who notes that students receive inconsistent education and sometimes aren't instructed in basic reproductive anatomy. "We're at a time where individuals' lives are being saturated with the message that sex is OK, but we're really not doing our jobs to educate people."

Why Philippines still Poor

THE DIFFERENCE
The difference between the poor countries and the rich ones is not the age of the country:
This can be shown by countries like India & Egypt , that are more than 2000 years old, but are poor.
On the other hand, Canada , Australia & New Zealand , that 150 years ago were inexpressive, today are developed countries, and are rich.
The difference between poor & rich countries does not reside in the available natural resources.
Japan has a limited territory, 80% mountainous, inadequate for agriculture & cattle raising, but it is the second world economy. The country is like an
immense floating factory, importing raw materials from the whole world and exporting manufactured products.
Another example is Switzerland , which does not plant cocoa but has the best chocolate in the world. In its little territory they raise animals and plant the soil during 4 months per year. Not enough, they produce dairy products of the best quality! It is a small country that transmits an image of security, order & labor, which made it the world's strongest, safest place.
Executives from rich countries who communicate with their counterparts in poor countries show that there is no significant intellectual difference.
Race or skin color are also not important: immigrants labeled lazy in their countries of origin are the productive power in rich European countries.
What is the difference then? The difference is the attitude of the people, framed along the years by the education & the culture & flawed tradition.
On analyzing the behavior of the people in rich & developed countries, we find that the great majority follow the following principles in their lives:
1. Ethics, as a basic principle.
2. Integrity.
3. Responsibility.
4. Respect to the laws & rules.
5. Respect to the rights of other citizens.
6. Work loving.
7. Strive for savings & investment.
8. Will of super action.
9. Punctuality.
10. and of course...Discipline
In poor countries, only a minority follow these basic principles in their daily life.
The Philippines is not poor because we lack natural resources or because nature was cruel to us. In fact, we are supposedly rich in natural resources.
We are poor because we lack the correct attitude. We lack the will to comply with and teach these functional principles of rich & developed societies.
If you do not forward this message nothing will happen to you. Your pet will not die, you will not be fired, you will not have bad luck for seven years, and also, you will not get sick or go hungry.
But those may happen because of your lack of discipline & laziness, your love for intrigue and politics, your indifference to saving for the future, your stubborn attitude.
If you love your country, let this message circulate so that many Filipinos could reflect about this, & CHANGE, ACT!