(Updates with promoters’ response in third paragraph.)

July 28 (Bloomberg) -- The Rolling Stones, whose hits include “Satisfaction” and “Sympathy for the Devil,” are in talks with promoters AEG Live and Live Nation Entertainment Inc. for a tour, according to a person who declined to be identified because talks are private.

The Stones are planning concerts in the next few years and haven’t yet signed a contract, said the person. An auction for the tour has been under way for about a month and a group of independent promoters is also bidding, the person said.

A spokesman for the band declined to comment on the auction and said The Rolling Stones have no plans to retire. The U.K.’s Sun newspaper reported last weekend that the group’s 50th anniversary shows would be its last. Spokespeople for Live Nation and AEG Live declined to comment.

The band, which turns 50 in two years, holds the record for the most profitable tour with the 2005-2006 “A Bigger Bang,” which took in $558.3 million, according to music news website Spinner. With record sales plunging 30 percent in the past decade and illegal downloads of music accounting for almost all music heard online, live performance has become the industry’s most lucrative and fastest-growing segment.

Fans are paying twice the price for tickets to top concerts compared with a decade ago. Artists who once performed live to promote record sales are now churning out albums to boost attendance at shows.

Higher Concert Sales

AC/DC, whose hits include “Back in Black” and “Highway to Hell” will probably be the second-highest grossing tour band when figures are tallied from their “Black Ice” shows which concluded last weekend, according to Spinner. The concerts may have taken in $441.6 million, the website said.

The live performance market raked in $21.6 billion in 2008, an increase of 54 percent in three years, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Recorded music sales last year were $18.4 billion.

Record companies are scrambling to find ways to get a piece of the live action. They’re signing artists to so-called 360 deals, where they get a portion of an artist’s rights to recorded music, tours, merchandise and marketing.

Live Nation Inc., the world’s largest concert promoter, has 360 deals with Madonna and Shakira.

--Editors: Simon Thiel, Robert Valpuesta

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The Stones Aren't Retiring!!!!!! ummmm....retiring from what again?

Yes we know. Your about a week and 3 threads too late.

"It's just some friends of mine and they're busting down the door"

I guess they sense the economy is recovering, other bands had the balls to go out in the weak economy and do just fine, but not the stones they have to soak every dime they can

this thread is different! i guess you guys didn't see the update to the story?
"Spokespeople for Live Nation and AEG Live declined to comment".

Sorry I posted it! Damn.

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Hilarious! AC/DC second highest!

Considering they did mostly arenas and not stadiums, that says a lot. That and more of their shows sold out than the Stones.

And of course not having been around for eons helped.

And having a really good album helped.

And being a really good band helped.

And a loyal fan base.

live nationAEG

This thread caught my attention more than the others. I guess because it was more specific.

And oh yeah...

Count on ENORMOUSLY EXPENSIVE TICKETS...

Because the Stones LOVE their FANS.