Los Angeles, Jan 20 (IANS) Canadian pop diva Celine Dion is the top earner of the decade in the music world.

With her total earnings of $747.9 million from albums and concerts, Dion has left the likes of U2, Britney Spears and others way behind to top the Ultimate Top 10 list of the Los Angeles Times.

But the Top 10 is not "the final word'' on artists' finances, the Los Angeles Times said Tuesday.

"With merchandising, product endorsements, song placements in movies and TV shows, ring tones, website subscriptions and myriad other income sources, musicians today have seemingly limitless ways to bring in money.

"But by combining two of the biggest revenue sources, the Ultimate Top 10 is a good indicator of which artists fans are spending the most money on,'' the newspaper said.

In the Ultimate Top 10 list, Dion is followed by US country music star Kenny Chesney with $742 million.

Third on the list is Dave Matthews Band from Virginia, with total earnings of $737.4 million.

The Beatles are number four on the list, with $627.3 million, including $392 million from sales of 30.2 million albums, $221.4 million earned ex-Beatle Paul McCartney, and $13.6 million by Ringo Starr.

U2 is fifth with $609.7 million, Bruce Springsteen seventh with $588.3 million, and The Rolling Stones eighth with $569.6 million.

Britney Spears is the last on the list with earnings of $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 Los Angeles Times said.

In Celine Dion's earnings of $747.9 million, $522.2 million came in from concerts and $225.7 million from album sales during the decade. She has sold more than 200 million albums so far.

The best-selling female artist of all time, Dion is the youngest of the 14 kids born into a poverty-stricken musical family in a small town near Montreal.

Dion was guided to greatness by Angelil (whom she later married despite age difference of 26 years) who sold his house to finance the young girl's first album in 1981.

The album went on to become number one in her French-speaking Quebec province in Canada, paving the way for her stardom.

Dion and Angelil became lovers but kept the affair under wraps, fearing that it will be frowned upon because he was 26 years older than her. They married in 1994.