Jane Cohen and Bob Grossweiner report: The Rolling Stones [ tickets ] have proven that they still know how to negotiate satisfaction. With a mid-year gross of $64.7 million from their 34-date U.S. stadium / arena tour, the Stones are the runaway top grossing act for the first half of 1999, according to figures released this week by industry trade publication Pollstar.

Following in second place with half of the Stones' gross and number of dates is the George Strait [ tickets ] Country Music Festival, featuring the Dixie Chicks, Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw and others. It grossed $32.4 million from 17 shows. The Dave Matthews [ tickets ] Band, maintaining momentum from last year's strong showing, takes third place with $31.2 million collected over 38 shows that included 8 stadium shows -- five sellouts and 3 near sellouts -- six more stadium shows than they played in 1998.

Rounding out the Top 10 are Shania Twain ($30 million; 47 shows); 'N Sync ($22.4 million; 66 shows); Rod Stewart ($20.3 million; 58 shows); Billy Joel in what could possibly be his last big tour for quite some time ($15.4 million; 25 shows); Elton John ($14.5 million; 29 shows); a reunited Black Sabbath ($13.8 million; 21 shows) and hip-hoppers Jay-Z/DMX ($13.7 million; 50 shows).

Pollstar's 1998 mid-year charts placed the Rolling Stones at #3 ($31.8 million; 20 shows) behind Strait ($32.9 million; 18 shows), with the Dave Matthews Band at #7 ($12.1 million; 24 shows).

The 1998 mid-year #1 act was Yanni, grossing $35.8 million spread across 90 shows (Yanni did not tour this year). But by year's end it was another picture entirely. Five of this year's mid-year top grossers were the top money earners last year: Elton John at #1 ($46.2 million), Dave Matthews Band, #2 ($40.1 million), Shania Twain, #7 ($33.5 million), George Strait Country Music Festival, #9 ($33 million) and the Rolling Stones, #10 ($31.8 million).

One constant over the past several years has been the rise in ticket prices. And 1999's mid-year numbers indicate that the upward curve continues. According to Pollstar, the average ticket price was $38.56 on this year's Top 50 tours, up nearly $5 from last year's $33.59 average price.The increase is nearly 50 percent when compared to 1996's average ticket of $25.82.

Three tours in the first half of 1999 posted an average ticket price of more than $100: The Rolling Stones, Luciano Pavarotti and Andrea Bocelli. The top price for a Stones ticket in several markets on their arena tour was $400.

In contrast, the two tours delivering the lowest average ticket prices this year so far are the Poison / Ratt package at $18.09 and The Offspring at $18.45.

The overall rise in ticket prices reflects directly on two key factors: Higher payment guarantees for major acts and increased use of multiple-tiered pricing at many venues. A strong economy and an increasingly mature base of ticketing consumers has primed the industry pipeline for both the current succession of reunion tours and the increasingly upscale top-tier prices dictated by those acts.

Tiered pricing, once limited to two or three prices throughout a venue, has evolved into something of a science, balancing upscale pricing near the stage with sometimes as many as eight lower prices, often separated by a few rows of seats. Promoters and venues point out that such pricing practices often allow for the creation of discount prices in the farther reaches of the venue that would otherwise not exist.