(MONEY Magazine) – When we hear "sis-co," most of us at MONEY think about the Internet technology company (Cisco), not the guy who sings the "Thong Song" (Sisqo). But we love music too--and the numbers behind the recording industry tell as interesting a story as any we'd like to hear. So with the help of VH1, we compiled the VH1/MONEY Rock Star Index. How were the rankings determined? We gave the most weight to cold, hard cash, including money generated through concerts and CD sales. That meant artists with hugely successful tours, like Tina Turner, could muscle on to the list next to hot acts like 'N Sync. But the list isn't just about dollars: We also considered things like fan loyalty and crossover appeal for our "Star Power" score. And we scrutinized, among other factors, licensing and merchandising activities to calculate a "Money Power" score. The result: a list of the 25 acts that, in 2000, best represented the confluence of music, money and power. For more on this elite crew, watch "VH1 All Access: Music Money Power," which airs Feb. 22 at 10 p.m. EST. Then check out www.money.com.

--ADRIENNE CARTER

VH1/MONEY Rock Star Index TOTAL TOUR STAR MONEY INDEX ARTIST CD SALES REVENUES POWER POWER SCORE

1 'N Sync $190,600,000 $76,400,000 ***** $$$$$ 100.0 2 Dr. Dre/Eminem 227,700,000 22,200,000 **** $$$$$ 96.2 3 Britney Spears 162,700,000 40,500,000 ***** $$$ 86.8 4 Tim McGraw/ Faith Hill 122,500,000 48,200,000 ***** $$$ 80.8 5 Backstreet Boys 122,800,000 25,800,000 **** $$$$ 76.6 6 Santana 119,200,000 26,100,000 **** $$$$ 76.0 7 Creed 131,200,000 26,200,000 *** $ 75.9 8 Dixie Chicks 79,400,000 47,300,000 *** $$$ 71.3 9 Tina Turner 14,000,000 80,200,000 *** $$$$ 65.9 10 Christina Aguilera 81,200,000 13,500,000 **** $$ 65.3 11 Dave Matthews Band 24,600,000 69,800,000 ** $$$ 64.8 12 Sting 42,800,000 28,900,000 **** $$$$ 62.2 13 Kiss 8,400,000 62,700,000 *** $$$$ 61.5 14 Red Hot Chili Peppers 45,100,000 31,100,000 *** $$ 61.4 15 Ricky Martin 33,200,000 37,200,000 **** $$$ 61.3 16 Destiny's Child 66,500,000 1,100,000 *** $ 59.1 17 Sisqo 59,400,000 900,000 *** $$ 58.4 18 Madonna 42,300,000 0 **** $$$$$ 57.4 19 Bruce Springsteen 11,200,000 45,900,000 ** $$ 57.1 20 Jimmy Buffett 19,300,000 24,100,000 * $$$$$ 55.7 21 Elton John 22,400,000 18,500,000 *** $$$ 55.3 23 Moby 26,600,000 3,100,000 ** $$$$ 53.1 24 Phish 12,700,000 21,400,000 * $$ 52.3 25 Jennifer Lopez 9,000,000 0 **** $$$ 50.0

Sources: MONEY and VH1 research, Pollstar and SoundScan.