Taylor Swift is carrying the day in the world of music and has been crowned as the highest earning artist.
Following the singer’s banner year in 2013, Swift has been selected as the highest musical act in the annual Money Maker list Billboard. In 2012, Madonna topped in the list with Taylor coming in at number 15. Unfortunately, she (Madonna) never made it in to the list in 2014.
The list ranks the artists based on their main sources of revenue including tours and both physical and digital sales in music. Here are the top earning artists.
Taylor Swift: She made $39 million from her great selling fourth studio album, “Red”. She also swept several 2014 Grammy awards for her “We Are Never Ever Going Back Together“. Taylor reaped around $10 million from digital downloads. Swift’s “Red Tour” also saw her pocket $30 million in six months during her tours.
Kenny Chesney: With just six albums, Chesney made $32 million ranking among the top. His song “Life on a Rock” became No. 1 in the Billboard 200 albums chart and hit singles including “Pirate Flag” and “When I See This Bar” which were among the top. His “No Shoes Nation” tour grossed an estimated $90 million in 2013.
Justin Timberlake: He made $5 million through a double album “The 20/20 Experience” and digital track sales. In just 14 shows, Justin made $60 million on his tour “Legends of The Summer” in the company of Jay Z.
Bon Jovi: He made a net of $29 million from sales and successful touring acts. They grossed over $200 million from their “Because We Can Tour” out of sales worldwide, with the band receiving $83 million. The tour was coined as No 1 top-grossing tour in 2013.
The Rolling Stones: They netted $26 million despite of having been around since 1962. This is due to their high demand for the band, touring revenue in 2013 estimated to have made $80 million in only 15 shows.
Beyonce: From extensive tours and sales of her seemingly out of the blue album in December 2013, she made a net of $24 million. She grossed over $104 million from “Mrs. Cater Show World Tour” comprising more than 132 tour dates, with $59 million being from the U.S. alone.
Maroon 5: They made $22 million to reach new levels of success in 2013. This follows the release of their album “Overexposed”.
Luke Bryan – $22 million: The wildly successful album “Crash My Party” helped Bryan move to new levels in music in 2013. He sold more than 2.7 million albums, 7.6 million digital tracks and made more than $15 million for his 2013 tour.
Pink – $20 million: Other than being named Billboard’s 2013 Woman of the Year, she received an invitation to perform at the 2014 Oscars. “The Truth About Love Tour” saw her earn more than $15 million after touring a few States.
Fleetwood Mac – $19 million: The band consisting of Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Lindsey Buckingham, and Stevie Nicks made huge sales during their 2013 tour and pocketed more than $17 million from just 34 shows. Their new 2013 album “Extended Play” contributed to their appearance in the top of the list.
