This year’s list of the top female earners in music likely doesn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone that’s been hooked into mass media this year. Lady Gaga has been everywhere, from the radio, to television (she had a special, remember?) to touring almost non-stop all over the world. It all added up, according to Forbes, to over $90 million, which was according to the Hollywood Reporter, more than twice that of her next biggest rival, Taylor Swift.
How Lady Gaga Made so Much Money
The Reporter notes that Lady Gaga has turned into a one woman industry. She makes appearances, supports causes, gives interviews and of course, sings. She’s also become a national icon with name recognition virtually unheard of since, well, Madonna, the woman many say she imitates. Ms. Gaga, not coincidentally also made the list of most influential women in the world in a previous Forbes report, coming it at number eleven.
Earnings figures for the top women in music come from a variety of sources, including polling agencies, record companies, advertising agencies, lawyers, managers and even agents. Forbes puts it all together, as they do for all of their top earner articles and comes up with a grand total.
The Forbes List
This year, according to Forbes, to no one’s surprise, Taylor Swift came in second with $45 million in income, followed by Katy Perry with $44; both had very successful albums and hugely successful tours.
Rounding out the top ten were number four Beyonce Knowles at $35 million, Rihanna at $29, Pink at $22, Carrie Underwood at $20, Celine Dion at $19, Adele at $18 and at number ten Brittney Spears and Alicia Keys tied with $10 million apiece.
The Reporter also points out that that only five of the women on this list also appeared on Forbes’ list of highest paid performers, which included 13 male solo acts and just one band that had a woman in it, the Black Eyed Peas, which has Fergie. According to industry insiders, the pay discrepancy appears to be more due to differing investment opportunities than pay scale. After all, women make as much per song as due men, and get paid just as much at their concerts. Why they don’t take part in other opportunities though, seems to be a mystery, though some suggest it’s because they aren’t approached as much by a male dominated investment industry.
Also of interest is the diversity on the list, not only do the women on it cover a wide spectrum of the listening audience, but they also make their money in different ways. Newcomer Adele for example had huge sales of her debut album, while Celine Dion made most of her money playing to audience in Las Vegas.
Bob Yirka - Bob Yirka has written thousands of online articles and backs them up with a BS in Computer Science/MS in Information Systems Management.
