Taylor swift was named as the highest earning musician on Bilboard 2012. Taylor swift surpass lady gaga, katy perry and adele. According to the magazine, Swift earned $35, 719,902 in 2011. Billboard said much of her cash haul came from her “Speak Now” album tour, which grossed $88.5 million in the U.S. alone and netted Swift a “remarkable” $29.8 million. The album itself sold 1.8 million units last year and, Billboard writes, “Songwriting royalties were another highly beneficial source of income, given that Swift wrote all 14 ‘Speak Now’ tunes herself.”
Taylor Swift Ranked no 1 on Music's Top 40 Money Makers list from Billboard Magazine Billboard calculated the figures based on proprietary data from its Boxscore archives for concert grosses, Nielsen SoundScan for sales of physical and digital albums, singles and ringtone sales, and Nielsen BDS for terrestrial radio play and streaming service information.
Right behind Swift was iconic rock band U2, who earned a reported $32.1 million thanks to their record-setting 360 Tour -- which grossed a whopping $736 million total over two years -- including $50 million in merchandise sales and 1.4 million in digital track sales.
Country singer Kenny Chesney was #3 with $29.8 million, followed by previous tally topper Gaga at #4 with $25.3 million. She stayed in the top 5 thanks to sales of Born This Way and its accompanying Monster Ball Tour, which grossed more than $51 million. She also moved 12.7 million digital tracks. Lil Wayne rounded out the top 5 with $23.1 million, made up of 12.3 million digital track sales, $44.7 million in tour grosses and cash from his gig as founder of Young Money Entertainment.
The rest of the top 10: Sade (#6, $16.3 million), Bon Jovi (#7, $15.8 million), Celine Dion (#8, $14.2 million) and Jason Aldean (#9, $13.4 million). Adele rounded out the top 10 list at #10 with $13 million, mostly from the unstoppable streak of her 21 album's chart run,
which included sales of 6.7 million copies last year alone.
The "Glee" cast were just outside the top 10 at #11 ($12.5 million), Katy Perry hit #14 ($11.9 million), Britney Spears was at #16 ($10 million) and like her sisters in pop, Rihanna made it to #22 ($7.6 million) through a combination of album and single sales and touring revenue.
Billboard Music’s Top 10 Money Makers:
1. Taylor Swift – $35.7 million
2. U2 – $32.2 million
3. Kenny Chesney – $29.8 million
4. Lady Gaga – $25.3 million
5. Lil Wayne – $23.2 million
6. Sade – $16.4 million
7. Bon Jovi – $15.8 million
8. Celine Dion – $14.3 million
9. Jason Aldean – $13.4 million
10. Adele – $13.1 million
Other notable entries on Music's Top 40 money maker billboard 2012: Enrique Iglesias (#23, $7.4 million), Usher (#30, $6.2 million), Foo Fighters (#31, $6 million), Justin Bieber (#35, $5.5 million), Kanye West (#39, $5.3 million) and Linkin Park (#40, $5.1 million).