The Top-Earning Women In Music 2014

Highest-Paid Women In Music 2014

Highest-Paid Women In Music 2014

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The Top 10 Highest-Paid Women In Music

Beyoncé enjoyed the biggest year of her career—she pulled in $115 million thanks mostly to a massive tour—making her the top-earning woman in the music business. Who else made the top ten? Read on to find out.


In 2013, Beyoncé had one of her best years in recent memory, pulling in $53 million. How did she follow the feat? By more than doubling that total in 2014. The superstar singer enjoyed the biggest year of her career, earning $115 million—making her the top-earning woman in the music business.

“Like everyone else, you work really hard and you want it to be great; you want your friends to like it,” she told FORBES five years ago. “What makes me feel comfortable is practice and knowing I’m prepared.”

The same holds true today. Beyoncé played 95 shows during our scoring period, bringing in an average $2.4 million per city, according to Pollstar. She added endorsement deals from the likes of H&M H&M and Pepsi PEP +0.94%—plus her self-titled surprise album, which hit iTunes in December 2013 and quickly became one of the year’s top sellers—to send her income into nine-figure territory.

Taylor Swift ranks second with $64 million, the highest mark of her career. As she completes her crossover from country to pop, Swift continues to pull in cash from live shows, recorded music and endorsements for Diet Coke, Keds and CoverGirl. New album 1989 looks set to become the year’s biggest seller, and may well be the last platinum album of all time.

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“A platinum debut is a phenomenal achievement and even more outstanding given today’s market,” says entertainment attorney Lori Landew of Fox Rothschild. “Swift and her team have done everything right and seem to have written the playbook on how to tee up a new release.”

In Pictures: The Top 10 Highest-Paid Women In Music

Pink rounds out the top three with earnings of $52 million. Though she may not have quite the same name recognition as Swift or Beyoncé, she’s quietly adding massive amounts of cash to her coffers. She played more than 85 concerts during our time frame, grossing over $1 million per city.

Fourth on the list is Rihanna with $48 million. Perhaps the perfect embodiment of the modern pop star, the 26-year-old Barbados native churns out radio hits like “We Found Love” and “Diamonds” and collaborates with the likes of Jay-Z and Eminem. But she also uses social media better than almost anyone, boasting more than 37 million followers on Twitter and 90 million on Facebook.

Katy Perry ranks fifth with $40 million, despite playing just 20 public gigs during our scoring period. Even with a fairly modest touring schedule, though, the pop star is still one of the top earners in her field. She’s unafraid of the shill, endorsing brands like CoverGirl and Pop Chips along with her own Coty fragrance, Killer Queen. Perry also earns big playing private events.

Our figures are calculated by looking at income from touring, record sales, publishing, merchandise sales, endorsements and other ventures. Management and attorney fees are not deducted. Earnings are calculated from June 2013 to June 2014 and based on data from Pollstar, the RIAA and Nielsen SoundScan, and from interviews with managers, lawyers and executives.

There are plenty of female musicians who earned double-digit millions, but not quite enough to crack the top ten. Among them: Madonna, Alicia Keys, Nicki Minaj, Miranda Lambert and Shania Twain. Don’t be surprised if at least a couple of them turn up on next year’s list.