Here’s How Much Your Fav Female Singers Earned This Year (And Where The $$$ Comes From)

Taylor Swift made $170 this year, much of it from endorsement agreements with Diet Coke, Apple, and Keds.

Updated 8 years ago, November 3, 2016

Today Forbes ran a profile of the highest-paid women in music for 2016. The list is somewhat surprising (Madonna was touring?) and a good reminder that most musicians aren’t making the most money from selling their songs on iTunes. Here’s how your favs did:

Taylor Swift

Predictably, Taylor Swift tops the list. She has made $170 million this year:

The 1989 tour made over 250 billion dollars. Keep in mind, this doesn’t include the tour’s expenses, but this makes up a sizable portion of Swift’s income.
Endorsement agreements with Diet Coke, Apple, and Keds.
Album sales

Adele

Adele was the second highest-earner with a little more than half of what T Swift made, $80.5 million. Her album, 25, was the best-selling record of 2015 so most of her income comes from album sales.

Madonna

Madonna is the third highest-earning female musician this year bringing home $76.5 million, primarily from her Rebel Heart tour.

Rihanna

Rihanna made $75 million this year through touring, album sales, and endorsements with Dior, Puma, Samsung and Stance.

Beyonce

Forbes recalls Bey telling them, “I’ve never met anyone that works harder than me in my industry.” Even still, she comes in 5th making her $54 million income from touring and sales of her Lemonade album.

Katy Perry

Katy made $41 million this year primarily from her Prismatic tour and endorsement agreements with H & M, Claire’s and Covergirl.

Jennifer Lopez

Jlo made $39.5 million this year from her Vegas show, fragrance sales, and endoresment deal with L’oreal.

Britney Spears

Britney made $30.5 million this year, primarily from her $35 million (2-year) contract for her Vegas show at Planet Hollywood as well as her fragrance and album sales. BTW if you want to know if she’s still got it, here’s a recent video the 34-year-old took:

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Shania Twain

Shania made $27.5 million this year, making her the 9th highest-earning woman in music, and the highest-earning in country music. Her show in Las Vegas accounts for the highest portion of her income.