FORBES Releases Highest Earning Women in Music Industry

Forbes just released the 10 highest paid women in music list and the artists featured are raking in some serious dough.

To compile the list, Forbes talked to agents, managers, producers and other in-the-know folks to come up with estimates for each celebrity’s entertainment-related earnings between June 2012 and June 2013, the time frame for their Celebrity 100 list.

They do not deduct for taxes, agent fees or the other expenses of being a celebrity.

The list of the year’s highest earning Pop belles, features appearances by Beyonce, Madonna, Rihanna, Nicki Minaj and Lady GaGa. So...Who topped the list and how?
Details below…

No. 1: Madonna ($125 million)

Madonna is music’s top earner of any genre or gender and the highest-paid celebrity of any stripe. She augments her income with merchandise sales, her Material Girl clothing line and her Truth or Dare fragrance. But her millions mostly came from the tail end of her MDNA Tour.

No. 2: Lady Gaga ($80 million)

Coming in at number two is Lady Gaga at $80 million. The singer’s ARTPOP album was released after the end of our scoring period this year, but she still raked in plenty from the tail end of an injury-shortened tour.

No. 3: Taylor Swift ($55 million)

Taylor Swift earned $55 million with the help of her latest album, Red, which sold 1.2 million copies in its opening week last year.

No. 4: Beyoncé ($53 million)

Beyoncé claims the fourth spot with $53 million, getting a boost from her Mrs. Carter World Tour, which is grossing $2 million per city. She out-earned her hubby Jay Z once again.

No. 5: Jennifer Lopez ($45 million)
Jennifer Lopez rounds out the top five with $45 million, replacing her $12 million American Idol salary with a lucrative world tour.

No. 6: Rihanna ($43 million)

The Barbados-born singer continues to rake in the dough, playing over 40 shows during the scoring period and releasing new album Unapologetic, her seventh in seven years. Even if you're not one of her 30 million-plus Twitter followers, it's hard not miss her with her music topping the charts and her numerous endorsement deals with Vita Coco and Mac cosmetics.

No. 7: Katy Perry ($39 million)

No. 8: Pink ($32 million)

No. 9: Carrie Underwood ($31 million)
Carrie Underwood, the only former
contestant, ranks ninth with $31 million She’s come a long way since winning the show in 2005: her latest album, Blown Away, went platinum and she played over 100 shows in our scoring period.

No. 10: Mariah Carey ($29 million tie)
Mariah Carey earned the bulk of her money- $18 million, to be precise—from her
American idol judging gig.

No. 10: Nicki Minaj ($29 million, tie)

Nicki Minaj pulled in 50% less for her role, but matches Carey’s overall total thanks to heavy touring, steady music sales, endorsement deals with Pepsi and others, as well as Myx, her own Moscato.

Posted in: