Music’s Top Moneymakers in 2015 contain a few surprises! A Well Thought Out Scream : by James Riordan
While many of the usual suspects are represented on the Forbes list of top moneymakers in music for 2015, there are a few surprises. Most of these come from the wide diversity of artists who made the list. One thing is clear though. Touring is now the industry’s big moneymaker and the big name artists who toured the most made the most money. This is probably best illustrated by two facts. First, the music artist who made the most money in 2015 was Katy Perry with a total of $135 million. She grossed more than $2 million per city over the course of her Prismatic World Tour. While last year’s SuperBowl halftime performer made good money from record sales, and endorsement deals from Claire’s, Coty and Covergirl, it was her live appearances that put her on top. “Music has changed,” she told FORBES in an interview for this year’s Celebrity 100 cover story. “The record is that launching pad for all kinds of other creative branches.”
The second fact that clearly indicates touring is where the big money is has to do with Adele, whose album 25 sold a record-smashing 3.38 million copies the week after its November 20th release, but those earning wouldn’t even earn her a place on the list. Katy Perry played 126 shows during Forbes’ rating period, the most of any act among the top ten—nine of whom performed in at least 20 concerts over those 12 months.
Perry was followed in the rankings by two other road warriors — One Direction ($130 million) and Garth Brooks ($90 million). One Direction is the biggest boy band in the world today and the top-earning group of any sort, playing 74 dates during the Forbes rating period—and generating over a million at every gig giving them a gross that was twice as big as the Rolling Stones.
Garth Brooks came out of semi-retirement to gross over $1 million per show, often with back-to-back shows in the same arena in one night.
Taylor Swift rounded out the top four stars with a gross $80 million, boosted by the launch of 1989, which was the top release of 2014 with over 3.6 million copies sold. But again, the real money is on the road. Her 1989 Tour is grossing some $4 million per city, making her a top contender for the No. 1 spot on next year’s list. It’s a stadium tour, it’s enormous,” said Gary Bongiovanni, who is the head honcho at Pollstar which specializes in concert data. “I would imagine that she’s going to dwarf what everybody else does.”
The Forbes list used data from Nielsen SoundScan, Pollstar and RIAA, and information from industry sources including some of the artists themselves.
The complete list is as follows:
- Katy Perry $135 million
- One Direction $130 million
- Garth Brooks $ 90 million
- Taylor Swift $ 80 million
- The Eagles $ 5 million
- Calvin Harris $ 66 million
- Justin Timberlake $ 5 million
- Sean Combs $ 60 million
- Fleetwood Mac $ 5 million
- Lady Gaga $ 59 million
- Rolling Stones $ 5 million
- Ed Sheeran $ 57 million
- Jay Z $ 56 million\
- Beyonce $ 5 million
- Elton John $ 5 million
- Toby Keith $ 53 million
- Paul McCartney $ 5 million
- Michael Buble $ 5 million
- Jason Aldean $ 5 million
- Luke Bryan $ 5 million
There is a wide amount diversity to the list in regards to age (from the youngsters of One Direction to 73-year-old Paul McCartney, who ranks No. 17 with $51.5 million) and genre (with Brooks leading the way in county, Diddy taking hip-hop’s cash crown with $60 million at No. 9, and Calvin Harris pacing all DJs with $66 million at No. 6).
Adele seems to have taken heed: she’s already plotting her next tour, with 40 dates planned through the end of May. That could well land her toward the top of next year’s rankings.
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