The next year might belong to Taylor Swift if the last week has been any indication but the previous 12 months have been all Beyoncé according to Forbes annual rankings of the highest-earning women in music.
Beyoncé had the biggest year of her career, thanks to a number of factors. First of all, her self-titled album that dropped last November has been the third bestselling record of 2014, plus 95 tour dates where she brought in an average of $2.4 million a gig helps pad the checkbook. Top that off with endorsement deals from H&M and Pepsi and the pop star found herself with about $115 million in earnings before taxes for the last 12 months.
That puts her miles behind the no. 2 performer on the list, which unsurprisingly is Swift, who scored around $64 million during the last year, mostly from touring and advertising deals. The total is the largest of Swift's career but check back in 12 months, where she'll probably top even the $115 million that Beyoncé managed. None of the aforementioned $64 million is drawn from sales related to her new album 1989, which sold just under 1.3 million copies during its first week. Couple that with continued advertising revenue and a recently announced world tour and Swift is due for a huge 2015.
P!nk is perhaps a more surprising entry at no. 3, where she brought in $52 million. Her success is largely thanks to touring revenue as well, as she brought in around $1 million per show for 85 gigs over the last year. Rihanna takes no. 4 with $48 million and Katy Perry comes in at no. 5 with $40 million. Of course, Perry also played only 20 public shows during the last 12 months, so she was probably expecting lower earnings than usual.
Madonna, Alicia Keys, Nicki Minaj, Miranda Lambert and Shania Twain make up the rest of the Top 10.
