Taylor Swift Tops List Of Music’s Biggest Earners

Billboard have unveiled their annual rich list, seeing country music star and crossover pop queen Taylor Swift come out on top as music’s top earner in 2013. Swift had a huge 2013, with promoter Michael Gudinski calling her, “the first girl to fill stadiums since I did Madonna over 20 years ago.”

The 24-year-old Swift earned over $44 million last year, surpassing veterans like Paul McCartney and The Eagles. Artists’ tallies are based on Nielsen data as well as Billboard‘s own figures, which show that more than $33 million of Swift’s earnings came from ticket sales for her Red tour.

Swift’s tour revenues were higher than any other artist on the planet, with the rest of her earnings coming from physical album sales and being the fifth highest earner for streaming royalties and sixth for downloads. Merchandise and sponsorships were not tallied, but netted her another $11 million.

It pays to be a country star, with the number two spot taken out by Tennessee singer Kenny Chesney ($36,529,685), while pop country star Luke Bryan came in at number eight ($24,544,667), and fellow country kings Jason Aldean and George Strait both made appearances in the top 20.

The highest earning non-country star was Justin Timberlake at number three with earnings of $36,529,685, while the highest ranking band was The Rolling Stones at number five. Beyonce was the highest-paid female pop star after Swift and hubby Jay-Z, the highest earning hip-hop artist.

Gallery: Billboard‘s Top 20 Rich List (Earnings in AUD)

Billboard‘s Rich List 21-40 (Earnings in AUD)

21. Paul McCartney: $17,132,826.62

22. The Eagles: $14,527,155.93

23. Celine Dion: $14,225,297.44

24. Trans-Siberian Orchestra: $13,911,092.25

25. Phish: $13,836,164.46

26. Kanye West: $12,908,544.77

27. Blake Shelton: $11,542,328.11

28. John Mayer: $11,163,421.92

29. New Kids on the Block: $11,083,693.84

30. Zac Brown Band: $11,027,583.22

31. Imagine Dragons: $10,536,681.63

32. Jimmy Buffett: $10,487,593.91

33. Elton John: $10,448,793.92

34. Rascal Flatts: $10,277,329.46

35. Rush: $10,093,437.37

36. Miranda Lambert: $9,849,228.14

37. Lil Wayne: $9,801,062.43

38. Tim McGraw: $9,771,285.87

39. Eminem: $9,507,051.56

40. Carrie Underwood: $8,979,216.16