Taylor Swift, Kenny Chesney & Justin Timberlake Are 2013's Top Earners
BIllboard released its "Money Makers 2014" list today, which tabulates 2013's richest musicians. No, this isn't the exact same thing as Forbes' list of the year's highest-paid musicians, because Billboard's inputs are different and stricter. The Money Makers list accounts solely for money made off of music and touring in the United States last year, using proprietary data as well as numbers from Nielsen and various streaming and digital services.
Unlike Forbes, this Billboard list does not take endorsements or other revenue streams into account. It provides a narrower, more precise number, though these too rely on royalty and revenue estimations that differ by artist.
Either way, this much is clear: Taylor Swift, Kenny Chesney and Justin Timberlake made a lot of money last year (as did everyone else on this list, but jeez). That's in large part to arena tours, but all three artists also dominated in traditional (album sales) and non-traditional (digital streaming) formats.
Here are the top 10 richest musicians of 2013 as figured by Billboard. For the full top 40, click here.
1. Taylor Swift ($39,699,575.60)
2. Kenny Chesney ($32,956,240.70)
3. Justin Timberlake ($31,463,297.03)
4. Bon Jovi ($29,436,801.04)
5. The Rolling Stones ($26,225,121.71)
6. Beyoncé ($24,429,176.86)
7. Maroon 5 ($22,284,754.07)
8. Luke Bryan ($22,142,235.98)
9. Pink ($20,072,072.32)
10. Fleetwood Mac ($19,123,101.98)
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