Katy Perry Tops The 2018 List Of Female Musicians Who Earn The Most

FameFebruary 11, 2019

Forbes recently named Katy Perry the highest paid woman in the music industry for 2018. The 34-year-old singer earned about $83 million between last year June and the same month this year. The earnings caused her to occupy the first spot which saw her leading Taylor Swift. Forbes noted that Taylor Swift would actually have gotten the spot of the highest paid woman in the music industry if the singer’s Reputation tour sales had been within that scoring period.

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Katy Perry earned about $83 million between June last year and the same month this year

Also, sources report that Perry should also be on the lookout for Swift and that isn’t just about the longtime feud between both singers. Reports have it that a few hours after Forbes published the list for the year, Taylor Swift made the announcement of a new record deal. She signed a deal, one which has been very much anticipated, with Universal Music and that could reportedly help her earn as high as $200 million. That deal would easily help her occupy the spot of the highest paid in 2019.

Impact Of Tour Sales

Tour sales largely affect the rankings of musicians in the yearly Forbes List. Beyonce ranked top on the list last year riding on the success of her popular Formation tour. For this year, Beyonce was at the third spot and the bulk of the sum she got from her recent tour won’t count till the consideration for next year’s list.

Adele who came second on the list last year didn’t appear on the list this year given that she already wrapped up her tour last year sometime in June. Perry, on the other hand, who was at the ninth spot last year rose to the number 1 spot despite the fact that she had a couple of weak sales on her tour. Her top position was all thanks to her Witness tour, coupled with a very lucrative hosting gig for the American Idol. Rumors have it earned her about $25 million.

Currency Disconnect

It is worthy to note that most times when the list of top paid people are released, there is most times a disconnect between spot holders currency and the holders’ cultural currency. For Perry to secure the first position for this year, she earned double the earnings of Rihanna and also even got in more money than Beyonce and Taylor Swift.

Even though the album she recently released was not a commercial smash as compared to the former ones, Forbes reported that the tour she subsequently had after that saw her raking in more than $1 million in just one night. Swift, as well as Beyonce, may be rightly described as musical oddities considering that both artists who were at the second and third spots respectively earned the bulk of their money primarily from their music. Swift was able to earn about $80 million from Reputation tour.

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Swift earned about $80 million from Reputation tour

Also, Beyonce was able to earn $60 million between when she held her Coachella headlining sets and then her On the Run II tour which she held together with Jay-Z. It is unknown whether it was only her earnings or the total earnings she made with Jay-Z contributed to the entire $60 million.

Other Female Musicians On The List

Pink got the fourth position with about $52 million which she got from touring. Lady Gaga got the fifth position with about $50 million and the major part was from her work known as A Star Is Born.

Also, following closely behind Lady Gaga is Jennifer Lopez who earned $47 million that helped her get the sixth position. Rihanna also was at the 7th spot as she earned about $37.5 million. Also, Rihanna got the major part of the income for 2018 from her role in the movie Ocean’s 8. Also, she earned from her Lingerie line, Savage and also Fenty Beauty.

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Rihanna got the bulk of her 2018 income from her role in Ocean’s 8, Lingerie line, Savage and also Fenty Beauty

Helene Fischer followed in the 8th spot with $32 million. Celine Dion got the 9th spot with $31 million and Britney Spears took the 10th spot at $30 million.