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Miley Cyrus earned the last laugh. (And the key word there is “earned.”) The former teen star was the subject of intense controversy last year when she brought a foam finger and a calculated plan to steal the show to the MTV Video Music Awards. It worked. She twerked her way to a tie for seventh place on Forbes magazine’s annual list of the Top-Earning Women in Music. Cyrus earned an estimated $36 million in the survey period—June 2013 to June 2014. She wasn’t even listed in the top 10 in the previous year’s rankings.
Beyonce ranks #1 on Forbes’ list, with estimated earnings of $115 million. That represents a big jump from last year’s recap, where she ranked fourth, with estimated earnings of just $53 million. (How did she even manage on that?!) Queen Bey’s eponymous album was a smash, but she made most of her money on the road. She played 95 shows during the scoring period, grossing an average of $2.4 million per city, according to Pollstar.
Taylor Swift ranks #2, with estimated earnings of $64 million. That represents a nice jump from last year, when she ranked #3, based on estimated earnings of $55 million. (This year’s ranking came before the blockbuster debut of her new album, 1989. Look for her to make another strong showing on next year’s list.)
P!nk ranks #3, with estimated earnings of $52 million. That represents a big jump from last year, when she ranked #8, based on estimated earnings of $32 million. Pink played more than 85 concerts during the time frame, grossing more than $1 million per city. She also earns money through endorsement deals for such products as CoverGirl.
Rihanna ranks #4, with estimated earnings of $48 million (up from #6 last year, $43 million). Her pal Katy Perry ranks #5 with estimated earnings of $40 million (up from #7 last year, $39 million).
Other women moved in the opposite direction. Madonna, who was #1 on last year’s list with estimated earnings of $125 million, tumbled out of the top 10. Lady Gaga, who was #2 on last year’s list with estimated earnings of $80 million, dropped to #9 this year, with estimated earnings of $33 million. Ouch!
Three other women (besides Madonna) who were in the top 10 last year slipped out of the top 10. They are: Carrie Underwood, who was #9 last year ($31 million) and Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj, who tied for #10 last year ($29 million each).
Jennifer Lopez, Celine Dion and Britney Spears all made the top 10 on Forbes’s list, even though their latest studio albums didn’t reach #1 on The Billboard 200. J.Lo dips from #5 last year ($45 million) to #6 this year ($37 million). Dion and Spears jump from below the top 10 last year to a tie for #7 ($36 million) and #10 ($20 million), respectively.
How can this be? Album sales are a shrinking piece of the pie. Dion and Spears both earned big bucks with their Las Vegas residences. (Spears started out earning $315K per show and has reportedly gotten a pay raise to $500K per show.) When she’s not playing in Vegas, Dion tours around Europe and her native Canada. J.Lo has her fingers in many pies, including endorsement deals.
Forbes’s figures are calculated by looking at income from touring, record sales, publishing, merchandise sales, endorsements and other ventures. Management and attorney fees are not deducted. Earnings are based on data from Pollstar (touring), Nielsen SoundScan (recordings) and the Recording Industry Assn. of America (recordings) and from interviews with managers, lawyers and executives. Zack O'Malley Greenburg, who covers the business of music and entertainment for Forbes, compiled the list. Here’s a link to the Forbes story.
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