Culture, Music

Ka-ching! Here are the musicians that made bank this year

List includes Taylor Swift and Kanye West
December 11, 2019
Dina Kabbani
Forbes reveals its annual list of the world’s biggest moneymaking musicians of 2019…

Ever since Kanye West and Taylor Swift had that unforgettable run-in at the MTV Video Music Awards almost a decade ago, their rollercoaster on-off feud has been one of music’s greatest love-hate relationships of all time.

Now, the dynamic duo are battling it out once again for the title of music’s highest-paid act. And this time around, Taylor wins landing the top spot on the Forbes list of Highest-Earning Musicians for 2019, her second time in five years. Yes, the superstar songstress took in an estimated $185 million this year alone, trailed by Kanye, who was not far behind with $150 million thanks to a surge in sales of his adidas Yeezy sneakers line and the release of one super-popular gospel album.

Ranging from hip-hop to pop and rock, this year’s list featured various artists; at No.3 is British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran who earned a cool $110 million, music’s royal couple, Jay-Z and Beyoncé, tied in sixth place with $81 million each, while Drake (8th) and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs (9th) trailed not that far behind at $75 million and $70 million respectively.

Surprisingly, Rihanna, who just launched her brand Fenty with LVMH this year, made the list at No.11 with $62 million. Other notable top 40 earners also included Travis Scott at No. 12 with $58 million, BTS at No.15 with $57 million, The Weekend at No.29 with $40 million and Migos at No.40 with $36 million.

Unfortunately, this year’s list once again highlights the unfortunate reality of the music business, with only ten women making the top 40 ranking — a marginal improvement over 2018’s one-in-five ratio.

The female artists included Ariana Grande at No.22 with $48 million, Lady Gaga at No.32 with $39.5 million and Celine Dion at No.38 with $37.5 million.

Now, find out what The Word of the Year for 2019 is.