What a smashing year it’s been for the stars that are rock n’ rolling in gold. The highest paid musicians of 2013 cover all genres, including folk, country, rap, rock and hip-hop. However, the bestsellers are country and rock, which seem to bring in the highest revenues, making up the majority of music’s top 10 money makers. Let’s have a look at the music industry’s 2013 greatest successes.
1. Taylor Swift (2013 Earnings: $39,699,575.60)
23-year-old country music heroine, Miss Taylor Swift, struck a double hat-trick last year in touring, digital and physical sales and in merchandising, branding and sponsorships – hitting a home run and beating high grossing artists like Beyoncé and Justin Timberlake. The singer-songwriter’s 2012 album “Red” hit nº2 in 2013 US Billboard 200 charts and sold out arenas across the world. While her six months US “Red” tour alone brought in revenue of an estimated $30 million, the album hit almost 10 million downloads, topping the country music sales, ranking sixth in digital sales, and fifth in streaming royalties. What’s more, Swift is thought to bring in an additional estimated $10 million thanks to the pandemonium caused by merchandise sales ($17 per head) and to the tour’s three sponsors (Keds, Elizabeth Arden and Diet Coke) whose cash value is estimated to be in the high seven digits.
Taylor Swift – Red (Play this video in Creation 5)
2. Kenny Chesney (2013 Earnings: $32,956,240.70)
In 2013, Kenny Chesney released his latest album “Life on a Rock”, topping the charts for the 7th time. Along with the album’s strong digital and physical sales, country music’s “stadium king” exceeded an audience of 1 million. Chesney continues to be one of the most consistent money makers in the music industry.
Kenny Chesney – Come Over (Play this video in Creation 5)
3. Justin Timberlake (2013 Earnings: $31,463,297.03)
It’s clear that after a seven-year break from music, Justin Timberlake needed to come back with a bang! “The 20/20 Experience” did anything but disappoint. In fact, it went kaboom! According to Billboard, it sold over 2 million copies and was the biggest selling album of 2013. The royalties for digital albums, tracks and streaming generated $5 million alone. Furthermore, JT grossed $43 million in his solo tour, performing in front of almost 1 million fans over 39 shows, and brought in a gross $60 million across the 12 dates of his “Legends of the Summer” stadium tour with Jay Z. What a rewarding comeback it was for our beloved JT!
Justin Timberlake – Mirrors (Play this video in Creation 5)
4. Bon Jovi (2013 Earnings: $ 29,436,801.04)
Bon Jovi’s “Because We Can Tour” is the top grossing tour of 2013. Bon Jovi’s earnings for their international non-stop stadium tour grossed more than $83 million and their twelfth studio album “What About Now” (released in 2013) peaked Billboard 200. The American rock band churned out a figure of almost $300,000 in royalties, with more than 1 million digital downloads, and $150,000 in streaming royalties. Besides their top-of-the-charts success and ceaseless sell-out-tours, merchandise sales reached the eight-figure range and has collected an estimated $2 million per year in online sales.
Bon Jovi – What About Now (Play this video in Creation 5)
5. The Rolling Stones (2013 Earnings: $26,225,121.71)
The legendary English rock band’s 50th anniversary called for a celebration and, in 2013, AEG Live offered them a limited North America tour, with an $80 million guarantee for 15 shows. The Stones sold out every show, grossing an average of $4.7 million. In addition, their greatest hits album “GRRR!” (2012), featuring two new tracks “Doom and Gloom” and “One More Shot”, reached a number of almost 300,000 in physical album sales and 1.5 million in digital track downloads. On top of that, The Stones’ 2012 5 show-tour generated an estimated $15 million in merchandise sales, excluding online and retail sales. According to Billboard sources, “a multifaceted tour partnership with Citi was worth another $5 million to the band”. One thing’s clear, The Rolling Stones definitely haven’t burnt out yet!
The Rolling Stones – Doom and Gloom (Play this video in Creation 5)
6. Beyoncé (2013 Earnings: $24,429,176.86)
Beyoncé’s 2013 surprise itunes album release took the world by storm, kicking off at nº1 on Billboard 200 and earning a total of $1.6 million in album sales. Ranking at nº8 on Billboard’s top 25 tours of 2013, Beyoncé’s 132-date “Mrs. Carter Show World Tour”, including her appearance at the SuperBowl, grossed a fierce $104.4 million, $59 of which accounted for U.S. dates only.
Beyoncé – Drunk in Love (Play this video in Creation 5)
7. Maroon 5 (2013 Earnings: $22,284,754.07)
Maroon 5’s “Overexposed” World Tour made over $17.6 million in 2013, landing the group in the ranking of top 10 biggest music money makers of 2013. This included the group’s headlining slot on the 12th run of the annual Honda Civic Tour and an appearance at the Hollywood Bowl. While three of the band’s tracks landed spots on Billboard Hot 100, with “Payphone” at nº2, “Daylight” at nº7 and “One More Night” peaking for nine weeks straight, their track sales hit a total of 7.6 million, almost amounting to what they earned on catalogue album sales royalties.
Maroon 5 – One More Night (Play this video in Creation 5)
8. Luke Bryan (2013 Earnings: $22,142,235.98)
American pop country singer, Luke Bryan, is the swiftest rising star in country music since Miss Swift herself, selling a total of 23 million albums and 7.6 million digital tracks in 2013, with an additional $15.4 million earned in his fourth studio album, “Crash My Party”, 2013 tour.
Luke Bryan – Crash My Party (Play this video in Creation 5)
9. P!nk (2013 Earnings: $20,072,072.32)
Her 2012 album “The Truth About Love” was P!nk’s first nº1 album, accounting for 934,000 of the 1.3 million albums she sold in 2013. “Try” reached nº9 on Billboard’s 2013 Hot 100, while “Just Give Me A Reason” featuring Nate Reuss (performed at the 2013 Grammy Awards) hit nº1, rising to 8 million in digital song sales and earning $1.4 in royalties. She also brought home $15.1 million from the U.S. leg of her world tour, and broke records by selling out 18 consecutive shows in Melbourne, Australia – A highly deserved success for 34-year-old singer-songwriter, A.K.A Billboard’s 2013 Woman of the Year.
P!nk – Just Give Me A Reason ft. Nate Ruess (Play this video in Creation 5)
10. Fleetwood Mac (2013 Earnings: $19,123,101.98)
The British rock band went home with a total of $17.4 million, after hitting 34 cities in their 2013 World tour. The highest point of the tour consisted of three nights at London’s O2 Arena, where Christine McVie joined the band to perform “Don’t Stop” on their last two nights of glory, plugging her full-time come-back for their 2014 Reunion Tour. What’s more, “Extended Play”, Fleetwood Mac’s first new studio material release in a decade reached nº48 on the Billboard 200.
Fleetwood Mac – Extended Play EP (Play this video in Creation 5)
Top 20 Grossing Artists of 2014
1. Taylor Swift ($39,699,575.60)
2. Kenny Chesney ($32,956,240.70)
3. Justin Timberlake ($31,463,297.03)
4. Bon Jovi ($29,436,801.46)
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. P!nk ($20,072,072.32)
10. Fleetwood Mac ($19,123,101.98)
11. Justin Bieber ($18,873,458.41)
12. Bruno Mars ($18,839,681)
13. One Direction ($18,041,472.69)
14. Jason Aldean ($17,896,191.98)
15. George Strait ($16,002,761.63)
16. Jay Z ($15,652,428.82)
17. Michael Bublé ($14,478,084)
18. Mumford & Sons ($14,172,940.87)
19. Dave Matthews Band ($13,932,731.14)
20. Rihanna ($13,794,186.16)
To see Billboard’s Top 40 Moneymakers of 2013, click here.
Don’t have Creation 5? Download it on the App Store!
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If you are already using Creation 5 Media app, don’t forget that you can expand your music collection, for free, by downloading any of the video clips that appear in the above article.
Here’s how:
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| Open the video in Creation 5 – we have created links by the side of each song title for this very purpose, so just click on any of these and the video will open inside Creation 5. | Once the video is playing inside the app, press and hold the song title and choose DOWNLOAD from the options. That’s it! You can now find the video in your ‘Favorites’ folder. | Press and hold the song title and choose SHARE. If your friends don’t have Creation 5, they will be directed to the App store where they can download the app for free. |
