Since 2020 also radio host: Bruce “The Boss” Springsteen
Photo: WireImage, Gary Miller. All rights reserved.
With annual sales of 590 million dollars (about 516 million euros), Bruce Springsteen takes first place in the best-earning charts for the past pop year 2021. Jay-Z follows in second place with his company empire with 470 million dollars, followed by Paul Simon, who put it on Brought $260 million.
The ranking was created from research, background interviews and evaluations of company figures. The former “Forbes” editor Zack O’Malley Greenburg, who specializes in money flows in the music business, confirmed to the American ROLLING STONE that the increased catalog sales have been reflected in the current ranking. On the other hand, less relevant is the once booming tour business, which last year could only take place in the USA in any significant dimensions.
The only woman on the Ten: Taylor Swift with $80 million
The other places are Kanye West (250 million); songwriter and One Direction singer Ryan Tedder (200 million); the Red Hot Chili Peppers (145 million), Lindsey Buckingham (100 million), Motley Crue (95 million) and country star Blake Shelton (83 million). The only woman on this tableau is Taylor Swift on the top ten with $80 million. For comparison, in 2019, Forbes put Swift’s earnings at $185 million.
At Swift, sales come from the high frequency of their re-releases “Red” and “Fearless”, ie the classical music business. In contrast, Jay-Z includes lucrative side deals such as the $300 million sale of music streaming service Tidal.
The catalog sales of the album and license catalogs, such as the Springsteen deal with Sony Music, can be seen as “one-off effects”. Add to that his book and podcast project with Barack Obama and the high-priced Springsteen On Broadway shows. In contrast, record sales of “Letter To You” tend to provide the background noise. The Chili Peppers, Mötley Crew, Paul Simon and Lindsey Buckingham also hit the license bonanza.
In the almost two-year Covid 19 pandemic, the superstar’s business was relatively smooth; compared to most of my colleagues. The high earners recorded will have a turnover of around 2.3 billion dollars in 2021.