Well, Forbes just released their annual list of highest paid musicians. While the female pop sensation who came in second place should be no surprise with Lady Gaga, it might seem a bit odd to some that in 2013, Madonna is the highest paid musician.
Madonna has been ranked as the #1 highest paid musician, and has clearly come out on top this year, despite Lady Gaga’s immense popularity. Lady Gaga has been giving the Material Girl competition in the pop star world ever since she burst on to the scene five years ago, with her similarities to Madonna in her outrageous younger years.
The honor of highest paid musician went to Madonna, who made $125 million in the past year. The bulk of that had come from the end of her MDNA tour, which grossed a total of $305 million, and Lady Gaga came in second place with $80 million.
Lady Gaga is the 2nd highest paid musician of 2013, earning $80M based on touring, merchandise, royalties & sales. pic.twitter.com/Uw9O83bKcX
— LADY GAGA NEWS (@THEHAUSOFSEAN) November 20, 2013
Madonna’s MDNA world tour ended on December 22, 2012, and the Forbes list accounts for all earnings between June 1st, 2012, and June 1st, 2013.
Forbes takes a lot of different factors into account when declaring the highest paid musician of the year including Pollstar, the RIAA, Nielsen SoundScan, managers, lawyers and many of the artists themselves. It also took into account concert ticket sales, royalties for recorded music and publishing, merchandise sales, endorsement deals and other business ventures.
The magazine also only accounts for living artists, which can be important in some cases, because over the past year, Michael Jackson has made $160 million, and would have been the highest paid musician, if he were still alive. Diddy was the highest paid hip hop artist, and not as much for his music, as the large amount of business projects that the hip hop mogul has started.
So Gaga literally didn't do anything for like 9 months this year & she's the 2nd highest paid musician. Slaying your fave by just breathing.
— Gian | End Bullying (@wh0rex) November 20, 2013
Madonna topped Forbes as the highest paid musician, followed by Gaga as #2. Congrats to both, only the global queens of pop.
— Luis | Lady Gaga (@inmysexdreams) November 20, 2013
Lady Gaga’s latest album, ARTPOP, was released after the magazine’s scoring period, but the sales of the album should give her a boost for next year, and with a successful tour, she would likely be headed to the top as the highest paid musician, and beat out her competition in the “Like A Virgin” singer.
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