Swift earned $170 million from June 2015 to June 2016 - more than twice the amount Adele did.
Given that she hasn’t released any new music in nearly two years, it will probably come as a surprise to that Taylor Swift has swept aside all competition to be named as the highest-earning female in music in 2016 by Forbes magazine.
Earning an eye-watering $170 million between June 2015 and June 2016 – a time period covering most of the second half of her massively lucrative 1989 World Tour – the 26 year old singer raked in more than twice the amount that her nearest rival, Adele, earned in the same period ($80.5 million).
Taylor Swift is the highest-earning female in music in 2016
Adele, of course, released the highly successful and multi-platinum-selling 25 this time last year and has been on the road ever since with her Adele Live 2016 tour, so perhaps her earnings will be better reflected in next year’s list.
“Taylor has completely overtaken everyone on our list due to the phenomenal success of her 1989 World Tour,” the list’s compiler, Zack O’Malley Greenburg, said in a press release. “She played nearly twice as many dates as competitors like Adele and Rihanna during our scoring period, and managed to fill stadiums - the largest type of building one can play - throughout lucrative North American markets and beyond.”
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Very few artists remain whose income comes from album sales, as the proliferation of streaming has driven down the amount of performers who can profitably sell physical or even digital albums. Only a select few, like Taylor and Adele, can hold their own against the streaming giants and make their records unavailable except by physical sale.
“Touring is where music's top moneymakers generally score the bulk of their bucks, and Taylor is the prime example,” the press release finished.
Third in the list is Madonna, who again enjoyed a hugely successful world tour in support of last album Rebel Heart in the time frame concerned, with $76.5 million; Rihanna was in fourth place with $75 million; and Beyonce was in fifth with $54 million.
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