The Highest Paid Musicians Of 2014

When it comes to making money, it sure helps if a musician has another source of revenue besides royalties, touring, merch sales and licensing.

Take the case of Dr. Dre, who made more money than any musician in history last year on the basis of his interest in Beats Electronics, which was purchased by Apple for $3 billion. As a result, Dre comes in at #1 of the highest paid musicians with $620 million, according to the following chart by Statista.

Some familiar faces fill out the rest of the top 10, but relative newcomers Justin Bieber, One Direction, Calvin Harris and Toby Keith all had banner years.

Notice who's not on the chart - Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, and Katy Perry, among other current stars.

The 20 Highest Paid Musicians In 2013

It's always interesting to see who are the most successful music celebrities of the moment. Frequently they're not who we think they are since the ones making the most money are necessarily the hottest at the moment. That's exactly what you'll see in this year's Forbes Highest Paid Musicians of 2013.

1. Madonna - $125 million
2. Lady Gaga - $80 million
3. Bon Jovi - $79 million
4. Toby Keith - $65 million
5. Coldplay - $64 million
6. Bruce Springsteen - $62 million
7. Justin Bieber - $58 million
8. Taylor Swift - $55 million
9. Elton John - $54 million
10. Beyonce/Kenny Chesney - $53 million (tie)
12. Diddy - $50 million
13. Paul McCartney - $47 million
14. Calvin Harris - $46 million
15. Jennifer Lopez - $45 million
16. Roger Waters - $44 million
17. Muse/Rihanna - $43 million
19. Jay-Z/One Direction - $42 million

Of course, these numbers and positions will surely change by the end of the year, but it's still fair to say that the 1% of the music business are still making a lot of money.

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The 25 Highest Paid Musicians And What It Means For Music

Forbes Magazine recently presented their annual financial ranking of musicians in their Celeb 100 issue, and while it may look as business as usual for a bunch of high visibility names, there's actually some good news for the music business in the numbers.

While the list has its share of the musical old guard with names like U2, Bon Jovi, Elton John, AC/DC and The Eagles, the good news is that there are so many newer and more diverse acts on the list than in recent years. That's especially good news for the concert business, who've been accused of recycling the same old acts because there were no news ones that could pack the house. Apparently that's not the case anymore as Justin Beiber, The Black-Eyed Peas, Michael Buble, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift and Usher prove that there are viable new acts that people will pay their hard-earned dollars to see. And while the charts seem to be dominated by women, gender-wise  that's not the case on the big stage, with only 5 acts being women. It's diverse too, with 10 rock acts, 6 country acts, 5 r&b/hip-hop acts and 4 pop acts.

Here's their list.

1. U2 - $195 million
2. Bon Jovi - $125 million
3. Elton John - $100 million
4. Lady Gaga - $90 million
5. Michael Buble - $70 million
6. Paul McCartney - $87 million
7. The Back-Eyed Peas - $61 million
8. The Eagles - $60 million
9. Justin Bieber - $53 million
10. David Matthews Band - $51 million
11. Toby Kieth - $50 million
12. Usher - $46 million
13. Taylor Swift - $45 million
14. Katy Perry - $44 million
15. Brad Paisley - $40 million
16. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - $38 million
17. Jay-Z - $37 million
18. AC/DC - $35 million (tie)
19. Beyonce Knowles - $35 million (tie)
20. Sean "Diddy" Combs - $35 million (tie)
21. Tim McGraw - $35 million (tie)
22. Muse - $35 million (tie)
23. Rascal Flatts - $34 million
24. Kenny Chesney - $30 million
25. Rihanna - $29 million

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You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

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