Taylor Swift may be breaking records in the music industry, but Beyonce is breaking the bank.
The superstar singer has for the second year in a row topped Forbes’ list of the top-earning women in music. The artist known as Beyonce Knowles Carter slid into the No. 1 slot last year with $53 million in earnings; she more than doubled that in 2014 by earning $115 million.
“Beyonce played 95 shows during our scoring period, bringing in an average $2.4 million per city,” Forbes reports. “She added endorsement deals from the likes of H&M and Pepsi — plus her self-titled surprise album, which hit iTunes in December 2013 and quickly became one of the year’s top sellers — to send her income into nine-figure territory.”
Swift came in second with $64 million in earnings, which she can add to her accomplishment of selling almost 1.3 million records during the first week of the release for her “1989” album. Pink ranked No. 3 with $52 million, followed by Rihanna with $48 million and Katy Perry with $40 million.
Forbes bases its list on calculating income from record and merchandise sales, touring, endorsements, publishing and other ventures, without deducting for management and/or attorney fees.
The earnings were calculated from June 2013 to June 2014 and were based on data from Pollstar, the RIAA and Nielsen SoundScan, as well as interviews with managers, lawyers and executives.
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