Various Artists
Mar 16, 2014
"Billboard" magazine has released its "Highest Paid Musicians" list for 2014, and Country artists make up over 25% of the top earners.
Taylor Swift takes the overall #1 spot, earning $39,699,576. That is $27 million more than last year, when she placed #15 on the list with $12,695,783.
Kenny Chesney comes in #2 with $32,956,241. This is 3 spots higher than last year's #5 ranking at $19,148,525.
Luke Bryan is at #8 this year, earning $22,142,236.
Jason Aldean dropped from #8 in 2013 to #14 this year, despite earning slightly more money. Aldean made $17,896,192 this year, vs $17,578,652 last year.
George Strait places at #15 on the 2014 list with $16,002,762.
Blake Shelton comes in at #27 this year, earning $10,349,775. That is $4,435,184 more than what he made last year when he placed #40 on the list.
Zac Brown Band jumps up 7 spots from #37 to #30 this year with $9,888,213. That's $3,205,415 more than the band earned last year.
While Rascal Flatts took a small loss of $1.5 million this year, they still placed on the list at #34 with $9,215,476. Last year's $10,777,283 earnings had them at #19.
Miranda Lambert fell to #36 this year with $8,831,606. While earning about the same amount as last year's $8,818,536, she placed #27 on the 2013 list.
Tim McGraw took a $10 million paycut this year, falling from #7 at $18,329,168 in 2013, to #38 with $8,761,717 in 2014.
Carrie Underwood dropped from #16 in 2013, to #40 this year with $8,051,484. Last year the singer made $11,942,957.
Top earners from last year, Toby Keith, Eric Church, Brad Paisley, and Lady Antebellum, did not place on the 2014 list which was calculated from U.S. touring earnings, music sales, publishing royalties, and digital music streaming. Sponsorship and merchandising revenue was not included in the formulation.
To see the entire list, click here. http://www.billboard.com/articles/list/5930326/music-s-top-40-money-makers-2014-the-rich-list
By: Misti Douglas