Each one of the 13 highest paid singers in the world in 2015 earned more in this year than most of us will in a lifetime. Music has always been revered throughout the ages, but never more than now. In fact, currently the music industry is a $10 billion business, globally. Of course, the singers, the people who have led to the music industry becoming so massive, are rewarded handsomely for their efforts.
The power of music cannot be underestimated. It can affect our emotions, alter our moods and can allow us to reach a level of high that few drugs can match. Music has often been the means to unite people, and on some occasions, even the world.
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Nowadays, albums sales have been consistently declining mainly due to the fact that digital downloads offer a much more comfortable avenue for obtaining music, not to mention the fact that many people often simply download music illegally either through various websites or through torrents. Hence, most of the singers’ earnings come either from digital sales or, more likely, their music tours. These tours are relentless, often running over several months, encompassing dozens of cities in various countries.
In order to determine the highest paid singers in the world in 2015, we used Forbes as one of our main sources. We also used Pollstar’s ranking of the highest grossing concerts in the world that took place in 2015. We have used multiple criteria to determine our ranking in order to cancel out any inherent biases present in any single criteria which can affect the objectivity of the rankings.
Hence, we have only considered singers who have made both the lists and discounted those who aren’t in both of them. A few of these singers haven’t been performing for very long, which is why it might be difficult to find them in the 11 highest paid singers and musicians of all time.
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13. Britney Spears
Earnings through concerts in 2015: $13.2 million
Ranking based on concert earnings in 2015: 67
Earnings according to Forbes ranking: $31 million
Ranking based on Forbes: 82
Overall score: 74.5
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12. Miranda Lambert
Earnings through concerts in 2015: $16 million
Ranking based on concert earnings in 2015: 50
Earnings according to Forbes ranking: $28.5 million
Ranking based on Forbes: 95
Overall score: 72.5
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11. Jimmy Buffet
Earnings through concerts in 2015: $12.4 million
Ranking based on concert earnings in 2015: 74
Earnings according to Forbes ranking: $36 million
Ranking based on Forbes: 62
Overall score: 68
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10. Drake
Earnings through concerts in 2015: $10.3 million
Ranking based on concert earnings in 2015: 81
Earnings according to Forbes ranking: $39.5 million
Ranking based on Forbes: 54
Overall score: 67.5
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9. Jason Aldean
Earnings through concerts in 2015: $10.3 million
Ranking based on concert earnings in 2015: 81
Earnings according to Forbes ranking: $43.5 million
Ranking based on Forbes: 47
Overall score: 53.5
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8. Luke Bryan
Earnings through concerts in 2015: $24 million
Ranking based on concert earnings in 2015: 31
Earnings according to Forbes ranking: $42.5 million
Ranking based on Forbes: 48
Overall score: 39.5
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7. Kenny Chesney
Earnings through concerts in 2015: $55.8 million
Ranking based on concert earnings in 2015: 8
Earnings according to Forbes ranking: $42 million
Ranking based on Forbes: 49
Overall score: 28.5
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6. Elton John
Earnings through concerts in 2015: $40 million
Ranking based on concert earnings in 2015: 16
Earnings according to Forbes ranking: $42 million
Ranking based on Forbes: 49
Overall score: 23.5
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5. Paul McCartney
Earnings through concerts in 2015: $64.5 million
Ranking based on concert earnings in 2015: 5
Earnings according to Forbes ranking: $51.5 million
Ranking based on Forbes: 35
Overall score: 20
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4. Ed Sheeran
Earnings through concerts in 2015: $53.5 million
Ranking based on concert earnings in 2015: 9
Earnings according to Forbes ranking: $57 million
Ranking based on Forbes: 27
Overall score: 18
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3. Katy Perry
Earnings through concerts in 2015: $25.8 million
Ranking based on concert earnings in 2015: 23
Earnings according to Forbes ranking: $135 million
Ranking based on Forbes: 3
Overall score: 13
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2. Taylor Swift
Earnings through concerts in 2015: $46.5 million
Ranking based on concert earnings in 2015: 12
Earnings according to Forbes ranking: $80 million
Ranking based on Forbes: 8
Overall score: 10
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1. Garth Brooks
Earnings through concerts in 2015: $79.9 million
Ranking based on concert earnings in 2015: 4
Earnings according to Forbes ranking: $90 million
Ranking based on Forbes: 6
Overall score: 5
Garth Brooks may be 53 years old, but he’s proven he’s still got it. He has earned around 80 million dollars in just concerts alone this year while he is already the best selling artist in terms of albums with sales of around 70 million albums, not to mentioned sales of records in excess of 150 million. The Country Hall of Famer announced his comeback tour after a long hiatus, and the result has allowed him to claim the top spot in the 13 highest paid singers in 2015.
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