The music industry paradigm has completely changed during the pandemic. Profits no longer come from the same places as in ages past. The irruption of streaming channels and social networks has generated a new business concept where concerts have been devalued in favor of reproductions on these platforms.
Despite this, live shows remain the fundamental pillar of the industry. However, this boom in monetization on streaming channels has allowed, during a period in which artists have not been able to sing live, huge amounts of income to continue to arrive. However, not all artists have been able to take advantage of this situation in the same way. According to Billboard’s Money Makers list, there are ten musicians who have made more money from their business than the rest of the collective.
1. Taylor Swift: $23.8 million
Taylor Swift has been in the spotlight on the music scene for the past few years. Her energetic dispute with her ex-manager for control of the rights to her songs and the subsequent re-recording of her entire catalog has allowed her to occupy dozens of covers in large media.
This could be the reason for her sudden rise in the industry, since she was one of the most recognized artists and with the highest income level, but she was not used to occupying such high positions in the ranking. The American made history by obtaining this first place on the podium without giving a single concert. Therefore, almost all of her income was derived from reproductions of her songs.
2. Post Malone: $23.2 million
Malone is the type of artist who is made to make big numbers: a young man dedicated to urban music, but directing it to the general public. The R&B singer was lucky enough to be able to tour just before the pandemic began, which allowed him to climb the rankings.
His concert at the Pepsi Center in Denver, where he also had great personalities from the industry on stage, was one of the last great concerts that were offered before the health crisis. Malone managed to sell all the tickets for this show.
3. Celine Dion: $17.5 million
Céline Dion is one of the most recognized artists of the last decades. Her single ‘My heart will go on’, part of the Titanic soundtrack, is an inexhaustible source of income. However, the Canadian does not occupy this place due to copyright.
Dion was another of the artists lucky enough to have been able to do a great tour before the coronavirus affected the entire world. The 23 concerts of her Courage World Tour allowed her to position herself in third place on the podium.
4. Eagles: $16.3 million
‘Hotel California’ is one of those timeless anthems that, like ‘My heart will go on’, resonates in almost anyone’s head. In fact, a third of the income of this band was generated from the reproductions of their songs, which amounted to 744 million during 2020.
However, again, this group had the possibility of giving a series of concerts that accounted for 11.4 million dollars of the total income, according to Billboard.
5. Billie Eilish: $14.7 million
This young American, despite being an emerging artist, has already become a pop icon for the youth of this generation. After launching into stardom in 2019 with her single ‘Bad guy’, she managed to be one of the most listened to artists in 2020. Her songs reached 671 million views, becoming Eilish’s main source of income during the pandemic.
In fact, the young singer was only able to give three shows on her tour, which accounted for only one million dollars of the total obtained during this period. It should be noted that, in the same way that occurs in Spain with Amaral, Billie Eilish is the name of both the artist and the group that she forms with her brother Finneas, so this amount also includes the editorial rights of the producer .
6. Drake: $14.2 million
Drake has spent years proving to be a business genius, just like his predecessors from the world of rap did. This intuition has allowed him to be within this ranking for many years. The Canadian rapper, songwriter, record producer and actor turned his career around when he left pop music for the world of hip hop, establishing himself as a global music star.
In fact, for the second consecutive year, Drake has achieved the record for streaming listeners, surpassing Taylor Swift’s views by more than 3,000 million. However, as Billboard points out and as has become known after the great soap opera in which she starred, the American has much greater control over the rights to her songs, which is why she generated more income from reproductions than Drake, despite having a noticeable amount of listeners less.
7. Queen: $13.2 million
No one is surprised that 30 years after the death of the band’s leader, Freddy Mercury, Queen continues to break income records. A large part of the group’s repertoire will remain for posterity, such as the inimitable ‘We are the champions’, which is also played in almost all sports finals throughout the year.
What is really interesting is that, unlike the rest of the artists in the ranking, Queen has achieved this position due to the sale of physical records, something really surprising at this time. The band’s limited-edition studio collection of colored vinyl fetched a price of over $500 a unit. To which must be added the sale of 517,000 old records of the band. However, the group also earned $5.5 million from views.
8. The Beatles: $12.9 million
Despite the fact that only two of the four artists that made up the band are still alive, The Beatles continues to be one of the most profitable groups of the moment. It’s really amazing that a band that was created in 1956 is still so relevant today.
However, it is the first time that The Beatles has managed to enter this ranking, since it is the first time that they control a large part of their royalties. The copyright history of this band is marked by a war in which names like Yoko Ono, Michael Jackson and, finally, Sony appeared. Much of the band’s income comes from a vinyl reissue of their old albums.
9. YoungBoy Never Broke Again: $11.9 million
It is one of the lesser-known names on this list due to its emerging star character. However, the American rapper, who became known for his independent demos, was one of the most streamed artists of 2020.
In fact, YoungBoy was ranked first on the Most Streamed Artists on Video podium. This position allowed him to generate around 10 million dollars during the pandemic in reproductions.
10. Lil Baby: $11.7 million
This young rapper rose to fame in 2017 with the release of his Perfect Timing mixtape. However, it is now, with his new album, “My Turn” when he has managed to enter the money makers ranking, as if he had predicted it.
Lil Baby earned $9.1 million from more than 6.2 billion views, as well as earning an additional $2.2 million from posting revenue.
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