THE WORLD'S HIGHEST PAID MUSICIANS OF 2015 ACCORDING TO FORBES MAGAZINE

KATY PERRY

2015’s highest paid musician in the world is Katy Perry. The Super Bowl halftime star pulled in $135 million over the past year, making her not only the highest-paid musician of the past year, but the top-earning celebrity on the planet after Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. She grossed more than $2 million per city over the course of her Prismatic World Tour, and pads her coffers with other deals from Claire’s, Coty and Covergirl.

“Music has changed,” she told FORBES Magazine in an interview; “The record is that launching pad for all kinds of other creative branches.” Perry played 126 shows in Forbes scoring period, the most of any act among the top ten—nine of whom performed in at least 20 concerts over those 12 months.

ONE DIRECTION

The second on the list is One Direction, the biggest boy band in the world and the top earning group of any sort, playing 74 dates during our scoring period—and generating seven-figure grosses at every stop—giving One Direction a payday twice as big as the Rolling Stones with a total earning of $130 million for the same period.

GARTH BROOKS

Then comes number three on the list, Garth Brooks, who came back from semi-retirement to gross over $1 million per show, often with back to back shows in the same arena in one night and earning a total of $90 million for the period.

SWIFT TAYLOR

Taylor Swift rounds out the top four with $80 million, boosted by the launch of 1989, the top release of 2014 with over 3.6 million copies sold. But again, the real money is on the road. Her 1989 Tour is grossing some $4 million per city, making her a top contender for the No. 1 spot on our list next year.

To form its list, Forbes looked at pretax income from June 2014-June 2015 from concerts, record sales, publishing, endorsements and other business ventures. However, fees for managers, agents and lawyers were not deducted. Data from Nielsen SoundScan, Pollstar and RIAA, and information from industry sources including some of the artists were also utilized.

Surprisingly, the top-earning couple on the list is not Jay Z and Beyoncé, who ranked No. 13 and 14 with $56 million and $54.5 million, respectively. That honor goes to Swift and Harris, who combined to earn $146 million, thanks mostly to endorsements and live shows.

Other highlights include Dr. Dre (No. 30, $33 million)—who fell from the top spot last year with a Beats-generated $620 million, the largest annual payday of any musician in history—and Ed Sheeran (No. 12, $57 million). The latter played 154 shows in Forbes scoring period, more than any musician on this year’s list.

COURTESY: FORBES