Beyoncé & Rihanna among the highest-earning women in music

Forbes has released its annual list of highest-earning women in music, and the results are pretty close to what you might have expected.

Last year’s list featured a top three that consisted of Beyoncé, Adele, and Taylor Swift respectively, with the trio sharing earnings of $218 million between them. Now, we’ve seen a bit of a shake-up on the 2018 edition.

As Forbes reports, Katy Perry has become this year’s highest-earning women in music, grossing a total of $US83 million ($AU114 million). This comes after a huge financial year which saw Perry play 80 dates on her Witness world tour, raking in an average of AU$1.4 million every night.

While Katy Perry rose from ninth place to first this year, Taylor Swift follows close behind with $US80 million, almost doubling her third placing last year.

Beyoncé’s comparatively quiet year saw her drop from a chart-topping $US105 million to $US60 million this year, while Pink and Lady Gaga round out the top five with $US52 million and $US50 million each, respectively.

Surprisingly, while Katy Perry managed to top the list with US$22 million less than Beyoncé did last year, the combined total earnings of this year’s top three are actually a solid US$5 million more than 2017’s.

This year’s list also sees Jennifer Lopez drop one position down to number six, despite earning $US9 million than 2017, while Rihanna stays at seventh position with a relatively consistent $US37.5 million.

Check out Katy Perry’s ‘Swish Swish’:

Check out Forbes’ list of highest-earning women in music:

1. Katy Perry ($83 million)
2. Taylor Swift ($80 million)
3. Beyoncé ($60 million)
4. Pink ($52 million)
5. Lady Gaga ($50 million)
6. Jennifer Lopez ($47 million)
7. Rihanna ($37.5 million)
8. Helene Fischer ($32 million)
9. Celine Dion ($31 million)
10. Britney Spears ($30 million)

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.