Try to Guess How Much Taylor Swift Earned Last Year

At this time last year, Taylor Swift was just starting her headline-dominating, stadium-packed, A-list-guest-filled 1989 World Tour. It was glittery! Fun! And brought in a crazy amount of revenue: $61.7 million, specifically, Billboard reports. It's what put Tay in the #1 spot on the list of highest paid artists of 2015, up from #15 in 2014.

Tay earned $73.5 million in revenue total: $7.2 million from sales, $564,000 from streaming, and $4.1 million from publishing royalties, on top of the $61.7 million she raked in from her tour. Billboard notes Ryan Adams'1989  cover album also made her the top earner of publishing royalties.

Taylor Swift's ex-boyfriend Harry Styles and his band One Direction ($24.2 million) was the fifth tip earner of 2015. Adele nabbed the #9 slot with $20.5 million ($16.3 million sales, $488,000 streaming, $3.7 million publishing, $0 from touring) — but note THAT money was earned in just the last three months of 2015. "Hello"—the single—came out at the end of October.

Britney Spears (#22, $10.6 million), Celine Dion (#25, $9.3 million), Ariana Grande (#29, $8.3 million), Drake (#32, $7.4 million), and Nicki Minaj (#39, $6.3 million) also made the list. See the full top 40 at Billboard.com.

Via