Forbes, which ranks athlete salaries every year, has newly ranked musicians' annual earnings. These are the highest-paid musicians for the year 2025.
$66 million (95.5 billion KRW). Recorded a whopping 19.8 billion streams this year, ranking 4th as Spotify's Global Top Artist. Forbes estimates the King of Latin Trap, Bad Bunny, earned about $30 million from album sales alone, plus massive tour revenue.
$70 million (101 billion KRW). A 29-year-old country singer who reportedly earned the most among country artists this year. He made about $48 million from record deals alone, with concert tour profits on top of that.
$74 million (107 billion KRW). Successfully held a massive 20th-anniversary tour, taking home about $60 million, and also raked in over $13 million from album sales.
$78 million (112.8 billion KRW). Brought in about $30 million from concert revenue and nearly $50 million from music streaming this year.
$105 million (151.9 billion KRW). Reportedly made bank due to the huge success of his world tour this year.
$105 million (151.9 billion KRW). Earned through concert revenue this year.
$109 million (157.7 billion KRW). Sold over 1 million albums in the US in 2025 and earned this from a concert tour with SZA.
$148 million (214 billion KRW). Money earned from touring in 9 cities.
For reference, Forbes separately announced that Beyonce officially joined the billionaire ranks as her net worth surpassed $1 billion (1.4 trillion KRW).
$202 million (292.3 billion KRW). Had zero concert revenue in 2025 since she didn't perform at all, but the studio album released in October sold over 5.5 million copies in its first week alone, making a killing in sales and streaming. She also took home over $80 million from a documentary series deal with Disney+.
$298 million (431.2 billion KRW). Successfully secured album revenue with 490,500 units sold (album-equivalent) in the first week, took home at least $77 million in 2025 concert revenue, and signed a new record deal worth around $200 million.
So The Weeknd is #1 for 2025 musician earnings. For context, in Forbes' 2025 sports star annual earnings list...
Ronaldo took 1st place with $275 million. Source: Single-Bungle Earth Gallery [View Original]
"Users are debating why musicians get a pass for high salaries while athletes get hate, with the usual Ronaldo and Messi fanboys popping up in the comments."
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