According to a recent report from Forbes, Taylor Swift emerged as the highest-paid female entertainer in the world, earning a staggering $92 million in 2022.
The success of her 10th studio album "Midnights" played a significant role in her earnings.
Swift is the only woman to be included in Forbes' list of the top 10 highest-earning entertainers in the world, ranking 9th on the list behind prominent male entertainers such as Tyler Perry, Brad Pitt, and the Rolling Stones.
Forbes calculates the ranking based on the entertainers' total pretax earnings in 2022, minus representation fees and business operating costs.
"Midnights" was an instant hit, with Swift becoming the first artist in history to claim the top 10 spots on the Billboard Hot 100.
However, a major portion of her $92 million earnings, around 70%, came from her previous works such as album sales and streaming revenue.
Although 2022 was a lucrative year for Swift, her earnings were still far less than half of what the highest-paid entertainer, the progressive rock band Genesis, made in the same year.
Genesis earned a whopping $230 million in 2022, with a $300 million music rights sale to Concord Music Group.
The entertainment industry still has a long way to go in terms of gender parity, with less than 25% of the artists on the 2021 Billboard Hot 100 Year-End Chart being women.
The average earnings of women actors are also lower compared to their male co-stars, with women earning $1.1 million less.
The gender pay gap also affects women in the entertainment industry, with Reese Witherspoon, the highest-paid female entertainer in 2021, ranking 12th with earnings of $115 million.
Despite these disparities, 2023 promises to be an even bigger year for Swift, who is set to kick off her 52-night Eras Tour in March. The tour has the potential to bring in a nine-figure payout, as estimated by Forbes.
The high demand for tickets caused a massive surge in ticket sales, leading to a crash on Ticketmaster and a subsequent congressional hearing on the ticketing industry.
