Billboard’s top 50 highest-paid musicians list only included 7 females

Painting a pretty grim picture.

Billboard’s 2018 Money Makers list has been released, giving us insight into the 50 highest-paid musicians of 2017 and how they made their cash. And with only seven artists in that 50 being female, it also seemingly points out the huge disparity of pay between the genders.

U2 top the list, with Lady Gaga being the highest earning female at number six. Céline Dion holds number 26, followed by Britney Spears (30), Faith Hill (36), Ariana Grande (42), Janet Jackson (43) and Taylor Swift (48).

It is worth noting the top 50 have been ranked based on their concert grosses and royalties from sales, streaming and publishing in 2017, so if your favourite female didn’t release an album or tour last year, that probably played some part in the ranking (hence why we don’t see Beyoncé on the list). Almost 80% of all income from the top 50 was made through touring revenue, with Taylor Swift and Drake the only two artists who made the list without touring in 2017.

Then again, we probably need to ask ourselves why we’re not seeing more women release albums or tour full stop. With groups like Haim firing their agent after finding out a male artist got paid 10 times more than them at a music festival – and 2017’s Coachella having its first female headliner in a decade – there’s no doubt there’s still a major problem with gender diversity in the industry.

You can check out the full list here.

billboard.com