Taylor Swift tops Forbes' 2016 list of highest paid women in music

With earnings of $170 million, pop singer Taylor Swift was 2016's highest-paid woman in music, Forbes magazine said on Wednesday.

Swift, 26, smashed the Rolling Stones' North American touring record, pulling in a total of more than $200 million on the North American portion of her "1989" world tour. Last year, the "Bad Blood" singer came in second to Katy Perry with an estimated $80 million.

Swift was honored with the first-ever "Taylor Swift Award" at the BMI Pop Awards in May, quipping that she "would be kind of bummed" if the award had gone to someone else.

British "Hello" singer Adele, 28, ranked second on Forbes' list with $80.5 million in earnings, her highest total yet. Adele, whose album "25" swiftly became the biggest seller of 2015, enjoyed continued success with album sales this year and grossed millions per night for her arena shows.

Madonna, who was named the highest-paid woman in music in 2013, ranked third this year. Her recent "Rebel Heart" tour grossed $170 million, bringing her career total on the road to $1.4 billion pretax, according to the magazine.

In the past 12 months, Madonna, 58, earned a total of $76.5 million. That was slightly more than Barbados-born Rihanna, who earned $75 million and also received a lifetime achievement award at the MTV Video Music Awards on Aug. 28.

"Lemonade" artist Beyonce, who was 2014's top earner, ranked fifth at $54 million.

Collectively, the 10 women on Forbes' list earned more than $600 million this year.

Forbes compiled the list after estimating pretax income for the 12 months from June 2015 to 2016 based on interviews with managers, agents, lawyers and some of the stars. It also looked at data from the Pollstar, the Recording Industry Association of America and tracking firm Nielsen SoundScan.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Beyonce's 'Lemonade' tops Billboard, Prince reigns on album chart

R&B star Beyonce stormed to the top of the weekly US Billboard 200 album chart with her surprise visual concept album "Lemonade," while late singer Prince's music dominated the chart as fans continued to remember his legacy through his music.

"Lemonade," the sixth solo album by Beyonce, sold 485,000 albums, more than 900,000 songs and was streamed 115 million times, totaling 653,000 units according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan.

Beyonce debuted "Lemonade" as an hour-long film made up of music videos on cable network HBO last week, and initially made it available exclusively on premium streaming service Tidal, before releasing it to other online retailers.

The album garnered headlines for lyrics that suggested Beyonce's husband, rapper Jay Z, may have had an extramarital affair. The songs transition from suspicion and anger to hurt and finally forgiveness and reconciliation.

The album also contains the single "Formation," a power anthem to race and feminism.

Five of Prince's albums stayed in the top ten of the Billboard 200 chart this week, led by 2001's compilation "The Very Best of Prince" at No. 2 with 391,000 units sold.

Sales of Prince's music, which he kept off numerous streaming platforms such as Spotify and YouTube, have soared after the singer's sudden death on April 22 at his Minnesota estate.

On Billboard's Digital Songs chart, which measures online song sales, Prince's "Purple Rain" led seven of the late singer's songs in the top ten of the chart with 282,000 copies sold.

Beyonce's "Formation" came in at No. 3 and "Hold Up" came in at No. 9.

(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Adele closes out 2015 with sixth week atop US Billboard chart

British singer Adele closed out 2015 with a sixth consecutive week atop the weekly US Billboard 200 album chart on Monday, as her album "25" cemented its status as the biggest-selling record of the year.

Adele's "25" sold 363,000 units in the final week of 2015, bringing her total US sales tally to 7.4 million, according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan.

On the Digital Songs chart, which measures online song sales, Adele's ballad "Hello" held steady at No. 1 with 327,000 copies sold in the last week of the year.

No new releases cracked into the top 10 of the Billboard 200 list for the week. Justin Bieber's "Purpose" remained steady at No. 2, while alt-hip hop band Twenty One Pilots's "Blurryface" climbed to No. 3 from No. 11.

(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Peter Cooney)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

'Frozen' keeps icy grip on top spot of Billboard album sales chart

A pair of animated singing princesses kept the top spot on the weekly Billboard 200 chart of best-selling albums on Wednesday, ahead of Grammy-winning artists, as a new sing-along version of Disney's "Frozen" propelled sales of the soundtrack album.

"Frozen" sold 94,000 copies last week according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan, marking a fourth non-consecutive week at No. 1 on Billboard 200. The film, a tale of two Scandinavian princess sisters forced to save their kingdom from an everlasting winter, also raked in $9.3 million at the box office last weekend with its new sing-along version.

It is the first film soundtrack to spend four weeks at the top of the album chart in a decade, Billboard said. The last album to do the same was the "Bad Boys II" soundtrack in August 2003, spending four consecutive weeks at No. 1.

"Frozen" continued to hold off the official "2014 Grammy Nominees" album, which held steady at No. 2 with sales of 87,000 copies. The Grammy awards on January 26 did boost sales of its performers, as albums from Lorde, Beyonce, Imagine Dragons, Katy Perry and Daft Punk all featured in the top 10 this week.

Perry's single "Dark Horse," which she performed on the Grammy stage with rapper Juicy J, held the top spot on the Digital Songs chart this week, with 373,000 downloads.

Bruno Mars, who won a Grammy and also performed at the Super Bowl halftime show on Sunday, watched by a record-breaking 115.3 million viewers, saw his album "Unorthodox Jukebox" climb from No. 18 to No. 7 this week.

Only two new albums debuted in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 this week. Heavy metal group Of Mice & Men's latest album "Restoring Force" came in at No. 4 while Christian rock band Casting Crowns landed at No. 6 with its latest record "Thrive."

For the week ending February 2, overall album sales notched 4.6 million units, down 12 percent from the comparable week in 2013, Billboard said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Adele breaks Whitney Houston's chart record

The late Whitney Houston was unable to oust Adele from the top spot on the Billboard 200 album chart, and the British singer's "21" replaced "The Bodyguard" as the longest running No. 1 album by a woman.

Boosted by her six Grammy awards and performance comeback, Adele's "21" saw its biggest sales week yet in 52 weeks on the U.S. chart, selling 730,000 copies according to Nielsen SoundScan.

That gave Adele her 21st week at the top spot, beating the record held by Houston with her 1992 "Bodyguard" album. "21" which features hits like "Rolling in the Deep" and "Someone Like You" has now sold more than 18 million copies worldwide since its release in February 2011, Adele's Columbia Record label said.

The 23 year-old singer and songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album, "19," which sold 87,000 copies.

Houston's songs also saw a huge sales rise following her death in a Beverly Hills hotel on February 11 and a touching tribute by Jennifer Hudson at the Grammy awards on February 12.

Seven of Houston's albums re-entered the Billboard chart this week, led by "Whitney: The Greatest Hits" compilation at No. 2, selling 175,000 copies. Her self-titled album sold 17,000 to take the 37th spot.

Houston's "I Will Always Love You" single took the No. 2 spot in the Billboard Digital Songs Chart.

GRAMMY BOOST

The Billboard 200 album chart reflected a Grammy-influenced boost for other artists.

Pop singer Bruno Mars, who was nominated for six Grammys but went home empty-handed, still saw his album "Doo-Wops & Hooligans" notch the No. 8 position, boosted by his retro-inspired uptempo performance of "Runaway Baby" at the Los Angeles awards show.

His album was followed by Grammy's best country album winners Lady Antebellum's "Own The Night" at No. 9 and newcomers The Civil Wars, who picked up two Grammy awards, rounded out the top 10 with "Barton Hollow."

Country singer Jason Aldean, Rihanna, British band Coldplay and country group The Band Perry all saw their albums climb the top 20.

Katy Perry, who stormed back defiantly in her first big public performance at the Grammys after husband Russell Brand filed for divorce in December, saw her new single "Part of Me" notch the top spot on the Billboard Digital Songs chart, with 411,000 downloads.

Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" and "Set Fire to the Rain" took No. 3 and No. 4 on the Digital Songs chart respectively.

source: interaksyon.com