If you’re a superstar with the rights to decades’ worth of hits, there has never been a better time to sell out.
Nearly half of the top 25 earners, like Bruce Springsteen and The Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson, got to where they are by selling their studios or music libraries in whole or in part.
Bruce Springsteen reportedly received close to $500 million for the masters and publication rights to all of his recorded music and songwriting, including 11 multi-platinum albums and five gold singles, in December.
The purchaser was Sony Music, the parent company of Columbia Records, his longstanding label.
Following Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson, who received $600 million in cash after selling a portion of his visual effects company for $1.6 billion in November, the 20-time Grammy winner now ranks No. 2 on Forbes’ list of the highest-paid entertainers of 2021.
Through the transaction, Jackson became rich.
Not all rock stars are as wealthy as The Boss.
Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, and Neil Young are three more legendary artists whose profitable music portfolios were sold in the previous year. These artists brought in a combined $500 million before fees, good for a spot in this years rankings for each of them.
Springsteen’s longtime manager, Jon Landau, notes, “These deals haven’t been hand-to-hand fighting.”
Everyone is receiving what is best for them.
Not all forms of content that fetch much more than a single song do so because they are music libraries.
Major streaming services have spent over $3.7 billion over the last two years to acquire the rights to TV favourites like Friends and Law & Order, which has helped put the shows’ creators on this year’s list of celebrities.
Thanks to the world’s obsession with content, South Park founders Matt Stone and Trey Parker were able to land a spot on this year’s list and a $900 million contract with Viacom, which wants the 25-year-old smash for its streaming service.
Reese Witherspoon, who earned the most money in the entertainment industry last year and is ranked No. 12, makes the list after selling a stake in her production business, Hello Sunshine, to the private equity firm Blackstone in August for a valuation of $900 million.
The Rock,” Johnson, and Kanye West all landed in the top five with their own 9-figure earnings, the majority of which came from selling champagne, tequila, and sneakers rather than from rapping, producing, or acting.
Even the relatively young Taylor Swift, who came in at number 25 with $52 million, made the most of her money by re-releasing albums she first published ten years prior.
The 25 highest paid entertainers made a collective $4.4 billion in 2021 before taxes and fees. The bulk of them did so without producing any new work.
The top 25 celebrities made $2.2 billion in 2020, which is quadruple that amount.
There is so much choice these days, says Tom Freston, the former Viacom executive who approved South Park back when VHS tapes were still in use.
People are drawn to what they already know.
$580,000,000 Peter Jackson
The Lord of the Rings director became only the third person in history to become a billionaire through making movies (after Steven Spielberg and George Lucas) when he sold a portion of his visual effects company, Weta Digital, to Unity Software for $1.6 billion in November.
$435 million Bruce Springsteen
In December, The Boss delivered his entire body of work to Sony Music Group, his longtime label.
In the deal, classic songs, recordings, and songwriting credits from 20 studio albums, many box sets, and live recordings worth nearly $500 million were sold.
$340 million Jay-Z
The first billionaire in hip-hop showed his business skills when he sold his shares in the champagne company Armand de Brignac and the music streaming service Tidal in 2021.
$270 million Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
The Rock is one of the few actors on the list this year. He only made about a quarter of his money from movies like Red Notice and Jungle Cruise. Instead, the majority of his Jumanji-sized paycheck came from his popular tequila brand, Teremana.
$235 million Kanye West
The multi-year contract to create the Yeezy sneakers for Adidas is now where the wealthy rapper-producer makes the majority of his money.
His first Yeezys created just for the Gap—a sweatshirt and jacket—arrived last year and sold out very quickly.
However, the 52-year-old brand is apparently dissatisfied with the slow rollout and wants more.
$210 million for Matt Stone and Trey Parker.
Shocking.
Hilarious.
and affordable to produce.
The people who made South Park also run a small business that makes more than $80 million a year. In August, they signed a six-year, $900 million deal with Paramount+.
Paul Simon, $200,000,000
For almost $250 million, the folk rock singer sold Sony Music Publishing hundreds of song compositions, including “Mrs. Robinson,” “59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy),” and “The Sound of Silence.”
$165 million Tyler Perry
The billionaire creator and actor, who is also an actor, is bringing back the Madea franchise that made him famous. However, everything he built around it, from a multi-year production deal with BET to the 330 acre production studio he works out of in Atlanta, is what generates the majority of his income.
$160,000,000 for Ryan Tedder
The OneRepublic frontman has written successful songs for Beyoncé, Adele, and Ed Sheeran, in addition to the more than 500 songs he has written for his own band.
In January, he sold a portion of the catalogue to the financial company KKR.
$130 million Bob Dylan
The 80-year-old Nobel winner sold Sony his current and any future recordings for $150 million in July.
After rumours that he would sell all of his books to Universal for $400 million in 2020, that is what happened.
$116 million The Red Hot Chili Peppers
music investment fund in London
In May, Hipgnosis purchased the discography of the California rock band, which featured hits like “Californication.”
$115 million Reese Witherspoon
The Big Little Lies star still owns a part in the female-focused production business Hello Sunshine, which she sold to private equity firm Blackstone in August for a valuation of $900 million.
Also, the actress made an estimated $20 million from the 10 episodes of The Morning Show’s second season.
Chuck Lorre’s: $100,000,000
The go-o man at Warner Bros. TV continues to make tens of millions of dollars a year from the syndication of popular shows like The Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men, but he hasn’t been sitting around.
The showrunner is currently in charge of four sitcoms as well as the Netflix series The Kominsky Method.
$90 million Sean “Diddy” Combs
The young magnate told Forbes in 1999: “I ain’t foolin’ about, I’m developing assets,” and he wasn’t joking.
He still owns the brands he was building at the time, like Bad Boy Records and the Sean Jean clothing line, which he just bought back. However, the majority of his income now comes from the Ciroc vodka brand.
$86,000,000 for Dick Wolf
Dun-dun!
Wolf’s Law & Order series has been entertaining crime fans for 32 years with a mix of new episodes (like “Organized Crime”) and reruns (like “Special Victims Unit”), all while making money thanks to a profit-sharing deal with Universal Television that most producers would kill for.
$85,000 for Howard Stern
15 years ago, the self-styled “king of all media” switched from radio to SiriusXM satellite.
The former “shock jock” on the radio made a new deal with SiriusXM for a five-year, $500 million deal in 2020.
$82 million Kevin Bright, Marta Kauffman, and David Crane.
When the ensemble of the iconic 1990s sitcom was brought together for a reunion episode on HBO Max, the showrunners behind it briefly reappeared.
With an agreement on the streamer that secured the chuckles for $425 million, the trio has continued to make money.
$81 million Shonda Rhimes
When the Bridgerton producer joined Netflix in 2017, she was placing a risk on herself. She then dazzled the company’s management with one of the pandemic series’ most talked-about releases.
She signed up for Netflix again in July, and she is still getting a lot of money from Grey’s Anatomy residuals from ABC.
Neil Young: $80 million
Young instructed Spotify to choose between him and Joe Rogan in January, a year after he gave the investment firm Hipgnosis the music rights to his songs. Rogan is accused of spreading false information about
His music was pulled by the streaming service.
$75,000,000 for Greg Berlanti
Although the showrunner is well-known for his CW hits like Riverdale, the majority of his revenue comes from a six-year production deal with Netflix for series like the psychological thriller You.
$73 million Lindsey Buckingham
The legendary guitarist for Fleetwood Mac sold his publishing library to Hipgnosis in London in January 2021, amassing a lifetime’s worth of successes like “Go Your Own Way,” “The Chain,” and “Tusk.”
$72,000,000 Mötley Crüe
The music rights to tracks like “Kickstart My Heart,” “Dr. Feelgood,” and “Girls, Girls, Girls” from the 1980s heavy metal band’s nine studio albums were sold to music rights holder BMG. The band was likely more famous for their hedonism and outrageous hair than for their music.
$64,000,000 Beach Boys
In February 2021, the founding members of Surf Rock sold a majority stake in their intellectual property to renowned music mogul Irving Azoff.
$55 million for Blake Shelton.
The country singer sold the rights to all of his albums in 2021, but his next big break came from TV. He reportedly made $13 million as a coach on The Voice and $14.5 million from a 15-city tour.
$52 million for Taylor Swift?
By rewriting and releasing songs that Scooter Braun had sold without her permission in 2020, the 32-year-old songwriter converted her resentment into money. She also made money from expensive endorsement deals with Peloton and Starbucks.
Figures indicate pretax earnings for 2021 minus management, legal, and/or agency fees and/or business operational expenses.
Data from Nielsen BookScan, MRC Data, Pollstar, IMDBPro, and Variety Insight are some of the sources used, in addition to interviews with agents, lawyers, managers, executives, and business professionals.