A report from Billboard has revealed the highest-paid musicians and artists of 2020, and many of Hip-Hop’s favorites are topping the list.
Amid a year with very little touring due to the pandemic, some of the biggest names in the music industry still managed to come out on top of Billboard’s 2020 Money Makers list bringing in millions and millions of dollars.
“For the first time in the history of Money Makers, concert revenue did not determine the No. 1 spot on the list — and because of the pandemic had little influence over the ranking in general,” Billboard reports.
The list of highest-paid artists was created based on data from the 2020 U.S.-only MRC Data and Billboard Boxscore statistics. The methodology mostly accounted for artists’ streaming and publishing, leaving off revenue from merchandising, synchronization or livestream gigs.
Hip-Hop acts like Drake, YoungBoy Never Broke Again, Lil Baby, Lil Uzi Vert, DaBaby, Future, Roddy Ricch, Rod Wave, Kanye West and Travis Scott all placed rank on the list. The Weeknd also appeared on the list at No. 11 with $10.4 million.
According to Billboard, this year’s list of highest-paid musicians sees more inclusion of Hip-Hop artists than ever before with Drake coming in at No. 6 with $14.2 million, YoungBoy Never Broke Again appearing for the first time at No. 9 with $11.9 million — making $10 million off streaming alone — and Lil Baby taking the 10th spot with $11.7 million.
The pandemic almost turned the music industry upside, but streaming became its saving grace with that becoming the source of many artists’ revenue and performance outlets with platforms like Verzuz rising to the occasion.
The nostalgic live streaming platform has quickly become the biggest phenomenon in music most recently, providing a space to give artists their flowers and entertain fans around the world. Since officially launching last year early in the pandemic, Verzuz has secured partnerships with major brands such as Apple Music, Ciroc, Peloton, Doritos and most notably, Triller through an acquisition deal.
Streaming in the music industry isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, but as touring ramps back up, it will give artists a chance to make up for money lost over the last year-plus.
Check out Billboard’s entire 2020 Money Makers list here.