THE BREAKDOWN: The Top-Selling Music Artists of 2010 Revealed
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Who did you get your groove on with this year? Was it the soul-bearing ballads of Taylor Swift? Or the toe-tapping Justin Bieber tunes? We look back on the musical year to see who were the top earners of 2010!
While Lady Gaga gets a lot of press for her wild ensembles, she's clearly getting some love for her musical talents too, raking in a reported $62 million this year alone.
"Whether it was the success of two of her albums, whether it was a series of singles that connected or even her smash tour -- which was selling out arenas all over the country and planet really -- Gaga was larger than life in 2010," Bill Werde, Editorial Director of Billboard magazine, tells ET.
Taylor Swift wasn't far behind, with an estimated net worth of $45 million.
"I don't think it's happened before that an artist on the Billboard charts at the year end was number one last year and number two this year," Werde says. "And generally artists kind of come and go with their album cycles. So they'll have one big year and then they'll go away for a couple of years. Someone didn't give the Taylor the memo."
Meanwhile, teen singing sensation Justin Bieber is becoming a heavyweight player in the music world, reportedly making $300,000 - $400,000 per concert!
"I think there were people who thought he was just a lightweight teen phenomenon, but when you start selling albums at the clip he's selling them and selling out shows at the clip he was selling them out, you start to understand the power of it," he says.
"Teenage Dream" singer Katy Perry is worth an estimated $15 million and was the first female artist in 11 years to have three number one songs from one album and her good friend Rihanna is also going strong.
"She's just back in that groove where people expect that Rihanna's going to release good, dancy, upbeat songs," Werde says. "She's a confident woman and that's where she should be. That's where she was when she was at her peak and it's where she is again."
