Why do some musicians make billions while many others struggle to pay rent?
- On the Money Magazine
- Jul 30
- 2 min read
Jacob Goroff, Freshman, The University of Miami Florida, Summer 2024
Taylor Swift is a 34-year-old billionaire. She is everywhere. You would be hard-pressed to find a random American who doesn’t recognize her name. Yet, despite that, the average musician makes $48,459 a year (Salary.com, 2024). That is $15,336 less than the average U.S. salary of $63,795. Taylor Swift has 99.6 million Spotify listeners a month, 78.4% of Spotify musicians have less than 50 monthly listeners (Peleg, 2024). Why is there such a sharp divide between the popularity and wealth of the average musician vs Taylor Swift?
One theory is called the Pareto Distribution, also known as the “80-20 Rule”, a modeling system in which a few (20%) control the majority (80%) (Haley, 2025). This would mean that a few artists tend to get most of the attention, regardless of industry. Perhaps the popularity of Taylor Swift is just a consequence of psychology in which humans give most of their attention to the few rather than the many. Jim DeRogatis is a music critic who hosts SoundOpinions and a popular NPR show where they discuss trends in the music world. DeRogatis said, “Just like in Hollywood, you have a few studios that control”. A few record labels, radio stations, and now streaming services can have big effects on how many people listen to music.
Taylor is also a big personality and tends to write about her life in her songs, to which many can relate. According to Michael Berg, an influential entrepreneur, partner, and brand manager in the music industry, “The artists that have the ability to exemplify their humanity so people can connect to them are the ones that seem to have long-standing careers”. Authenticity can help artists go a long way.
There are a lot of reasons why a few musicians receive most of the income and popularity in the music industry. Humans have the psychological tendency to give a lot of our attention to the few rather than the many. Record labels, online platforms, and radio stations are dictating the popularity of artists. Authenticity and artists’ branding have large impacts on artists’ popularity and wealth in the music industry. Artists can have a lot of control over their success. But, a lot of their prosperity lies in the hands of others and factors outside of their control.
Sources:
Interviews:
NPR Co-Host of Sound-Opinion, Jim DeRogatis
Founder of Hulaween Music Festival, Michael Berg
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