Neil Hughes
Apple employee, rapper and producer Dr. Dre made an estimated $620 million before taxes this year, making him not only the top earning musician of 2014, but also the highest paid musician in a single year in history.
The rankings released this week by Forbes show Dr. Dre as far and away the No. 1 earner of 2014, earning more than a half-billion dollars more than the second-place earner, Beyonce. In fact, the top ten earners brought in $1.4 billion in pretax earnings last year, with nearly half of that from Dr. Dre alone.
Of course, the bulk of Dr. Dre's earnings didn't come from recording, performing or producing music, but instead from his entrepreneurial side — Â specifically, the $3 billion sale of the company he co-founded, Beats, to Apple in May.
While Forbes didn't break down how much the Beats sale contributed to his 2014 earnings, it did specify that Dr. Dre's particularly lucrative year was "thanks largely to that deal." Apple's buyout of Beats also allowed Dr. Dre to make more in one year than any musician ever has in history.
Others on this year's list were legacy acts The Eagles ($100 million), Bon Jovi ($82 million) and Bruce Springsteen ($81 million). The only acts under age 30 to make the top 10 were Justin Bieber ($80 million) and One Direction ($75 million).
Before the Beats purchase was officially announced, Dr. Dre and performer Tyrese posted a video of themselves in the studio celebrating Dr. Dre as "the first billionaire in hip-hop." After the deal became official, Dr. Dre made a cameo appearance during Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference Keynote in June, participating in a phone call with software chief Craig Federighi.
Some industry watchers believe Dr.Dre and his Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine were the main targets for Apple in the Beats acquisition. With Iovine's storied background in the music business and Dre's "cool factor," the pair could rejuvenate Apple's iTunes, which is seeing increased pressure from streaming radio services like Pandora and Spotify.
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65 Comments
Of course, after taxes is a whole different ballgame.
This very handily illustrates that musicians who rely on music sales for income are not going to do as well as those who are fully involved in every aspect of their career. Practical business knowledge goes a long way in every industry.
Can't wait to see what he does with it.
Dre is a smart business person and has given a bit back to the community.
Not sure what "Dre's" title was at Beats. But I doubt it's "musician." And Apple didn't pay for his music. They paid for a company machine. Kind of an unfair accolade compared to others making their money as musicians. Sure he made some money as a producer. But that's not What Apple bought. And "Beats technology" is basically one mans preferred EQ setting. Hopefully the curation lives up to Cook's expectations and the subscription model is sound
This is stretching it. Warren Buffett plays the banjo, where does he rank?
This (and the Apple Beats deal) is actually a very cool thing. Not only was it a smart business move (Apple got a great, profitable company; Dre got a lot of money and a great partnership), but the fact that Apple (who in the eyes of many is associated with the upper middle class and wealthy) was readily willing to validate the work and reputation of Dr Dre (to the tune of $3.2B) will be seen by many as a meaningful gesture of inclusion and alignment with urban culture (and the, largely lower class, population that is part of it). This is not only a great business move on Apple's part, but will also, I believe, play a small part in folding urban culture into the broader American culture. There is a substantial disparity, and an even bigger perceived disparity, between these two aspects of American culture (which most Americans are blissfully unaware of), which is a substantial contributor to the fact that America is #1 in the world in the rate of child abuse, per capita prison population, and teen pregnancy. Anything that can reduce this disparity (or even the perception of disparity) would do a lot of good,* and I congratulate Apple for making this move, regardless of the intentions. (I realize I sound like a hippy, but I'm really not). To preempt the invariable criticism of Dr Dre and rap in general, yes, there are some bad (some very, very bad) aspects of it, some of which Dr Dre participated in, but the way to address it is not to dismissively criticize from a distance, but to engage, and that's exactly what Apple is doing. I intend to follow Apple's example. But for those of you just chomping at the bit to make flippant comments about rap music, please save it for getoffmylawninsider. *I believe there's a prolific poster on here (BF) that has in his sig the following quote, which I think applies to the Apple Beats partnership: "If the young are not initiated into the village, they will burn it down just to feel its warmth"