Taylor Swift Top 5 Earner '09 $18 Million

Taylor Swift jumped to the number four spot on Forbes magazine's list of estimated top earners in country music for 2009. Selling more than 4 million CDs last year made her the best-selling solo artist of 2008. Article from Yahoo:

Taylor made the list, which the business journal puts together by calculating estimates on grosses, merchandise revenue, album sales, and income from endorsement and licensing deals.

With an estimated take-in of $18 million for '09, she ranks behind only Kenny Chesney ($65 million), Rascal Flatts ($60 million) and Toby Keith ($52 million). What is surprising is the fact that Swift has so quickly crashed through the cowboy hat that is Nashville's version of the proverbial glass ceiling.

Since the average ticket for a country concert cost far less than comparable acts in rock or pop, the genre is a bit less susceptible to sharp declines in its overall popularity. And those endorsement and merchandising deals, which Taylor's only first getting a bronco-busting like handle on, are another reason.

And, barring undue influence of friends like Miley Cyrus, as long as she can keep the diva demons away, Taylor just might just keep reshaping the moneymaking side of country music's good ol' boy network.

wow! good for her!