The music industry is one of the largest money making machines in the world, creating around $15 billion in revenue each year alone. But who gets the biggest cut of this revenue stream and how successful are these bands really?
To make a successful band or popstar requires talent, vocal range, the best songs and songwriters to get the number one hits – plus, most importantly, a gap in the market for these artists to draw in fans and get people to buy their records. But the problem is with gaps in the market for new artists dwindling, many artists have to compete hard against each other to get their slice of the million dollar record industry pie.
Marbella Rocks has been digging around to find out who are the most successful acts in the world, pitting similar stars against each other. Welcome to our Battle of the Bands competition – where we find the winner in each category.
R&B DIVAS
BEYONCE V´s RIHANNA
BEYONCE
Beyonce burst into the music industry in 1997 at the age of 16 with R&B girl group Destiny´s Child. By 2003 she had gone solo with debut album Dangerously in Love selling 11 million copies and scooping her 5 Grammies, a record for a solo artist of that time. Tying up with rapper Jay Z in the same year with hit Crazy in Love saw the start of a professional and romantic relationship that has earnt the duo millions. She also coined the phrase “Bootylicious” which made the Oxford English Dictionary in 2006.
NET WORTH: $536 million
NUMBER 1 SINGLES: 5
NUMBER 1 ALBUMS: 2
YOU TUBE: 293m views for Drunken Love
VOCAL RANGE: 3.6 Octaves
MUSIC AWARDS WON: 178
COLUMN INCHES: 7/10
ROCKS RATING: *****
RIHANNA
Bajan beauty Rihanna, originally spotted by Beyonce´s husband Jay Z and signed to his Def Jam label in 2004, has come on leaps and bounds in the last 11 years. She has collaborated with the world´s biggest artists and appeared on the front cover of every glossy magazine going. Her tempestuous personal life with links to bad boy rappers such as Chris Brown and Drake as well as Hollywood royalty including current squeeze Leonardo DiCaprio has made sure she is always in the press limelight.
NET WORTH: $120 million
NUMBER 1 SINGLES: 8
NUMBER 1 ALBUMS: 2
YOU TUBE: 583m views for Diamonds
VOCAL RANGE: 3 Octaves
MUSIC AWARDS WON: 137
COLUMN INCHES: 8/10
ROCKS RATING: ****
WINNER: Beyonce for her staggering $536 million fortune and tie-up with rapper husband Jay Z. She also beats Rihanna in album sales and technically has a better voice, surpassing her rival by 0.6 octaves. Although give Rihanna another 10 years and she could be snatching the R&B Queen crown from Beyonce, who has an 8-year career head start on her younger rival.
POP PRINCESSES
TAYLOR SWIFT V´s KATY PERRY
TAYLOR SWIFT
Originally a country and western singer when she branched out at 14, US born Taylor Swift has turned into a mainstream pop producer and at only 25, she has the top-selling album of the year so far,1989, and still writes or co-writes all of her songs. Elsewhere, Taylor has had a turbulent love life with relationships with John Mayer, Jake Gyllenhaal, Harry Styles and Calvin Harris ensuring she is always making headlines. Plus her long-term bitter feud with Katy Perry has made this country-turned-pop singer all the more newsworthy.
NET WORTH: $200 million
NUMBER 1 SINGLES: 7
NUMBER 1 ALBUMS: 4
YOU TUBE VIEWS: 937m for Blank Space
VOCAL RANGE: 3.2 Octaves
MUSIC AWARDS WON: 281
COLUMN INCHES: 9/10
ROCKS RATING: ****
KATY PERRY
Katy Perry burst onto the pop music scene in 2008 with the attention-grabbing track I Kissed a Girl. Known for her racy costumes and chameleon hair-do´s Katy Perry has also made headlines for her brief marriage to English actor and comedian Russell Brand. Her most poignant battle to date has been with rival Taylor Swift. The bad blood between these two girls goes back a few years and stems from Taylor singing about Perry in track, Bad Blood, where she calls her two-faced. Katy responded with cutting remarks in her latest track,1984. Ouch!
NET WORTH: $130 million
NUMBER 1 SINGLES: 8
NUMBER 1 ALBUMS: 3
YOU TUBE VIEWS: 989m for Dark Horse
VOCAL RANGE: 3 Octaves, 3 notes and a semi-tone
MUSIC AWARDS WON: 131
COLUMN INCHES: 8/10
ROCKS RATING: ****
WINNER: Despite Katy´s attempt to overthrow Taylor Swift with jibes in new track 1984, Taylor (who self-penned the album1989 first) has beaten her slightly older predecessor in our Battle of The Bands – Pop Princess round. Taylor has amassed a fortune €70m higher and 150 more record industry accolades to her name, including 7 Grammys. Perry has been nominated for 13 Grammys and has not won any to date.
CONTROVERSY QUEENS
LADY GAGA V´s MADONNA
LADY GAGA
Risque and out there, Lady Gaga is a modern day pop icon that is as well known for her outrageous costumes as she is her music. From her first number one hit Poker Face in 2008 Gaga has managed to entertain and shock the world with ensembles created from raw meat, Kermit the frogs, ice queen crown and a nuns outfit (mirroring Madonna´s Like A Virgin costume).
NET WORTH: $230 million
NUMBER 1 SINGLES: 6
NUMBER 1 ALBUMS: 3
YOU TUBE VIEWS: 626m Bad Romance
VOCAL RANGE: 2.7 Octaves
MUSIC AWARDS WON: 117
ROCKS RATING: ****
MADONNA
Also known for her outrageous lyrics and costumes, Madonna burst onto the music scene in 1983 with Holiday and then controversial hitmaker Like A Virgin in 1984, catapulting her into the mainstream. Her career, still going strong, spans four decades and encompasses every music genre possible. Known for her ability to reinvent herself she has recently worked with the likes of house impressarios, Fedde Le Grand and Junior Sanchez, on new mixes of, Bitch I´m Madonna.
NET WORTH: $800 million
NUMBER 1 SINGLES: 13
NUMBER 1 ALBUMS: 12
YOU TUBE VIEWS: 61m for Hung Up
VOCAL RANGE: 3 Octaves, 2 Notes
MUSIC AWARDS WON: 280
ROCKS RATING: *****
WINNER: Her Madgesty Madonna wins this battle hands down with a whopping $800 million fortune, higher vocal range and more number ones. Gaga won´t mind missing out on this as she has long said Madonna is her idol!
SIXTIES LEGENDS
THE BEATLES
The Beatles are widely considered as the first and original boyband. Formed in 1960 in Liverpool; John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr made up the band. They acquired the nickname “The Fab Four” as Beatlemania grew in Britain and by early 1964 they had become international stars, leading the British Invasion of the United States pop market. Their career spanned two decades before Lennon was killed in 1980. They remain one of the most successful pop bands ever with 17 number one singles and 12 number one albums.
NET WORTH: $1.2bn (Paul McCartney)
NUMBER 1 SINGLES: 17
NUMBER 1 ALBUMS: 12
VOCAL RANGE: Paul McCartney 3.5 Octaves
MUSIC AWARDS WON: 130
ROCKS RATING: *****
THE ROLLING STONES
The Stones pioneered the gritty rock and roll sound of the 60´s that has spawned countless imitations over the years. Mick Jagger became the prototypical rock frontman and the Stones hardened rock image (with Keith Richards, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts also at the helm) was the exact opposite of their squeaky clean Merseyside rivals, The Beatles. Songs like Satisfaction, Get Off My Cloud and Let´s Spend the Night Together made them the archetypal anti-boyband of the time. It was noted that any parent would hate their daughter to date a Stone!
NET WORTH: $360 million (Mick Jagger)
NUMBER 1 SINGLES: 8
NUMBER 1 ALBUMS: 11
VOCAL RANGE: 3 Octaves, 2 Notes
MUSIC AWARDS WON: 32
ROCKS RATING: *****
DRAW – One of the earliest and longest running battles in pop history has to be between these two 60´s power players. Anyone in the sixties fell into 2 categories; Mods (for Beatles) and Rockers (for Stones), so it is difficult to gauge an out and out winner as digital statistics are not readily available and the winner totally depends on an individual´s musical preference. Plus only fortunes amassed from lead singers can be calculated.
SUPERSTAR DJ´S
CALVIN HARRIS V´s DAVID GUETTA
CALVIN HARRIS
Scottish singer-songwriter, DJ and producer Calvin Harris has gone from creating tracks on his keyboard to the highest heights of fame, producing tracks with some of the biggest names in pop and dance music such as Rihanna, Dizee Rascal, Tinie Tempah and Ellie Goulding. His catchy beats and uplifting tracks including So Close, Summer and Ready for the Weekend have made him a global star. He has dated the likes of Rita Ora and Taylor Swift.
NET WORTH: $110 million
NUMBER 1 SINGLES: 7
NUMBER 1 ALBUMS: 2
YOU TUBE VIEWS: 495m for Summer
MUSIC AWARDS WON: 22
COLUMN INCHES: 8/10
ROCKS RATING: *****
DAVID GUETTA
Electronic DJ and producer David Guetta originally began playing in nightclubs as a teenager in Paris. In the last 20 years of DJing and producing he has worked alongside Rihanna, Akon, Kelly Rowland and 50 Cent. He regularly performs sell-out gigs around the world and has recently divorced his wife Cathy after 22 years of marriage, reportedly having to split his vast fortune with her.
NET WORTH: $60 million
NUMBER 1 SINGLES: 6
NUMBER 1 ALBUMS: 2
YOU TUBE VIEWS: 349m for Play Hard
MUSIC AWARDS WON: 18
COLUMN INCHES: 6/10
ROCKS RATING: *****
WINNER: The superstar DJ and recent Glamour “Man of the Year” Calvin Harris wins by amassing a fortune that almost doubles Guettas. Plus he´s pipped him on number 1 singles, albums and column inches, thanks to his heavily publicised love life with a bevvy of internationally renowned beauties, the latest being our pop princess winner Taylor Swift.
