This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Artist News Business News Industry People Media
Music’s richest announced
By CMU Editorial | Published on Thursday 5 May 2011
The Sunday Times has published its annual list of the richest people in the UK music industry, which, as usual, is chock full of moguls and aging musicians. Also as usual, the top ten is made up entirely of men.
Co-founder of the Zomba Group, Clive Calder – who made his fortune by selling the Zomba/Jive labels to BMG for mega-bucks before record industry gloom started to set in – tops the list, thanks to his shrewd strategy of not using his £1.3billion fortune to buy another major music company, despite that often being rumoured.
And at the other end of the top ten, Simon Cowell makes his first appearance, climbing up from number eleven last year. The jump comes as he amassed an extra £35 million in the last twelve months.
The full top ten is as follows:
1 Clive Calder (£1.3bn)
2 Andrew Lloyd Webber (£680m)
3 Cameron Mackintosh (£675m)
4 Paul McCartney (£495m)
5 Simon Fuller (£375m)
6 Simon Cowell (£200m)
7 Elton John (£195m)
8 Mick Jagger (£190m)
9 Sting (£180m)
10 Keith Richards (£175m)
At number twelve in the list are David and Victoria Beckham, neither of whom are involved in music as far as I remember. Also lumped together are George Harrison’s widow Olivia and son Dhani, who replace Simon Cowell at eleven, Barry and Robin Gibb and 21, and Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne at 24. You’ll find only two women in the top 50, ‘Mamma Mia!’ producer Judy Cramer at 38 and Kylie Minogue at 47.
The list of young music millionaires is far less male-dominated, topped this year by Katherine Jenkins, who ousts last year’s joint richest music industry figures under 30 years old: Leona Lewis and Charlotte Church. Lewis is now joint second with Cheryl Cole and Katie Melua, while Church is down to six.
Here’s that list in full:
1 Katherine Jenkins (£13m)
2 Cheryl Cole (£12m)
2 Leona Lewis (£12m)
2 Katie Melua (£12m)
5 Joss Stone (£9m)
6 Charlotte Church (£8m)
6 Craig David (£8m)
8 Paolo Nutini (£7m)
9 Adele (£6m)
9 Lily Allen (£6m)
9 Natasha Bedingfield (£6m)
9 Duffy (£6m)
9 Amy Winehouse (£6m)
14 Nadine Coyle (£5m)
14 Taio Cruz (£5m)
14 Sarah Harding (£5m)
