Taylor Swift Highest Paid Musician in 2015

Singer Taylor Swift performs onstage during The 58th GRAMMY Awards at Staples Center on February 15, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

Taylor Swift is 2015’s highest paid musician with $73.5 million.

Billboard released its annual list of top earners which ranks musicians’ earnings in 2015. Despite Adele selling 16.3 million copies of her third album, “25,” other factors needed to be considered in terms of total earnings, including publishing and streaming. However, touring proved to be the true moneymaker for musicians as album sales continue to decline.

Swift’s popular 1989 Tour accounted for 84 percent of the “Bad Blood” singer’s total revenue, where she earned $61.7 million. She also made $4.1 million in publishing and sold 7.2 million copies of her Grammy winning album, “1989.”

Below are the top five artists who almost gave Swift competition.

Kenny Chesney earned $38.1 in touring and sold 1.1 million copies of his 16th studio album, “The Big Revival” and finished in second place with an earning of $39.8 million.

Recording artist Kenny Chesney performs onstage during the 51st Academy of Country Music Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on April 3, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Number three on the list is legendary rock group The Rolling Stones, who are still selling out stadiums—the group made a total of $37.3 million playing around the country. The Stones earned $39.6 million in total revenue for 2015.

Ronnie Wood (L) Mick Jagger (C) and Keith Richards (R) on stage as The Rolling Stones perform live at Mt Smart Stadium on November 22, 2014 in Auckland, New Zealand. (Fiona Goodall/Getty Images)

Coming in at No. 4 is Billy Joel who earned 95 percent of his $31.7 million in earnings from touring. He earned $30.1 million in touring and $453,200 in publishing. 

Billy Joel performs at Madison Square Garden on January 7, 2016 in New York City. (Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images)

Rounding out the top five is 2014’s top earners, One Direction with $24.2 million. The U.K.-based boy band made $19.6 million from the On the Road Again Tour and sold 3.1 million copies of their latest album.

(L-R) Singers Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson of One Direction perform onstage during 102.7 KIIS FM’s Jingle Ball 2015 Presented by Capital One at STAPLES CENTER on December 4, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images for iHeartMedia)

Click here to see where Adele landed and who else made the list.