How Drake Earned More Than Dr. Dre In 2015

 
This year, Drake out-earned Dr. Dre by $6.5 million to bank $39.5 million and land in third on the Hip-Hop Cash Kings list of rap’s highest-earners just behind Diddy ($60 million) and Jay Z ($56 million). The Canadian bumped Dre’s $33 million payday to fourth place on the ranking from the first place spot he held in 2014.

Selling Beats to Apple AAPL -0.88% earned Dr. Dre $620 million to lead 2014′s Hip-Hop Cash Kings list. It was the top annual payday of any musician, ever. So how come Dre, who has a hit movie (Straight Outta Compton) and new album (Compton: The Soundtrack), earned less than the OVO impresario this year? Well, neither one of his recent projects came out within our June 2014 through June 2015 timeline, meaning that his only earnings this year relied on royalties and smaller Apple checks. Since Dre does not tour, he lacks the most significant money maker for active musicians. All told, his $620 million payday on last year’s list was a one-off and now that he’s sold his most valuable asset–Beats–Dre’s annual payday has returned to pre-Apple deal levels.
Drake, meanwhile, has an active touring schedule to thank for most of his haul. The Canadian has made every edition of the Hip-Hop Cash Kings list since his debut in 2010 and this year is no different, with a hit record and dozens of concerts to boot. His surprise album  If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late swiftly went gold following its February release and recently earned a platinum certification, despite allegations from fellow rapper Meek Mill that he has used a ghostwriter. Drake has had no problem since parlaying his album energy into several festival headlining spots, which made up a chunk of his change. The former child star also supplements his income with hefty endorsements for Sprite and Nike.
“That’s pretty much my objective every year,” Drake once said of making the FORBES list. “Other than making good music.”
To formulate the Hip-Hop Cash Kings list, we consider pretax income from touring, record sales, streaming, publishing, merchandise sales, endorsements and other business ventures. Management, agent and attorney fees are not deducted. Earnings are calculated from June 2014 to June 2015 and based on data from Nielsen SoundScan, Pollstar, the RIAA and from interviews with managers, lawyers, executives and a handful of the artists themselves.