[2005] who do you think is the richest singer(s)?
 

who do you think is the richest singer/group (counting album sales, single sales, endorsements) and why do you think so

you can list them if you cant decide between 2-3 singers

I think Ms. Hamasaki most likely commands the highest salary of all those listed. However, this may not be the case, because Avex is notorious for its poor management (though she's managed through AXEV and I don't know much about their record [they do most of the management for the front-liners.])

I would say that BoA probably makes an okay salary, but because she's based out of SM Entertainment and Korea's economy lags behind Japan, she likely cannot compare to a Japanese artist. She's probably making great money comparable to the other artists, but not if we just look at her yearly gross.

BoA, she's got all 3 markets. Admittedly Ayu has wide spread fame over asia aswell, but BoA concentrated on each market individually

hehe, Korean album's are only $10; no profit there :P

I think Ayu is the richest of all. Just alot of royalties. Damn.. #30 in japan, it won't get much better.

Its Hikki I mean come on she sells on Ayu

Well Ayu releases things with a good frequency and they sell decently, mixed with touring for a large part of the year, many tie-ins, her clothing label, and the (now kinda defunct) Ayupan & merchandising, I think she makes the most. Most other artists don't have all the extra stuff that she has her name connected with. When I was in Shibuya 109 the Material Girl store seemed pretty busy, and everything's is pretty high priced, so I figure she makes a nice amount from that.

This isn't something you need to guess about, at least for the Japanese singers. In a few months the Japanese income tax filings will be disclosed, and from that the geinou papers extrapolate each singer's income.

hmm, I voted hamasaki. probably wrong. at least she's not poor. ;)

Most probably Ayu... if it's not her it's Hikki

http://imdb.com/name/nm0357354/bio
"Is currently the highest earning entertainer in Japan (2002)".
Even though that was three years ago, I still thinks it's Ayu.

hehe there is no doubt about it, it is ayu!

Hikki is the richest ... She sold more than 2o Million Albums and over 1o Million Singles ... She was the top Selling Artist every year (not 2oo3) and she earned the most money in Year 2ooo, 2oo1 and 2oo4 for her NINTENDO and SONY Ads ...

She earned more than 1o Million $ last year, just for her Music ...

And i think she earned sooo much money for her Exodus Album! :-)

I'm not trying to be bias, but definitely AYU. Just look at her past records and her discography. She has released more than 40 CDs and all of them sold pretty well. Not to mention all her records hit the milllion marks.

I would say Utada too since she had released 4 albums and quite an amount of singles/DVDs/concerts and alot of commercials.

Her chinese really cant make it so just strike china off...
And even if she have 3 markets ayu have them too ^^
My story sells real good in singapore too considering a japanese singer to sell over 10,000 copies of CD in sg (yea...a very small country)

Me thinks it's ayu. Boa is going down a little esp after the NHK price tag thing. Kinki kids may stand a chance too so meyb they are 2nd?

definately ayumi hamasaki. she's the only one i know who can have like 4 different covers for one cd (her story)! doubt there are many others who can pull off such a stunt. she's v well known and even her wax figure is displayed at mdm tussard. she is v well marketed and she also appears in many advertisements!

all of her concerts have been in japan alone (ey,, right?). she doesn't need to go elsewhere and her fans are worldwide.

of course its ayumi hamasaki, why do you think shes the jpop queen

Ayu or Hikki, I think.

I think hikki and ayu, but Orange Range are getting pretty popular now so they could be the highest earning band/group or whatever

I was going to vote for Madonna before entering to the topic... :mini:

I think Hikki is the richest singer... she always earns tons of money after she releases a new album/single in japan... :rolleyes

Has to be Hikki.

kinki kids- they r from JE. the agency takes most of the $.
MM- same as kinki kids
mika, namie- they dont sell much
BoA- altho she has 3 markets, she doesnt sell much in korea, n plus SM (her agency) also takes most of the $.
ken hirai- he could b 1 of the higher paid 1s, since he composes etc. but i dont think hes the richest.
OR- they r really big, but they have to split it w/5 ppl; so each person doesnt get that much

btwn ayu n hikki, its got to b hikki. y? the difference is that hikki gets $ from copyright fees n ayu doesnt. whenever a hikki song is being played on radio or w/e, $ flows into hikki's pocket. whereas for ayu, that $ goes to avex. also, hikki produces her music. which would give her sum of the profits. last yr, it was hikki too.

so the order would probably b sumthing like this:
1. hikki
2. ayu
3. hirai ken
4. BoA
5. OR

Where's SMAP? I bet my house they're the richest.

I think Hikki and Ayu have the same amount of money.

Ayu release LOTS of singles (most of them sell strongly) and LOTS of albums (sell strongly too), do arena tours every year and do some CMs.

But Hikki sold HUGE quantities of all of her albums, but she don't release much. But only with her few albums and singles she does as much as Ayu. She don't tour often, but she was the third most-expensive person in Japan to do commercials, so lots of $$ from that.

Ken Hirai must be pretty rich too, he's been selling strongly years before Ayu or Hikki. And by the way, he's known as the KING OF JPOP.

KinKi Kids also get LOTS of money for doing commercial and they do LOTS of them, they're Johnny's [they pay VERY well for their idols, esp. the VERY popular ones like Kinki Kids], are always in doramas, do big dome tours every year and their albums and singles sell OK, so they must be pretty rich, too.

BoA probably has lots of money, but most of her money come from Japan, without a doubt. But her albums sold well and she does lots of CMs not just in Japan, but also in Korea and China, plus, she does big tours.

Morning Musume, as a group, are VERY VERY rich. In 2001 and 2002, Ayu paid over 1 billion in taxes and she was in 39th in the Top 50 tax-payers. Morning Musume were at 14th at the Top 50, so they were one of the richest persons in Japan (as a group).

So any one of them can be the most riches.

Namie Amuro does a good amount of money every year, but she's not one of the richest. The same for Mika (but she probably did lots of money this year with her BEST, her tour, Glamurous Sky and NANA). And Orange Range must be poor by know...

Morning Musume made more than her in 2002.

kuu? no kuu?
i voted for ayu thou

i think ayu..

ayumi!!!!!!! but b'z total record sales is more than hers..........

Wasen't there a list out at the end of 2004 listing ayumi hamasaki as the highest female earner in the japanese entertainment industry for that year?

:headache Can't find the source though... >_<

No, Utada Hikara was the highest female earner in 2004.

But anyway, being #1 on the list for some years doesn't mean she's the richest. Seiko Matsuda is never on the list (she don't sell since the 80s) but she's very rich and has one of the most glamourous houses in Japan.

I agree. :yes

Do you have the list? I can't find it anywhere >_<

heres the link:
http://www.sanspo.com/geino/top/gt20...005051704.html

i think usually its btwn B'z/hikki/ayu each yr. but for 2005, i doubt hikki will even make it onto the list.

as for SMAP/kinki kids, JE pays them very little, w/a fixed salary. but i think they get bonuses from like CM's, dramas n for SMAP X SMAP etc. tho. so that probably even sum things out

AYU!!
SHE cds and CONCERTS and material girl and Ayupan!!and commercial

I think Kuu still needs a looonnnnng way to go before being half as rich as Ayu.

JE DON'T pay Kinki Kids or SMAP very little AT ALL. And they don't get bonuses from CMs and dramas, this things are inclueded in their fixed salary. Obviously, more CM, bigger the salary. And SMAP have the most-watched variety show on TV and the three biggest tours (in attendency and how much money was made) in Japan history (their biggest one was last year), so I'm sure they get a good money.

But they're not talented, that's a fact.

k, searched around in the forum, n found the top 10 for males:
Masahiro Nakai (SMAP) - 513,350,000 ($4,842,925)
Koshi Inaba (B'z) - 481,780,000 ($4,545,094)
Eikichi Yazawa - 467,320,000 ($4,408,679)
Tak Matsumoto (B'z) - 355,720,000 ($3,355,849)
Keisuke Kuwata (Southern All Stars) - 328,510,000 ($3,099,151)
Kazutoshi Sakurai (Mr Children) - 315,290,000 ($2,974,434)
Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi - 292,780,000 ($2,762,075)
Fumiya Fujii - 282,210,000 ($2,662,358)
Takuya Kimura (SMAP) - 271,670,000 ($2,562,925)
Saburo Kitajima - 262,000,000 ($2,471,698)
edit: heres the link: http://www.ahsforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=30019

SMAP does get a lot of $. but i think the fundamental difference bwtn SMAP n Kinki Kids is that Kinki hasnt "graduated" from JE. ie: on the CDs etc. SMAP cds r produced/manufactured (w/e) by victor, T&T is avex. Kinki is still part of JE directly (their site is next to NEWS') as their cds r produced/manufactured by JE. so probably, once the group has "graduated", the less control over the group JE has- the more $ u will get. when u r part of JE directly (ie: the the younger bunch), the less money u will get. n SMAP does distance themselves from JE a lot as they dont even appear in the annual tokyo dome countdowns

There was an article in the ORICON Mag 2 years ago. Hikki has earned more than 1oo Million $ from 98 - 2003. Biggist selling Album, biggist Tour in Japan ever and so on.

Hikki is one of the 1oo richest Persons in Japan.

They don't appear because their concerts are the only oportunity to fans to see them live. But they're pretty close to JE, even their manager is from JE. Kinki Kids will never have independence from JE, because they releasing albums for over 10 years, I think.

She didn't have the biggest tour in Japan.

^mayb DeepRiver she had the biggest profit in the tour that year? i dunno, but i heard financially, her tour was pretty successful

Yes, I'm sure the tour was very succeful financially, but if she did the tour the same year as SMAP, then it wasn't the most profitable that year. Because her biggest tour was the usual Ayu arena tour schedula + Chiba Marine Stadium. Anyone who have a few concerts at Dome that year with tickets at 7,000 yens would have a bigger tour.

Is there even any contest? It would have to Ayumi Hamasaki. Her CD sales are insane, her concerts are massive (and I wouldn't be surprised if ticket sales sold out within minutes), and she endorses so many products. She's a mega-star! It has gotta be her.

^yes, there actually is a contest. they r SMAP/B'z/Hikki

Ayumi Hamasaki. I think Koda Kumi is very rich also.

i think it would e hikki, seriously she owns all rights and does most of all the production work on her songs. whenever her songs are being played she gets money for it and ayu doesnt do that... it doesnt matter so much about concerts... and hikki has been on the list for a couple of years....

She had this very very big BOHEMIAN SUMMER Tour in 2ooo. Every Ticket cost 1o.ooo Yen and were sold out in just 1 hour.

SMAP,Hikki,or ayu I guess...

It'd be Ayu (her endorsements must have made her rich like crazy, and all those single and album number ones? gotta get bonuses.)

UTADA (she's one of the few artists to own so many copyrights and such to actually get as much as an American entertainer)

or BoA because of her extensive reach throughout asia.

Morning Musume is probably the saddest groups i've ever seen. I mean, if I were Tsunku, I'd give them more. I give them credit for doing what they're doing. I love them, but the corporation are the ones that get the hugest cut, then gives the leftovers to them like an allowance most likely.

I think Ayumi... she's so popular and sells so many albums, as well as her merchandise ^^; I think Hikaru would be next, and Namie too... BoA is doing fairly well too, I think, but because China and Korea prices are lower (well, dollar is worth less) she doesn't make as much as Ayu does.

^ Really? I thought that Morning Musume would make more, since they have the Hello Project, there are soooo many people making and selling albums... they are so commercialized... ^^; But I still like them ^^;;

Yeah, Tsunku is one rich man. I think the payoffs go by generation, since they're senpai. I think Yossie would be getting maybe $100,000 a year, and Miki would probably receive more too since she was in Hello! a while too, may be $75,000. Gen. 5 may be 50K, and 6 with 30K. Koharu might be getting a little more than what she'd get if she wasn't by her self, may be 25K. But I know they make MUCH more than that. Overall, that's 480K for all the members.

It's probably Utada. As someone already said, she produces & writes all her music from home. So money that would of been spent renting out a recording studio would go straight to Hikki's pocket. I think she uses a studio just to record the final vocals and make the masters. Oh and I will scream if someone says "Oh but the record label will pay for the studio time so it doesn't matter" etc, the record label gives an artist like Utada or Ayu something like $2,000,000 to make an album & promote it. When that $2,000,000 is made back from sales and is shared between writers & producers (Utada would get most of it as she really does seem to create her albums from scratch) then the artist starts making money from the album after the people involved with the record have been paid for their work. So which is why Utada is probably the richest out of the two. Ayumi more than likely gets her money from touring and endorsements. (I know Ayu writes but she works with different producers, arrangers, etc)

I'm going to have to say Ayu..since she's been around for awhile and her popularity has been pretty steady over the course of her career.

the richest is probably the one with the biggest tours & most merchandise , since aren't all of those a bigger source of income than album sales ? commercial endorsements bring in money too. Ayu is at least among the richest.

I don't think the tax records tell the complete truth about how much the artists earn. Don't rich people usually have finacial planners & people like that employed to use all sorts of loop holes & possible tax write-offs & etc to pay the least amount of taxes possible ?

Ayu, but beside her I think it would be Utada.

actually i would say copyright fees are the biggest source of income.

must be ayu, because she has sold 44 million CDs worldwide, in addition to her concert and advertisement, a huge sum indeed =D

but don't the one who owns the songs get the copyright fees ? isn't it the record company who usually owns the songs ? It's very uncommon these days to actually own your own songs as an artist

I doubt it's Hikaru. True she outsells Ayu with each individual album release. True, she produces most of her stuff herself. However, her releasing pace is slow. I think that takes away a big part of the impact.

EDIT: why are SMAP and B'z not on the poll?

Utada.
You can't just pick Ayumi because she's your favorite.

From the ppn wiki: "In 2005, Utada was listed as the person who pays the most tax in Japan. This is the equivalent in Japan of the 'rich list' (as the amount of tax payed is roughly equivalent to the amount of money made) Star's actual incomes are kept secret, which is why the amount of taxes payed is used."
http://wiki.theppn.org/Utada_Hikaru#Other_Facts

Ayu and Hikaru!

Ayumi of coz... wif all tat mangazine covers, cds and endorsements... She's one material gal..

AYUMI!! NO.1 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:lech

Ayu, because she sells so much stuff, it's not just CDs and DVDs, its the advertisements, the Ayupan, the concert merchandise, etc. If it were just CDs and DVDs, then obviously Utada Hikaru, she's sold the most. But then again, Ayu has sold insane amounts on remix CDs, so Ayu makes up for it. So I guess if it were ONLY original albums and DVDs, Utada would win.

I beg to differ about Ayumi's sales sometimes they're not so good, now I still love her but I think Namie is the richest out of everyone on this list, mainly b/c of her older album/single releases.

i was reading a hk newspaper, and it said this celebrity jpn magazine, they did a list of the biggest celebrity taxpayers in japan since 1986. hikki came 8th with like 5billion yen in taxes. ayu didnt come in the top 10 i believe. yeah, its from a hk newspaper, but i dont think reporters can lie about info that can is easily available from the japanese gov't....

link: http://hk.news.yahoo.com/060418/12/1n2f7.html

I voted for Ms. Ayumi Hamasaki with the highest net worth compared to those other singers. She has so many albums, singles, etc. out and plus she's all super glamed up. Of course she's rich ^_^. Utada Hikaru would come in second.

Sorry for being a little late... and just to kinda add to this ^^;;

SMAP doesn't purposely distance themselves from JE. Back in 95-99 they still used to go to the JE sports events... but JE had to cut them out because they became so popular they would have to increase ticket prices by a lot AND most of the fans would be SMAP fans. And I don't think JE did the countdowns until 98-99 in which the same logic can be used.

def. ayu... i mean c'mon... ... panasonic CMs all her life.. companies pay millions to artists for endorse products... and also ayu is a top seller...

you know.. also the B'z... but just because they have been like 20 years around

I always thought it was Utada Hikaru, but if not her, then Ayu

i think it said somewhere that hikaru utada is one of the higest tax payers in all of japan--not just singers.

and i may not be the smartest fish in the pond, but if you pay the most taxes, you make the most money, no?

my guess would be ayumi as she release often singles/album does tours all over japan, appears in CM


as for the that changes all the time while ayumi may not be no.1 for a year that dont mean the years b4 she wasnt. atleast a few times and unlike hikaru. ayumi often release stuff..

example - hikaru,single/album lately havent sold that great. lets say with her coming in 9th place this year on higest tax payers would that make her Poor? when she top the list the years b4 ?

i don't think we will ever know how many million $$
Ayu
hikki
B'Z
Smap
ectz really have on their bank acounts

i know u only used as an example, but hikki doesn't even have to release anything and still get a lot of money cos hikki has ownership of the copyright to the songs she does, whereas ayu doesn't. selling cds is like just a bonus for hikki as copyright fees are huge. over the past 7-8 years that ayu/hikki have been in the industry, i think still think hikki has made more money than ayu.

don't ayu also have the copyrights?

unfortunately no. i read a thread from here that avex gets 100% of the copyrights

Sorry guys, party's over. Utada Hikaru is much richer than Ayu. And the richest singer is Komura Tetsuya.

From Dorama World:
Top 10 showbiz earners for past 20 years, From 1986 to 2005
Due to the privacy issue, the taxation authorities will no longer issue the ranking of the top income tax payers from this year onwards. Thus, some magazines have features by compiling data from past years. In this case, the following are the top 10 earners by calculating their income from 1986 to 2005.

1) Komuro Tetsuya
2) Ishibashi Takaaki (Tunnels)
3) Kuwata Keisuke (Southern All Stars)
4) Inaba Koshi (B'z)
5) Matsumoto Takahiro (B'z)
6) Matsumoto Hitoshi (Downtown)
7) Hamada Masatoshi (Downtown)
8) Utada Hikaru
9) Mori Shinichi
10) Nagabuchi Tsuyoshi

No Ayu on the list, just Hikki.

But Ayu is the 2nd in the Top 22 Richest Female Artists from 1995 to 2005.

1) Utada Hikaru
2) Hamasaki Ayumi
3) Matsu Takako
4) Iijima Naoko
5) Matsuda Seiko
6) Yoshida Miwa (Dreams Come True)
7) MISIA
8) Sakai Izumi
9) Kuraki Mai
10) Shiina Ringo (Tokyo Jihen)

11) Yamaguchi Tomoko
12) Fujiwara Norika
13) Suzuki Kyoka
14) Matsushima Nanako
15) Oguro Maki
16) YUKI
17) Mochida Kaori (Every Little Thing)
18) hitomi
19) Sakai Noriko
20) Komiya Etsuko
21) KEIKO (globe)
22) Amuro Namie

The Taxation Authority isn't releasing the list anymore but the magazines in Japan did the estemation and... yes, Ayu's contract SUCKS! I mean, she sold MUCH MUCH MUCH more than Hikki and Hikki is at 4th and Ayu at 13th! In the female list, Ayu is at 2nd and Hikki is at first as usual.

^yeah, i read about that a while ago in a hk newspaper.

im surprised matsu takako is so high up on the female list....

if Hikki sales from iTunes are true, then it's no surprise she made so much money. Plus, her songs were used in lots of CMs and Hikki does LOTS of money from CM, more than any other female artist (she's the 3rd most expensive female artist to do CMs, in front of her, only two veteran actress)

I voted for Hikaru Utada. From what I've heard she's the richest.

You're probably right.

Last time the highest taxpayers list was published, I think it was Utada who was on top among female singers in Japan.

It is widely discussed right now, becouse the highest taxpayers list is no more published, due to privacy reasons.


But if you have other artists than just female singers on the list, than it might be someone even different than Hikki or Ayu.

I think she was #1 for overall too. Cos, I think the highest male was one of the SMAP members, and they earned ~200million yen

I voted for Hikki, and I expected Tetsuya Komuro to be the richest..he produced a lot of good singers like Namie Amuro, Hitomi and Ami Suzuki, and he was a good singer too..

none of them on that list

It's Utada Hikaru. She came in no.1 for high tax payer chart

I want it to be Ayu :P

Ayumi Hamasaki, of course. She`s the Queen of Jpop.

like sold tonnes of records and everything... and then there's her commercials... without a doubt she's rolling in cash at the moment! ^^

Ayu earns more then Hikki.
Ayu has more endorsement deals, has sold more, and has more concerts. Plus some side things like MTRLG probably brings in a lot of money too.

ayumi is making a large salary on a steady basis, but utada makes huge lumps sums. i think last year, she made nearly twice as much as ayumi.

Hikki gets money whenever her song gets played on the radio, Ayu doesn't.

why is that?

Hikki has a better contract than Ayu does? Not sure, but most Japanese artists don't get that kind of benefits anyways, I recall only a few are lucky enough.

Oooh, because I thought everyartist have this thing that they get money if their music is played on the radio..

I don't believe Ayu don't get money when her song plays on the radio. Really, it's almost ilegal, so I don't think AVEX would do that. She may get a smaller percentage than Hikki, but she does get the singer copyright and the writer copyright.

No, Ayu doesn't earns more than Hikki. I know this is a discussion post and all, but the list of the female artists who earned more in the last 22 years was published when the taxation authorities decided to no longer release info on the top tax payer and Ayu was 2nd and Hikki was first, so it's a fact Utada earns more. (the 3rd and 4th most rich females are actresses, Matsu Takako and Naoko Iijima, then in 5th come Seiko Matsuda, sixth the girl from DREAMS COME TRUE and seventh MISIA).

Plus, in the list of the top 10 showbiz earners for past 20 years (1986-2005), Tetsuya Komura was first and Utada Hikaru was 8th. Ayu wasn't on the list.

Well yeah she does get paid for writing a song, singing the song etc. Regarding the actual copyright, she might not get any or the copyright payment could just be all in one sum, and that's it. Like she gets paid 50 million for all the year's copyrights and even if the actual radio play money generates more than 50 million, she doesn't get anything extra.