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Swift success: Taylor Swift was the top earning music artist in the US last year

Swift success: Taylor Swift was the top earning music artist in the US last year

David Crowther

Taylor Swift has topped Billboard's list of the highest paid music artists, raking in more than $23m last year in the US according to their estimates. It turns out that dropping 2 new albums and a re-release of an older album in one year is a good way to please your fanbase.

Billboard estimates that roughly half of Swift's music income came from streaming payouts — with another $10m from sales and $3.2m from publishing rights. Swift didn't make a dime from touring thanks to COVID restrictions, but that wasn't the case for everyone.

‍Queen of touring

‍Celine Dion may have only made an estimated $300k from streaming last year, but she more than made up for it with an enormous haul from touring. Dion squeezed in 23 shows before the corona curtain came down, equating to almost $50m in gross ticket sales — of which she took home $17m according to Billboard estimates. The Eagles similarly managed to squeeze in some shows, netting the classic group more than $11m for their efforts.

Check out the full list of music money makers at Billboard.

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Millennials may not have been the real job-hoppers after all

New BLS data shows late boomers had actually held more jobs by the same age.

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Could Madonna, Shakira, and BTS make the FIFA World Cup final more like the Super Bowl?

Just because it’s the biggest soccer game in the world doesn’t mean it can’t feel like football to Americans.

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Netflix is staffing up an apparent AI animation studio called INKubator

According to several public job listings, streaming giant Netflix appears to be building a GenAI animation studio called INKubator.

First reported by journalist Janko Roettgers in the Lowpass newsletter, INKubator seems to have launched in March and aims to “develop feature-quality content in a creator-led environment.”

As Lowpass reports, INKubator appears focused on AI-generated short-form animation, but listings imply ambitions toward longer-form content. Netflix didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

INKubator wouldn’t be Netflix’s first foray into AI. Back in March, it acquired Ben Affleck’s AI filmmaking startup InterPositive — which trains on individual films’ already-shot footage — for as much as $600 million depending on certain targets.

Netflix’s potential future AI-generated animations could be served to an increasingly ad-packed streaming service. At Netflix’s Upfront presentation on Wednesday, the company said its ad-supported tier has now reached 250 million subscribers globally, up 31% from November.

Netflix is building an AI animation studio

Netflix is building an AI animation studio

As Lowpass reports, INKubator appears focused on AI-generated short-form animation, but listings imply ambitions toward longer-form content. Netflix didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

INKubator wouldn’t be Netflix’s first foray into AI. Back in March, it acquired Ben Affleck’s AI filmmaking startup InterPositive — which trains on individual films’ already-shot footage — for as much as $600 million depending on certain targets.

Netflix’s potential future AI-generated animations could be served to an increasingly ad-packed streaming service. At Netflix’s Upfront presentation on Wednesday, the company said its ad-supported tier has now reached 250 million subscribers globally, up 31% from November.

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Netflix confirms a “KPop Demon Hunters” world concert tour is on the way

Netflix has a “Golden” mine and it's digging deeper.

At its fourth annual TV Upfront presentation on Wednesday, Netflix President of Advertising Amy Reinhard announced a partnership with AEG Presents to create a “KPop Demon Hunters” world tour that will bring the phenomenon to life.

In March, Bloomberg previously reported Netflix was planning a global world tour sometime next year ahead of the sequel in arenas that would hold 10,000 to 20,000 fans, though the news had not been confirmed by the company nor had a partner been in place at the time. 

“KPop Demon Hunters” is Netflix’s most watched film of all time, racking up 481.6 million views globally during the second half of 2025. Since its release, the HUNTR/X trio of Ejae, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami has appeared and performed at several major events including late-night talk shows, award ceremonies, and most recently at Coachella, where they were a surprise guest for Katseye. It hasn’t been confirmed whether the trio will be on the tour.

The announcement of the tour comes after Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos shared in a recent blog post that the company spent $135 billion on licensing and original film and TV over the last 10 years.

This year, Netflix has a projected content spend of $20 billion, up 10% year over year, while its annual revenue forecast is between $50.7 billion and $51.7 billion. The streaming giant has brought in more than $46 billion in profit over the past decade.

Netflix said more details around cities and tickets for the concert tour are expected to come out later this year.

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America’s most popular baby names haven’t changed in 7 years

Boy parents seem to have struggled to look away from one name in particular over the last decade.

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