How Much Money Do Stars Make if they Win a Grammy?

How much money do stars make if they win a Grammy? $0. The “Grammy Bounce” may add to future music sales, but the data doesn’t prove it. Grammys sold at auction have fetched $30,000 to $187,000 in the past.

Overall, a Grammy award doesn’t seem to mean a whole lot financially. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) doesn’t pay even a single dollar for a Grammy win. Grammy win money is limited to auctioning off the Grammy, auctioning memorabilia like a dress worn to the Grammys and future earnings. There is speculation that stars may earn more in terms of music sales and concert ticket sales. They may see a boost to YouTube views, endorsement deal money and merchandise sales. A check on the actual numbers however shows no such bounce. In fact the “extra money” from a Grammy win may be no more than a chicken/egg dilemma. Did the star make more money from the Grammy win or did the Grammy win come because the music was already popular and selling well?

How Much Money Stars Make if they Win a Grammy

The table above shows the top line info on Grammy win money. Musicians, singers and songwriters don’t make a single dollar for winning a Grammy. The Grammy gramophone trophy itself costs an estimated $13.50 to manufacture.

Stars can’t even sell a Grammy to make money off it. Some musicians have sold Grammys for money in the past, but the Academy fights these sales aggressively in court.

Even the often touted “Grammy Bounce” from increased sales money after a Grammy win may be largely hot air. Not all singers, songwriters and other musicians see an earnings boost after winning a Grammy. Some do, but it’s unclear whether the Grammy contributed in any way to the song’s popularity, or whether the song’s popularity caused the Grammy win. All in all, a Grammy may be worth exactly $13.50 to a star like Taylor Swift, Beyonce or Kendrick Lamar.

Also see: Taylor Swift Net Worth

The Grammy Bounce: Do Stars that Win a Grammy Make More Money After?

The table above shows some top line data on the “Grammy Bounce.” That’s the idea that music sales and concert sales go up after a Grammy win. Supposedly a Grammy win does translate to more money from those sales. But does it really work out that way?

We analyzed the pre and post sales figures for five different Grammy winners from 2000 through 2015. Kendrick Lamar was first nominated for a Grammy in 2014 and won in 2015. After his Grammy win, Lamar saw no money boost in terms of album sales, singles sales or concert ticket sales.

Grammy winning queen pic.twitter.com/WDrAPh9QZx

— ㅤ (@5sosftjbieber) February 16, 2016

Rihanna’s album sales actually dropped after her first Grammy win. The singer won her first Grammy in 2009. Pre-Grammy win, Rihanna sold 5 million albums in one year. Her album sales went down to 2.2 million in the year after her first Grammy win. Her concert ticket sales did boost from 29 million for a pre-Grammy win tour to 40 million tickets sold post Grammy win. However, Rihanna’s concert ticket sales have grown by 40% to 60% with each successive tour. It’s not clear at all that her Grammy win had anything to do with the extra money she made from concerts. Nor is it clear that winning a Grammy caused her to make less money from album sales.

Justin and his first Grammy. An iconic picture. pic.twitter.com/aFVuFyyXbl

— ㅤ (@5sosftjbieber) February 16, 2016

The other three artists in our survey were Eminem, Beyonce and Sam Smith. All three musicians did see a huge bump in album sale money post Grammy win. However, it’s not clear whether the extra sales had anything to do with the Grammy win. It may be a simple case of excellent albums winning Grammys and racking up huge sales money at the same time.

So does a Grammy win mean more money? The answer is probably no. Correlation does not equal causation. More people drown after eating ice cream than any other food. That doesn’t mean ice cream causes drowning. It means swimming and cool refreshment both happen on hot days.

Also see: Kendrick Lamar Net Worth

The Auction Problem: Stars that Win a Grammy, then Need Money

Sometimes a singer falls on hard times, needs money and sells a Grammy. Or sometimes a musician simply doesn’t want the trophy cluttering up their home. Grammys from Pearl Jam, Stevie Wonder, Johnny Cash and others have all been traded for money.

The table below shows a cross section of Grammys that were sold for money. Johnny Cash’s Grammy was sold after his death for $187,000. Stevie Wonder’s Grammy for his mega hit song Superstition only fetched a meager $12,000. One of the five trophies given to Pearl Jam for their single Grammy win sold for $52,226. A Grammy wound up on the show Pawn Stars.

Also see: Drake Net Worth

The Academy frowns on the exchange of a Grammy win for money. Every time, NARAS will sue to stop the sale of a Grammy. Even when Dave Burgess needed money to pay family medical bills, NARAS still fought the sale of his Grammy in court.

Sometimes stars don’t need money, but they just don’t want the Grammy. That seems to be the case with the Pearl Jam Grammy that went up for sale. The $52,226 is a fair amount of money for a trophy. That said, Pearl Jam didn’t seem to want the award in the first place, as the video below shows.

Also see: Dr. Dre Net Worth

The Official Grammy Auction: Turn a Grammy Win to Money the Non-Lawsuit Way

As if to show it isn’t a total scrooge, the Academy holds its own auction for stars who want to sell Grammy memorabilia for charity. The official auction happens every year.

Pharrell Williams’ great big Grammy hat from 2015 had a starting price of $6,000. Paul McCartney auctioned off a meet and greet for $15,000. The prize was an invite to a sound check at a Paul McCartney concert. The lucky winner would get to rub elbows with the fab one.

Miley Cyrus decided to color outside the lines for her Grammy auction. She pulled in $7,000 in Haiti relief money by auctioning the dress she wore for her 2010 Grammy win on eBay.

Also see: Wiz Khalifa Net Worth

How Much Money Do the 2016 Grammy Winners Make?

So how much money do Grammy winners make in 2016? The winners’ salaries are anywhere from $100,000 to $60 million a year. Their net worths have an even wider range. Below is a list of nominees and winners from the 2016 Grammy Awards show. Dr. Dre tops the net worth chart with $745 million. Other notables are Taylor Swift with a net worth of $251 million and Justin Bieber with $197 million.

Drake’s net worth of $88 million is nothing to sneeze at, and Nicki Minaj’s wealth pile of $77 million isn’t too bad either.

Also see: Ed Sheeran Net Worth

On the bottom of the Grammy win money pile are country singers Sam Hunt, Chris Stapleton, Ashley Monroe and Kacey Musgrave with $1 million to $2 million each.

When your son wins a Grammy… pic.twitter.com/2gXNPcWlrw

— Jeremy Bieber (@JeremyBieber) February 15, 2016

Sources:

NY Post