According to Forbes,
Lady Gaga is this year's highest-earning woman in the music industry, adding another $90 million to her name in the last 12 months. Her new album, "Born This Way," is obviously an enormous part of her sales, but constant touring, television specials, and product
endorsements went a long way to push her beyond her peers. Her closest competitor was Taylor Swift, with $45 million -- exactly half of Gaga's income.
But how does she stack up against the men in music? The same article notes only five women made the top 25 highest-paid musicians list (not counting Fergie as a member of The Black Eyed Peas). Entertainment attorney Lori Landew told Forbes, "Women artists seem to be less likely to diversify their holdings and to build multi-tier enterprises to take advantage of their success and celebrity. What remains unclear, however, is whether this is because these women have less of an entrepreneurial spirit than their male counterparts, which I doubt, or whether they are simply presented with fewer opportunities."
We're going to go out on a limb though and say Lady Gaga has beat those odds. Do you think she's worth all the money she makes?
She is also being creative in her own special way.
This is not about Lady Gaga. It's a statement on our society. It's about how our society defines "worth". If, by "worth", we mean "enhancement of life" or "quality of life enhancement", then folks like Lady Gaga or Marilyn Manson become laughable, and the CEOs of many (not all) medical device companies gain some ground here.
If, however, by "worth", we are talking about "instant, self-centered gratification because I lack any form of self-worth myself and therefore need a faux identify to derive my SENSE of worth from", then folks like Lady Gaga and any other scam in the arts today will fill that vacuum ALL THE WAY TO THE BANK quite well.
To be true, if folks like Lady Gaga, Madonna, Eminem et al ... can make millions of folks part with their money, so be it. It's a free enterprise system, and folks can decide what to do with their money privately. I have nothing against it. But let's not confuse the empirical fact of how much money one can suck from mindless tweens with "talent", "worth" nor "art". More often than not, the twain shall never meet.