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Money: it makes the world go round, or so the saying goes. It’s not just enough to make a bit of money with talent. More money can always and is always encouraged to be made. These pop stars (and that’s being generous) have not only made some mad money from their respective careers, but they’ve also tried to expand their bank accounts an extra few 0’s with their own merch.
Let’s take a look at a list of 10 popstars who’ve made some stupid amounts of money from selling their own merchandise.
Logan Paul
Logan Paul, a YouTuber, musician, and recent cage fighter, has a lot of avenues when it comes to earning the green stuff. With a net worth of $19 million, this must be the case. The vlogger has a brand of merchandise called the Maverick line, this is something that he heavily promotes on his YouTube channel and his Twitter account.
The Maverick line consists of t-shirts and hoodies, that’s all. Ranging from $25.00 USD to $55.00 USD, this very limited range of merchandise has helped Logan Paul become a millionaire. Advertising to primarily younger male audiences, Logan has enjoyed this success for several years now. Don’t understand how, but never mind.
Jake Paul
The other vlogging, musical Paul brother, Jake Paul has enjoyed similar success as his brother when it comes to making additional dough from merchandise and promotion of that merch online. With the same net worth of $19 million as his brother, Jake has diversified his range of merch, unlike Logan. Paul’s merch, known as the "Everyday Bro" line ranges from hoodies, tees, hats, gift cards, leggings, wall art, mugs, sunglasses, and phone cases. With all of this, it’s impressive that the lesser talented or successful Paul brother manages to keep to the same net worth and relevance. There must be something to this that most of us aren’t getting.
Billie Eilish
Probably the newest member of this list in terms of rising popularity and exposure to the spotlight, with a net worth of $6 million, Billie Eilish has been slow in using her fame to earn some extra cash in the form of merch. Made famous by her song "Bad Guy" which was accompanied by a music video that showed a strange fashion style from the 17-year old that few could mimic. This style is what Billie decided to capitalize on and market as merch in the form of children’s clothing. That’s right, children’s clothing. This clothing brand features a bright neon-green aesthetic and focuses on the expected tee’s, skirts, shorts, tracksuits, etc. combinations. Billie named her brand and merch "BLOHSH," yeah. Moving on.
Drake
Drake, the musician not the subspecies of awesome dragons, isn’t quiet when it comes to not being a trendsetter. He’s a guy that really loves to follow and capitalize on new and popular trends. With a net worth of $170 million, it’s obvious that he loves to be involved in the latest fads. This being said, let’s discuss the "Summer 16 Tour" merch. Drake capitalized on the trend of custom American college-style jerseys and shirts, known as the "collegiate-style." With his Summer 16 tour, Drake decided to make his own collegiate-style jerseys with the tour’s name in replace of the college/university. Not exactly creative in execution but did sell well, so let’s not go into what that means for people’s disposable income these days.
Beyoncé
All hail the queen! Everyone knows who Beyoncé Knowles is. She is the singer-songwriting, actress, and most successful member of Destiny’s Child who over the last 30 decades took over the flipping planet with her infectious solo hits and acting chops. With a net worth of $500 million, she doesn’t really need to have a clothing line/merch line, but she does - no shocker there.
Her merch is simply called "Beyonce" (sometimes "Lemonade"). The brand covers apparel, accessories, and collections, ranging from tops, bottoms, intimates (bodysuits), headwear, bags, and phone cases. In the same vein as Jake Paul, Beyoncé must believe that diversity is key in grabbing as many potential customers as possible.
Justin Bieber
Justin Bieber has been around for what feels like a thousand years now but really it’s only since 2008. Justin became famous thanks to YouTube where he covered more successful and better songs than what he would end up producing. With a net worth of $285 million though, Justin has really made a name for himself from his music. Just like most of the artists on this list, Justin has approached his merch with the same enthusiasm as his music, choosing to design his merch to reflect the fangirl in all of us. "Justin4Ever" being the brand name, the brand currently covers his "PURPOSE THE STADIUM" tour.
Kanye West
Mr. Kanye West is a man that needs no introduction. His career has been one of incredible highs and strange lows. From being a true supporter, to calling himself Yeezy, no-one could ever call Kanye West traditional. With the release of his YEEZUS tour, Kanye started selling his merch. For those unfamiliar, Kayne attempted to sell a completely white tee as Kayne merch for $120.00 USD. Of course, it was a not a hot seller, however in a stroke of genius from Kanye, he simply convinced the press that the merch was art. This change in labeling caused the “art” to earn more than 1 million USD within the space of 48 hours. No wonder this dude’s net worth is $240 million.
Chvrches
Having recently been featured on the incredible Death Stranding game, the band was relatively unknown to the mainstream world. The electronic band known simply as Chvrches (an intentional misspelling of churches) has been able to take their relatively low fame level to the next level, in regard to their merch anyway. Chvrches merch has a weirder element than other bands. With a net worth of $5 million their apparel ranges from standard tees, jerseys, rolled sleeve tees, crop tops, pullovers, and of course hoodies. That list isn’t so impressive but it’s the art on those products that make them interesting. They look like modern art pieces, not just the album artwork/collection lyrics-style merch that seems to appear on most band merch.
Rihanna
"SOS," "Shut up and Drive," "Diamonds," and "Umbrellas": Rihanna has some interesting songs let’s just say that. With a net worth of $260 million, her career has been like a rollercoaster in terms of her style and her brand, but it must be successful in some ways. Her current merch called "Anti" sees Rihanna as a solider, rebel-style warrior woman. Sporting dreadlocks and suit, her merch style this time shows black hoodies, snow samp sweatpants, lenticular posters, and tee’s with some very interesting swears. This morphing and shifting style must be one of the ways that Rihanna has seen successful outside of her music. Market to everyone with every possible taste and you’ll maximize profits. Genius!
Lana Del Rey
Finally, there’s Lana Del Rey, an interesting woman with an interesting atheistic. Pulling inspiration from other eras (the 50s and 60s) Lana has borrowed her style from those decades musically and more so. With a net worth of $14 million, there must be a call for this style even in the near 2020s. Her style is a combination of flowers, Florida, Norman Rockwell, and American suburbia. Her merch is different from the rest of the list, selling floral cropped tank tops, glitter cassettes, windbreakers, scarfs, and monochrome vinyls. Can’t say that she isn’t trying to market to an unknown demographic with this merch. Lana has enjoyed her success from capitalizing on the above descriptors of her style, but for how long can this last?