Why Does Madonna Earn More Than a Nurse?

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Madonna earns vast sums of money each year as a pop star, while British nurses are considered to be amongst the most underpaid workers in the country. One could argue that the amount of talent they possess and the amount of effort they put into their respective jobs is equal at best, but almost certainly in favour of the nurses. This begs the question, why does Madonna earn so much more than all the nurses? The key difference between Madonna and a nurse is that Madonna is a unique good. There is only one Madonna, yet there are thousands of trained nurses, and even more people capable of entering the nursing profession. In the music industry there are nodirect substitutes for any artist or band as they are all unique. Skilful marketing has created a specific image of each artist which results in brand loyalty. Even if a "better" singer emerges, Madonna has the advantage of brand loyalty, and will therefore continue to sell records and concert tickets for as long as she performs. This brand loyalty that Madonna has generated makes her an attractive prospect for record companies - they will sell many more records if they are sung by Madonna than if they were sung by Josephine Bloggs. This means that Madonna is heavily demanded by record companies who know that signing her up will be hugely profitable for them. As she is a unique good, she essentially hasmonopoly power - there is no direct substitute for her, so she can set as high a price (recording contract, wages, takings from concerts, etc.) as she likes (within reason, and assuming continued popularity). A nurse will often only have nursing qualifications and a strong desire to nurse people. They basically have only two options - working in NHS hospitals, or working in private hospitals. Private hospitals are relatively low in size and number, so many nurses are forced to work for the NHS. This high number of

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