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This week’s Billboard Hot 100 chart made history for the second time as the top 10 spots were occupied by women. Within these 10 places, 8 of them are occupied by Taylor Swift, following the release of her most recent re-recording: the album 1989 (Taylor’s version). In the week of October 31, 2022, Taylor Swift also made history because she occupied all of the top 10 spots on Billboard’s Hot 100 with songs from her most recent studio album. Midnights which had only been released for a few days. These are extremely notable achievements that no other female artist has managed to achieve in history. And although we have already dedicated this space to talking about the great Taylor Swift influencethis time we will go further.
These indicators are the consequence of a considerable change in the presence of women in the world of music compared to previous decades. During the nineties and a good part of the 2000s we could see that bands like Kings Of Leon, The Killers, Kasabian, The Kooks, One Direction, Busted, Foo Fighters, Backstreet Boys, The Strokes and Coldplay were the ones who occupied the first places in the popularity lists. It’s not that during these times there were no women in music, but it was not as common for them to dominate the way they do now. And even though we witnessed icons like Britney Spears, Whitney Houston, and Avril Lavigne, many of them were objectified despite their talent.
What we are witnessing is an important phenomenon in the music industry and in pop culture in general. Artists such as Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Lizzo, Billie Eilish, Karol G, Miley Cyrus, Doja Cat, Dua Lipa, Rosalía, Olivia Rodrigo and Cardi B are testament to a changing role of women in the music industry. Her presence shows us an important metamorphosis in which we no longer only see women as muses but also as creative artists, thus moving from a passive role to an active one. One of the most important parts of this is that women can control their own narrative and tell their own story. We witnessed an important change from being sexual and/or love objects in videos and songs to being respected composers, singers, producers and performers in the industry.
A characteristic of how women were viewed in the industry during the 90s and 2000s was the constant way in which the media put them in competition with each other (a bad habit that many have to this day). Now it is common for us to see that they refer to each other as alliances, mentors, inspirations and not as competition. At the same time, the themes of the songs no longer only talk about love reasons (which often have to do with men) but also about the challenges of their own existence, their freedom, self-love, social issues such as machismo and racism, the pressure of not being enough, emotional abuse, among others.
This change is a product of culture and therefore is a consequence of other changes as well. However, the most important testimony to the new role of women in the music industry is how profitable it has become to bet on female talent across various genres. Although the industry as a whole still needs to reflect this equality (also in roles such as producers and composers), this is undoubtedly a gain that, through music, one of the most important cultural products that human beings has created in history, we can hear -literally- the voice of women clear and strong.