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New stats show that female pop artists are top of the nots.
Like in most industries, there’s always been a sizeable gender gap in pop music. One only needs to cast their mind back to the biggest pop stars of the last 60 years (starting with the ‘King of Pop’ MJ) to see the disparity.
But it seems that the stats are steadily getting worse. 91 men or all-male groups were credited on the Official Chart Company’s top 100 songs of 2018, compared with 30 female acts.
Even more shockingly, only 13 of 2018’s top 100 were credited to only female acts, down from 35 in 2008.
This might seem surprising considering how well big names like Ariana Grande and Dua Lipa are doing at the moment. At the Grammys last weekend, Dua, Kacey Musgraves, Cardi B, and Lady Gaga were far and away the most celebrated artists, stealing the limelight and many of the top prizes.
And, this week Ariana Grande became the first act to take the number one, two, and three spots in the US charts since The Beatles in ’64.
So, why the outcry? Well, whilst there are technically no fewer women credited in the UK charts now than there were a decade ago – the number stands at 30 for both 2018 and 2008 – the number of men represented in the charts has increased by 50%.
There are a few key reasons for this. One is the rise of collaborations. Where before it was common to see just one name on a track’s billing, now there’s a whole shopping list of singers, producers, and writers who’ve chipped in to create Pitbull’s entire discography.
This means that the total number of artists credited on songs in the charts has risen over the last decade, and that songs by both a man and a woman have replaced many of the songs that previously would’ve been billed as all female.
What’s more, the charts at the mo are dominated by dance and hip hop – two sub-genres that are overwhelmingly male. Rap and Hip Hop is at least 95% male, and the DJs/producers/hitmakers behind dance music are also almost always men, such as big dogs Calvin Harris, David Guetta, and Jax Jones.
Hence, if our pop sisters want to stay relevant, they often must give up the top billing in a song to one of these more dominant artists.
