Author | Ding Qianwen Editor | Fan Zhihui
2023 is the year of female musicians.
In the "2023 Global Listening Report" released by spotify, it defined this year as "the epic return of female musicians". Many female musicians topped the charts, and in the spring and summer seasons Single and podcast rankings are full of “female power.”
Spotify global editorial director Sulina ong also mentioned, "The most important thing this year (2023) is that female musicians dominate, and I am happy to see it. Female artists dominate not only in the field of music, but also in cultural conversations So, just like "Barbie," this is the tone of 2023."
And this conclusion is not false.
At the just-concluded 66th Grammy Awards, women almost dominated the 2024 Grammy winners list.
In addition to Phoebe Bridgers becoming the biggest winner with four awards, the winners of the four major categories of Album of the Year, Production of the Year, Song of the Year, and Newcomer of the Year were Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Billie Eilish, and Victoria Monet, all of whom were female musicians; and in pop, The proportion of female musicians in rock, r&b and other sub-awards is also high. For example, the rock band Boygenius, known for its "feminist music", won three out of five awards. Two female musicians, Sza and Victoria Monet, also won three. awards.
So, why are female musicians the biggest winners at this year’s Grammys?
Female Musicians This year
Looking at the global music scene, whether it is a solo female singer, or a girl band or a girl group, they have frequently come out on top this year, and this is most obvious in the European, American, Japanese and Korean music circles.
According to spotify's "2023 Music Listening Report", Taylor Swift has achieved more than 26.1 billion streams with "Midnights", breaking Bad Bunny's three-year listening dominance and successfully ascending to the top of the list. This is also the first time since Spotify launched the wrapped list in 2015 that a female artist has ranked No. 1 in the world.
Similarly, female musicians also had a record year on the UK Singles Chart in 2023.
In the past 52 weeks, 31 of the top positions were occupied by female musicians. For example, 7 of the top ten singles are from female musicians. Miley Cyrus’s "Flowers" is the only one in the UK in 2023. The first song to be certified double platinum; and female musicians also drove UK music streaming to a new high in 2023, driving playback growth by nearly 13%.
It is worth noting that according to data from the British Phonographic Industry (bpi), British listeners listened to far more music by female musicians than male musicians this year. This is also the most brilliant record set by a female musician on the British singles chart since 1952.
bpi also believes that 2023 will be a "milestone" year for female musicians.
In the Korean entertainment market, after 12 years, the Korean girl group New Jeans also took over Girls' Generation and became the second girl group to win the Artist of the Year Award at the Korean Mama Awards. At the same time, New Jeans was also the second woman to win the award in Mama's history. The girl group won the Double Grand Prize, which broke the monopoly of male groups such as Big Bang and BTS.
At the same time, female musicians also became the main force in the pop music boom this year. For example, in the Chinese music scene, according to Tencent Music Chart 2023 list data, female musicians occupy six seats among the top ten annual singers this year, including Zhang Bichen, Huang Qishan, Shan Yichun and other female musicians spanning three generations.
Even though male musicians such as Jay Chou, JJ Lin, Joker Xue, and Zhou Shen continue to occupy the top of the list, there are also female musicians with reputations and masterpieces such as Zhang Bichen and Shan Yichun who have won awards at the public level. For example, Zhang Bichen's "Cage" won nearly 12 awards including Tencent Music Chart's top ten songs in 2023, highest-scoring movie ost, song of the year, and high-scoring song of the year. She is currently the only female singer whose new songs have exceeded 100 million listens for three consecutive years. .
In fact, as early as 2022, USC Annenberg conducted statistics on the Billboard Hot 100 list. The number of female musicians on the list reached 30% that year, a significant increase compared with ten years ago.
Nowadays, whether it is the veteran female singers represented by the ever-popular Taylor Swift, the sudden rise of online celebrity female singers on short video platforms, or the influx of Asian female faces such as blackpink and new jeans, all have greatly improved The presence of female musicians in pop music.
Why are female musicians the biggest winners at this year’s Grammys?
In the pop music world, female musicians are often "classified" using gendered labels, which has also caused many female musicians to be ignored in the past.
With the popularity of short video platforms such as TikTok and Douyin in recent years, their genderless and widespread influence has also allowed musicians to take the initiative to expose themselves to the public, and their chances of being seen have also greatly increased. Especially for female musicians, they have gained attention through active participation in challenges and algorithm blessings, and have become a force that cannot be ignored.
For example, Argentinian female singer Nicki Nicole's "8 am" became popular on TikTok because of her hand dance, and received more than 3.7 million likes. Prior to this, Nicki Nicole had collaborated with well-known musicians on challenges and remixes to increase her awareness.
Among them, the remix version of the hit single "marisola" with Cris MJ, Duki, etc., ranked at the top of spotify in many countries on the first day of its release in 2022, and the singing part also triggered a craze in tiktok.
It is precisely because of the easy dissemination and easy interaction of short video platforms that female musicians can also reach a wider audience. Of course, this does not mean that social weight is tilted towards female musicians, but compared to the past methods of promoting new music in the traditional record industry, short video platforms give everyone more equal opportunities, and female musicians have more opportunities to discover.
Of course, the social impact brought by the feminist wave such as the MeToo movement and "Barbie" has also radiated to the music industry, and the unbalanced gender ratio has also been relatively broken.
For example, in the field of hip-hop music, which has long been regarded as male-dominated, it has gradually developed in a more inclusive direction in 2023, and the audience's aesthetics have become more diverse and open. For example, ice spice, the representative of the post-00s generation, has become a hot female singer in 2023 through the popularity created by the "munch" craze, "chanting" music style, SpongeBob SquarePants style, etc.
At the same time, compared with before, female musicians have become the main focus of various fields, genres and award ceremonies in large numbers, which also reflects the loss of male musicians’ dominance in popular trends in the past. This is also because the commercial influence of female musicians gradually matches their social influence, attracting more and more audiences.
Taylor Swift is the first to change the ownership of song recordings and break the traditional album release model, which also makes it a commercial success while driving an industry revolution. The most typical one is that its constant competition with scalpers affects the development of the industry and the supply of regulations.
For example, in 2017, Taylor Swift innovated the "verified fan" ticket grabbing program, selling tickets to fans based on fan activity, trying to break the "first come, first served" ticket sales model that is easily controlled by scalpers; and in 2022, Taylor Swift Swift and the audience questioned the ticket sales of ticket master website, which also attracted the attention of the U.S. Senate for antitrust investigations. Massachusetts lawmakers in the United States even proposed the "Taylor Swift Act" that requires ticket sales to be disclosed in advance and with transparent and detailed prices.
Similarly, during the 2023 "Era" tour concert, due to the proliferation of scalpers, most listeners were unable to buy tickets for the "Era" tour in Brazil. The Brazilian House of Representatives also passed a special law called "taylor swift law" to deal with scalper crimes. of the bill.
It can be said that the "butterfly effect" brought about by Taylor Swift also invisibly affects the flow of consumer audiences.
It is worth mentioning that the rise of Generation Z users with the changes in the social environment has also affected female musicians to have more exposure opportunities. In particular, female listeners have become more active, which has also led to a certain gender balance among listeners. , and pays special attention to the feedback and needs of female users, and at the same time feeds and nourishes female musicians.
For most of the leading female musicians, this is also their prime year, which made them the biggest winners at this year's Grammy Awards.
Conclusion
However, even if 2023 is a year for female musicians to shine, BPI’s CEO Jo Twist also reminded that although star artists such as Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, etc. should be celebrated, “ should not be used in The industry is complacent, and this phenomenon needs to be ensured to become the norm."
Although female musicians are increasingly occupying a strong position in the mainstream, from the veteran queen Taylor Swift to the new force representative Oliva Rodrigo, they are all mentioned in their works I have experienced common injustice and discrimination in the industry. Shania Twain, the representative female singer of
country music, also said that she has experienced unbearable gender discrimination and had to face the vicious criticism of being "too sexy". "Male executives and most of the musicians in the recording studio are men. "The majority of record label managers are also male, it's male-dominated in every sense of the word, so it's a challenge to be taken seriously as a female musician in this industry."
Even female musicians like Lana Del Rey, who are recognized as having strong songwriting talents, have been underestimated because of the cynical image they displayed when they debuted in 2012. Ironically, the music review website Pitchfork also re-reviewed "Born to Die" many years later, with the score going from 5.5 to 7.8.
Looking at the industry as a whole, although the group of female musicians is growing, the situation of being marginalized is unlikely to change qualitatively in the short term. The costs and efforts they pay are much higher than that of male musicians. Just like now, even though Spotify has designated 2023 as the year of female musicians, in the monthly official recommendation list, female musicians are still often recommended less than half the time.
But history always moves forward. As female musicians have been taken seriously by the audience, the industry, and the market in recent years, female practitioners from the front to the back will eventually usher in a bright future.
Preface topic
Topic content: Why do you think there are more and more leading female musicians who are receiving much attention now?
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