From Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour reshaping the economy one city at a time to Sabrina Carpenter releasing back-to-back albums, one thing is clear: the queens of pop have come to play.
In recent years, the music industry has seen a shift. Female artists are not only dominating the charts but also building entire brands, aesthetics and movements around their music.
Artists like Chappell Roan, Charli XCX and Addison Rae are getting their chance in the spotlight.
But why now? Why have we all of a sudden started flooding our playlists with female artists?
Pop has evolved. It’s become an outlet for storytelling, identity, fashion and how relatable one lyric can be. As it has evolved, we’ve been left with a drought of male pop stars delivering to the same level.
You may be thinking, “Well, what about Troye Sivan, Benson Boone or even Justin Bieber? He literally just dropped a deluxe album.”
Just run the numbers. Women claimed eight of the top 10 most-streamed albums on Spotify in 2024.
After One Direction went on hiatus in 2015, the boy band era started to fade. The one that was gaining a lot of traction, Why Don’t We, had to disband in 2022 over manager issues.
That hole, with no boy band to stan and no picking favorites, gave space for female artists to thrive. Harry Styles has been the only member of One Direction whose career has been comparable to that of women in pop music right now.
The last time Styles dropped new music was in May of 2022. He toured until July 2023, and he’s recently been getting cozy with Zoë Kravitz in Rome. The point is, the new female popstars didn’t start to gain traction until Styles told us one last time to “treat people with kindness.”
It’s not that male pop stars don’t exist; Alex Warren was No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 10 weeks. It’s that they’re not evolving the way female pop stars are. The girls are experimenting and rebranding, but the male artists are playing it safe.
There’s no need for a Harry Styles copycat; Current male artists lack the stage presence and boldness that Styles and many female artists possess.
Pop is not a race. But if it were, the females are miles ahead, even in heels.
