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By Katie Cosgrove

In-Depth Editor

For the first time this decade, the nominations for Pop categories at the MTV Video Music Awards were exclusively female. The 2024 Grammy Awards saw six female artists and one all-female group nominated for Album of the Year, leaving only the eighth spot for a male album. These historic records reflect the rising trend of female domination in the music industry–particularly the pop scene.

Like most fields, music started out as a male-dominated landscape. In the distant past, classical composers such as Beethoven and Mozart charmed concert halls with their symphonies. Bob Dylan, Elton John, and Michael Jackson carried popular culture through the 70s and 80s, and then deposited us in the 90s, in a cultural landscape swept up by the newest craze: boy bands. The Backstreet Boys, New Kids on the Block, NSYNC, One Direction–there was no shortage of groups to pick from. Young audiences, particularly women, were obsessed.

It’s startling, then, to see such a lack of male presence in 2020s pop. How did we get here? Women in pop music are nothing new. Madonna, Cindy Lauper, and Whitney Houston were household names long before 2024. It would be a disservice to them and the other women throughout music history to pretend that female success is a new concept, but it is undeniable that domination on this level has never been seen before.

There is not one specific reason for this shift. To some extent it can be attributed to the rise of fifth-wave feminism, a movement accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Tightening restrictions on women’s rights such as the overturning of Roe v Wade and the looming threat of a staunchly anti-female presidency are driving women to the feminist movement. Junior Julia Abernathy, an avid pop music listener, plainly stated, “I think people are just realizing women are better.” While this is a rather extreme statement, it shows the feminine-leaning attitudes of the present and future of pop music.

The rise of stars such as Taylor Swift can also be credited; as one the most prominent people of this decade, Swift serves as an inspiration to women in music. Her albums continue to break records, her “Eras Tour” attracting millions of fans to cities around the world. 

Pop culture as a whole has been leaning very female in recent years. The Barbie movie took over the summer of 2023, skyrocketing director Greta Gerwig to new levels of fame. Megan Markle’s royal experience, the death of Queen Elizabeth, and Kate Middleton’s ‘disappearance’ have all made waves over social media. Women’s gymnastics and swimming drove thousands to tune into the Olympics. Beyonce’s “Renaissance” Tour, her iconic Coachella performance; Chappell Roan’s quick rise to fame; Sabrina Carpenter and her record “Short and Sweet.”

It is undeniable that the future is trending female, and pop music is only one reflection of that change.