The power of women in music.

The power of women in music.
From the left: Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo

The music industry is filled with open-minded and champions who set records every time they speak up for marginalized people. 

Music is becoming diverse and open to every kind of discussions from racism to LGBT, and from climate change to women empowerment. 

Leading example in the battle for racism and black lives matter is undoubtedly H.E.R., who with the dramatic and realistic song “I can’t Breath” won a Grammy for “Song of the year”.  Written in memory of George Floyd and the many black Americans who died in the hands of police, the R&B ballad became one of many songs that soundtracked the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. 

H.E.R. at the Grammys 2021

In 2019 Billie Eilish topped the 200 Billboard charts with an original and never seen style, that has soon become an enormous success. Her debut album “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?” topped the charts in UK, US and all over the world. 

Cover of Billie Eilish new album “Happier than Ever”

Later, In January 2020 she made history becoming the first teenager ever to win all four major categories – record of the year, song of the year, album of the year and best new artist – at the Grammys.

Alicia Keys and Beyonce, the two advocates for undefended and voiceless women have shaped the music industry in the current years with majors hits like “If I ain’t got you”, “Girl on Fire” and “Run the World (Girls)”. 

The 11th time Grammy award winner, Lady Gaga is so much more than extravagant costumes and looks. In her early times, Gaga experienced sexual abuse and an unexpected pregnancy at the age of 19 as she revealed in the Oprah and Prince Harry’s Show “The me you can’t see”

Lady Gaga in the Oprah and Prince Harry’s Show “The me you can’t see”

An acclaimed advocate for mental health, Stefani Germanotta founded in 2011 alongside her mother the “Born this Way Foundation” after her hit song. The mission: “telling that everyone is beautiful in its own way, cause God makes no mistakes”.

In 2020, Taylor Swift was nominated artist of the decade at the AMA’s. A well deserved award for an artist who had to face so many difficulties to overcome in the last ten years: the judgement of the media, the credibility of her own image, a sexual assault case, and the sale of all her records unbeknownst to her.  But Taylor kept her head up high and didn’t fall in spite of having a bad reputation. 

Taylor Swift performance at the AMA’S 2019

She’s now re-recording all of her albums and encouraging her fans to listen to the new versions in order to make the profits of her early ones go down.

The new entry in the music industry is Olivia Rodrigo. With her debut song “drivers license” she broke all records. She had most songs in the top 10 at one time by a woman on Billboard’s Streaming Songs chart, surpassing the one and only Taylor Swift. 

Moreover, her latest successful song “Good 4 U” has quickly become one of the biggest tracks of the year all around the world, and streams played a vital role in making it a charting win as well. The tune was so powerful and popular on streaming sites, that it made history just a short time ago on Spotify as the world’s most-used streaming option.

Many people claim that there’s a lack of diversity in the music industry, but I believe that’s not true. 

The music industry is about artists who are not afraid to speak up for themselves and open up about struggles and fears. It’s extremely supportive of the LGBT and black community.

We should think about what Taylor Swift did in 2019: she wrote a song called “You need to calm down” addressing the hate we have for each other and how a simple Tweet can change our lives forever. 

Music is now shaping our world and adapting with what’s going on in this decade.  However, there will always be people that try to prevent singers to say what they want, but music will never die.