Report: Female Pop Stars Facing Identity Crisis

The Wall Street Journal is reporting R&B/hip-hop has surpassed rock for the first time to officially become the biggest music genre in America, according to Nielsen Music, which tracks online streams and digital and physical albums. As of Oct. 12, R&B/hip-hop has driven 24% of music consumption in 2017—more than rock’s 21% and double pop’s 12% share.

So far this year, 20 of the 25 most-streamed songs on Spotify, Apple Music and other on-demand audio services are by R&B/hip-hop acts such as Kendrick Lamar, Migos, Childish Gambino and Lil Uzi Vert, Nielsen’s data shows. Two are by male pop stars (Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars). Not one is by a female pop artist.

At the same time, a string of white A-list arena-pop stars—Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, even Taylor Swift—have stumbled over the past year amid poor reviews, underperforming singles or disappointing sales.

It’s a real shift going on with pop music—we’re showing that hip-hop is pop music,” says Andre Torres, vice president of urban catalog at Universal Music Enterprises, a division of Universal Music Group, the world’s biggest music company. He says female pop artists who “are unsure about who they are and who they want to be” are finding it harder to navigate today’s pop landscape.

Hit machines Katy Perry and Lady Gaga—who together have produced 12 chart-topping songs in the past decade—have both failed to deliver a No. 1 song with their new albums.

Five of the 10 songs to hit No. 1 on the singles chart this year have been rap, the most ever, Billboard notes. The other five include one R&B, one Latin and two male pop songs. The only female pop single to hit No. 1 was Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do.”

Meanwhile, R&B/hip-hop artists like Drake, Rihanna and Beyoncé have more easily crossed over into pop in the past decade and now dominate mainstream culture. The expanding genre is squeezing traditional white female pop stars off the stage. “With young streaming subscribers bypassing female pop acts in favor of hip-hop and R&B, A&R execs are combing SoundCloud looking for the next Drake or Kendrick, rather than the next Taylor,” says Craig Marks, editorial director at Townsquare Media , which owns over 300 U.S. radio stations.

Historically, the core of the traditional pop-diva audience has been teen girls. Yet several experts say these same fans aren’t as interested in the staged artificial personas of many pop stars such as Lady Gaga. They are now interested in hip-hop where lyrics are often more direct and true to life.