Grammys 2024: Women Set To Dominate

Women are poised to pile up the gold at the Grammy awards on Sunday, reflecting a rise in female representation on pop music charts and record-setting performances at stadium concerts and cinemas.

The 66th Annual GRAMMY Awards will take place on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024, at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, and will broadcast and stream live on CBS and Paramount+. 

Reuters reports Taylor Swift, SZA and songs from the Oscar-nominated "Barbie" movie lead the competition for the music industry's highest honors. Jon Batiste is the only man among eight nominees for album of the year, the top Grammy prize.

SZA, the female singer of revenge fantasy "Kill Bill," will head into the ceremony as the most-nominated artist with nine nominations.

The strong showing coincided with a year of milestones for women in entertainment and gains in the predominantly male music business.

Swift's Eras Tour broke ticket sales records, eclipsing Elton John's, at the same time Beyonce played to packed stadiums. "Barbie" created a pink-fueled phenomenon at cinemas, where Swift's concert film also became a blockbuster.

"Women had a phenomenal year, not just in music, but in 'Barbie' being the biggest-grossing movie," said Billboard awards editor Paul Grein. "Women dominated pop culture."

In addition to Swift and SZA, the other women vying for this year's album prize are Miley Cyrus, Lana Del Rey, Olivia Rodrigo, Janelle Monae and boy genius, the band featuring indie rock musicians Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus.

It is just the 12th time in the Grammys' 66-year history, Grein said, that women received the majority of nominations for album of the year. Changing demographics in the Recording Academy, the group of musicians, producers, engineers and others who vote on the Grammy nominees and winners, likely prompted a shift. Since 2019, the percentage of female members has risen to 30% from 26%.

Some of the male competition was between albums. Harry Styles, Bad Bunny and other past Grammy winners did not release new music during the eligibility period of October 2022 through Sept. 15, 2023.

Still, the percentage of women artists on the Billboard Hot 100 at the end of 2023 reached 35%, a 12-year high, according to a study by the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative and professor Stacy L. Smith.