page_title: Women in music
section_title: Popular music
hierarchical_section_title: Women in music / Singers / Popular music
caption_attribution_description: Madonna Rebel Heart Tour 2015 - Amsterdam 2
context_page_description: Women in music describes the role of women as composers, songwriters, instrumental performers, singers, conductors, music scholars, music educators, music critics/music journalists and in other musical professions. As well, it describes music movements, events and genres related to women, women's issues and feminism.
  In the 2010s, while women constitute a significant proportion of popular music and classical music singers, and a significant proportion of songwriters, there are few women record producers, rock critics and rock instrumentalists. Notable women artists in pop, such as Bjork and Lady Gaga have commented about sexism and gender discrimination in the music industry. Additionally, a recent study led by Dr. Smith announced that "...over the last six years, the representation of women in the music industry has been even lower".
context_section_description: Singers in popular music perform the vocals for bands and other music groups, which may range in size from a duo or a power trio to a large jazz big band. Singers typically do both live performances and studio recordings. Singers who do live performances may sing in small venues such as coffeehouses or nightclubs, or they may perform in larger venues ranging from arts centres to stadiums. Some singers also perform in music videos, which are used to promote the songs. In some styles of music, singers may play a rhythm section instrument, such as rhythm guitar, electric bass or a percussion instrument while they sing. In some styles of pop, singers perform choreographed dance moves during the show. Three well-known examples of pop singers who perform elaborate dance routines in their live shows are Madonna, Beyoncé and Britney Spears. Madonna is a key figure in popular music; critics have retrospectively credited her presence, success and contributions with paving the way for every female artist after her debut, and changing forever the music scene for women in the music history, as well as for today's pop stars.
  Singer-songwriter and music producer Bjork has commented on how "women's labor and expertise—inside and outside of the music industry—go unnoticed." She has stated that "[I]t's invisible, what women do," and "[I]t's not rewarded as much." Bjork states "that her male collaborators are typically credited for the sound of her records; because on stage she mainly sings, there is a widespread assumption that she neither produces [as a music producer] nor plays an instrument." In 2015, "while accepting the Woman of the Year honor at this year's Billboard Women in Music event", Lady Gaga commented on the "difficulties of being a female recording artist." She said it "is really hard sometimes for women in music. It's like a f[uck]ing boys club that we just can't get in to." She stated that she "tried for so long... to be taken seriously as a musician for my intelligence more than my body", yet she felt that others in the industry did not believe that women could have a "musical background... [or] understand what you're doing because you're a female." A University Press of Kentucky book states that customers did not treat a woman who worked at a guitar store like she knew anything about guitars until she would use special guitar terms. Indie folk singer-songwriter/guitarist Ani di Franco states that for women, in the past, even entering a guitar store was an "act of courage" because it felt like a "boys' club". Not only do female artists feel the pressure to please their male counterparts but it is also difficult for female DJs to fit in, in a male-dominated field.
  Despite funk's popularity in modern music, few people have examined the work of funk women. As cultural critic Cheryl Keyes explains in her essay "She Was too Black for Rock and too hard for Soul: (Re)discovering the Musical Career of Betty Mabry Davis," most of the scholarship around funk has focused on the cultural work of men. She states that "Betty Davis is an artist whose name has gone unheralded as a pioneer in the annals of funk and rock. Most writing on these musical genres has traditionally placed male artist like Jimi Hendrix, George Clinton (of Parliament-Funkadelic), and bassist Larry Graham as trendsetters in the shaping of a rock music sensibility" (35). Notable funk women include Chaka Khan, Labelle, Brides of Funkenstein, Klymaxx, Mother's Finest, and Betty Davis.
  Below are some of the top-earning female singers in the 2010s. Another way of selecting the most notable singers for this section would be by critical acclaim, but this is a more subjective criteria than earnings. Almost all of these singers are also songwriters, and some are also music producers:
  Adele
  Beyoncé
  Lady Gaga
  Madonna
  Katy Perry
  Rihanna
  Britney Spears
  Taylor Swift
  Celine Dion
  Jennifer Lopez
  Shakira
  Below are the top five earning female singers in 2019
  Taylor Swift – $185 million
  Beyoncé – $81 million
  Rihanna – $62 million
  Katy Perry – $57.5 million
  Pink – $57 million
  In East 
caption: Madonna is often referred to as the artist who changed the role of women in popular music.
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