http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/c1866d12-117e-11e3-8321-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2eHTPNZ00
Today’s charts are filled with a generation of women young enough to be Madonna’s daughters – or Franklin’s granddaughters: acts such as Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Adele, Rihanna, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga. Last year Emeli Sandé sold more albums in the UK than any other performer. In the US Adele had the year’s biggest-selling album, with Swift in second place. “Women are definitely dominating music right now,” Rihanna exulted in 2011. Last year the sales tracking company Nielsen SoundScan named her as the best-selling digital artist ever, with 47.5m download sales. Gaga, Swift, Perry, Beyoncé and Britney Spears also appeared among the top 10 acts for digital sales. Has the call for respect finally been met? Or is the situation, to paraphrase the “feminist” Thicke, rather more blurred?
