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29 of the 30 Most-Consumed Songs This Year Are By Men
Breakout singer-songwriter Julia Michaels is the only solo woman represented.
The U.S. is predominantly listening to music by men, according to a new report from Variety and BuzzAngle Music. Their study ranked the most-consumed songs of 2017, factoring in audio streams, song sales, radio spins and Shazam tags, which ultimately outlined music's gender disparity with 29 of the 30 tracks created by men.
There are four total women included on the ranking, but two are featured artists: Selena Gomez on Kygo's "It Ain't Me" at No. 25 and Alessia Cara on Zedd's "Stay" at No. 20. Taylor Swift appears alongside Zayn Malik on Fifty Shades Darker's "I Don't Wanna Live Forever." Breakout singer-songwriter Julia Michaels is the only solo woman represented on the list, with her debut single "Issues" at No. 17.
The Top 10 is exclusively male, with Ed Sheeran's "Shape of You" landing in the No. 1 most-consumed spot at more than 5 million impressions. Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's "Despacito" followed closely behind in No. 2, and Kendrick Lamar's "HUMBLE." at No. 3.
Related | Hitmaker Justin Tranter & Courtney Love on Bringing Outsider Perspectives to Mainstream Radio
Representation of LGBTQ talent is even smaller on Variety's list, with only straight artists landing in the Top 30. Pop hitmaker Justin Tranter, who identifies as queer, is credited for co-writing two of the featured tracks, including "Believer" by Imagine Dragons, as well as "Issues," but that's the extent of 2017's LGBTQ inclusion.
Working on the fringes of music is something Tranter knows all too well, opening up this summer with fellow outsider Courtney Love about the straight male-dominated industry:
"It's shocking how few women and LGBTQ people are in the behind-the-scenes world of the studio," he said. "I think it's like passive homophobia, where people believe I should be able to get married, but [I'm not] the first person they'd think of [to work with] because they're hanging out with their bros all day, and they're gonna put their bros in the session."
Check out Variety's entire ranking, here, and listen to Julia Michaels' "Issues," below.
