Second Take: The declining popularity of girl groups in Western music harms sonic diversity

Contemporary pop hits have sounded hollower without the regular inclusion of girl groups in the Western musical landscape. Even as this summer featured the explosion in popularity of several female artists from Sabrina Carpenter to Chappell Roan – while others such as Charli xcx experienced a resurgence in mainstream attention – the music industry’s ever-evolving ecosystem remains strangely absent of female groups.