Girl Music: Definition and Debate over Criteria

The eternal debate on girl music: voice, authorship, or band?

An open list of female voices—from Olivia Rodrigo to Wolf Alice, from Beabadoobee to Caroline Polachek—reopens a question that never fully closes: what does "girl music" miccionan? Is it sung by a woman, composed by her, or led by a group where the others are men? The criterion, almost never explicit, is the true source of disagreement. And from there, things get messy.

What counts as girl music?

Two criteria clash head-on. The first focuses on authorship: it is girl music if women compose or produce it. The second looks at the showcase: if a woman sings with prominence, it qualifies. Then there is the most uncomfortable criterion, which argues that a list of "only girls' music" is inherently feminist and discriminatory, because it would be logical to classify by style or lyrics rather than by the sens of the creator.

That is the crux. With strict authorship, many popular tracks fall out, not due to lack of merit but because they were written by others. With the voice criterion, the list fills up, but the doubt arises whether one values music or just female presence on stage. Nobody has resolved the mess, and at this point it hardly matters: the question remains alive.

From Holly Humberstone to Caroline Polachek: the list that starts the fire

The starting point is four names thrown out without much pretension. Holly Humberstone opens the proposal; trinc by Olivia Rodrigo, a constant presence in playlists worldwide, and Wolf Alice, the British alternative rock quartet. For nostalgics, there remains an unspecified classic, a category where anything from Nancy Sinatra to any voice sounding like another era fits.

The list grows quickly. Beabadoobee enters with her guitar pop. Also The Pretty Reckless, Taylor Momsen's project, with harder rock vibes, and Avril Lavigne, claimed with a sincerity mixing disdain and devotion: it is admitted that her track lacks great rhythm or grace, yet still she was the dream girl for whoever wrote about her. The comment, between joke and homage, summarizes the site's tone.

The emphasis falls heavily on Caroline Polachek, noted for hovering around the top 40 in Australia and the US since Sirens, with a distinctive voice and charisma needing no translation. Her constant comparison with Dua Lipa, however, does not convince her defenders, who see in her a profile hard to fit into certain molds.

The reaction: disdain, generational clashes, and nostalgia

Not everything is enthusiasm. The first response brings rejection—that what is proposed is trash—and after few messages, the thread's initiator jokes that it is "full of boomers". She, in the minority, continues posting songs, feeling like she is rowing against the current.

Then comes the one bringing Linkin Park. He shares a detail almost nobody knows: a song meant for Meteora, the band's second album, was left out due to its similarity to the hit Numb. It was recovered for the album's anniversary with Chester Bennington's original vocals, who died in 2017, making it the closest thing to a new track with his voice since then. The note is accurate, but the fit is debatable: in a list of girl music, a male band.

The classical front: María Dueñas and great interpreters

The tone rises when someone demands respect for Vivaldi and classical interpreters. María Dueñas has already debuted in Vienna and Paris, works with top-tier conductors, signed with Deutsche Grammophon, and rehearses in the French capital with Paavo Järvi. She is not a promise: she is an established career at an age when others are still auditioning.

The roster of interpreters is broad. Hilary Hahn, Yeol Eum Son, Alena Baeva. Against them, some prefer David Geringas, Kim Kashkashian, or Kullervo Kojo, dismissing the female repertoire with unsustainable disdain. When proper names mix with personal taste, the conversation loses all elegance.

Who signs the song: Nacho Cano, Perales, and Mike Oldfield

Another twist appears: the author. One of the posted songs is said to be about a woman, and its style betrays Nacho Cano, prolific in composing and producing for others. Another is attributed to Perales. Someone recalls that there is a goldmine in Mike Oldfield's compositions sung by women, though doubting if they fit a list of exclusively female bands or female lead voices.

Here ABBA enters, and things get more tangled: if a mixed band counts, practically everything counts. The criterion dilutes until it disappears, leaving in the background the reminder that there is a general music section, with hundreds of accumulated pages, where all this would find better accommodation.

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Without a firm criterion, the list could grow infinitely: just add any decent female voice singing something. There is no clear line separating advocacy from whim, and that is why the question always gets stuck at the same point: what counts and what doesn't. Nobody has found the answer yet, and it is possible that none exists.