“A high tide lifts all boats” might be a cliché — and a fraught one at that — but clichés are clichés for a reason. A recent reminder that proved the timeless truth of that age-old aphorism came from the Los Angeles Times‘ interview with Billie Eilish. While the question — whether Eilish feels threatened by the success of recent pop breakouts like Charli XCX and Chappell Roan — could be politely considered… well… dumb, it did give us a chance to think about why the question exists, and why it’s wrong. As counterintuitive as it may seem, the success of so many women in pop music benefits them all.
To her credit, Billie had the perfect response to the question, as did Charli, who replied on social media later. “I’m so happy for these b*tches,” said Eilish. “It’s a crazy world when you get to the level they’re experiencing right now, and they’re doing great. Fans are drawn to them because they’re f*cking awesome.” XCX laughed off the question herself, writing, “Pausing from ‘Brat’ completely different chaos to just say lol this is a crazy question.”
It’s easy to see how so many of us fall into the trap of pitting these women against one another. They operate primarily in an attention economy, and it largely seems like there is only so much attention (not to mention, actual money) to go around. An “investment” in Billie’s concert might mean missing Chappell’s concert. Every minute spent listening to Chappell is one you aren’t listening to Charli. And poor Dua Lipa is being completely overlooked in this long-winded, tortured metaphor, so she may as well not even exist, right?
This mindset is part of a larger problem with how we’re taught to view the world. When guys like Bezos, Musk, and Zuckerberg are all running around trying to make their products the only game in town (often bankrupting competitors and partners alike in their efforts to create their all-powerful, ego-stroking monopolies), we tend to apply their line of thinking to every aspect of society or culture — including something as innocuous as pop music. That’s how we get stan wars on Twitter (never calling it “X,” by the way) and marketing plans designed to game algorithms to manufacture Billboard chart success for clout (sorry, Sabrina).
But this Highlander mentality — “there can only be one” — ends up being counterproductive and damaging. The girlies themselves have told us time and time again how much they hate being compared and forced into imaginary combat. We’ve all grown at least a little bit tired of stan culture. But the part that many of those folks who insist on making women in pop do battle overlook is how things actually work in the music business — or any business for that matter. When there’s a runaway success in practically any medium, the decision makers at the very top of the industry take notice, and try to capitalize.
Remember when every third movie to hit theaters was an adaptation of a post-apocalyptic teen fiction romance series? Or how all the movie studios wanted to build their own interconnected “cinematic universes” after the Avengers made a billion bucks at the box office? How many Conjuring clones are there at this point? The same thing applies to pop music; all the above-mentioned names, and those of others like Olivia Rodrigo, Ethel Cain, Lorde, Halsey, and more, are owed, at least in part, to the increased interest in pop music made by women prompted by previous pop breakouts from women.
Look at how huge Taylor Swift’s last handful of albums have been. Label execs look at the frenzy they generated and think, “People must want to hear music from versatile singer-songwriter types,” and loosen the purse strings, clearing budgets and contracts for even more women like Swift. Eilish boosts her giant status even more last year as a result of her Barbie soundtrack contribution “What Was I Made For?” and now, the doors (and windows) are open for a variety of different approaches to pop sounds that don’t fit established formulas — for example, Chappell Roan and Charli XCX.
Fans should see this as a good thing, because the alternative scenario — that one of these artists flops hard after an extended rollout — could have the opposite, chilling effect. Once those who sign the checks (most of whom are old white men, for what it’s worth) decide there’s no market for women in pop, you can bet they’ll close up the bank before the next quarterly report comes out. And all these women know it, too, which is why they don’t want to compete, and they aren’t praying on each other’s downfalls, even if they have personal frictions. They know that their livelihoods are balanced on a knife’s edge and the hands holding it are people who don’t have any skin in the game other than potential profits.
So, maybe we can all be a little more chill about pitting these women against each other, if we actually want our faves to succeed. Success for one doesn’t necessarily guarantee success for all — there’s still talent and timing and a whole lot of luck involved — but it sure makes everything a lot easier. Those high tides are just the first part of any artist’s journey, whether they’re new or established, but nobody wants to see their ships stuck at the dock, or being sunk by the weight of unnecessary competition.
