Shania Twain – 15 Million
Faith Hill – 12 Million
Carrie Underwood – 9 Million
Taylor Swift – 8 Million
Reba – 6 Million
Gretchen Wilson – 6 Million
Martina McBride – 4.5 Million
Sara Evams – 4 Million
LeAnn Rimes – 3 Million

Compare this with Alison Krauss who has not had any solo top ten hits this decade. Who has over 6 Million, not including the 8.5 Million for O Brother where art thou?
Jo Dee Messina – 1.5 Million

My guess would be that the trend that began in the mid-nineties bottomed out in the mid-00s, and now there are women who really are “immediate adds” – namely, Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift – for the first time in many years. Underwood especially – nine consecutive top two hits(!) – has been remarkably dominant.

Another factor might be that the nineties featured the rise and peak of several artists like Trisha Yearwood, Pam Tillis, Patty Loveless, Faith Hill, etc. and nearly all of their top ten hits (with the exception of Hill) were in that decade.

Most of the nineties women ran out of gas at radio this decade, and the ones who nominally replaced them for a while – Jo Dee Messina, Terri Clark, Sara Evans, Lee Ann Womack – didn’t have the endurance of their predecessors.

Swift, Underwood and Sugarland/Nettles suggest that country radio is open to playing women in heavy, regular rotation again. Perhaps Miranda Lambert will eventually get there as well. Seems like “White Liar” is flying up the chart, at least by her standard.

In a 9 year period from 1991-1999, Brooks & Dunn released 29 singles.

In a 10 year period from 2000-2009, Brooks & Dunn released 22 singles.

You noted George Strait released 19 top 10 singles in the 00s. But between 1990 and 1995, he released 21 top 10 singles.

Those are significant declines that seem to be affecting all artists.

My guess is that women have declined both compared to prior periods and compared to the overall market. But my point is that the decline in decade-over-decade comparisons may be driven by factors other than declining fortunes of women (for example, maybe by the release of fewer singles).

Besides Carrie, Taylor, and Sugarland, the last female(s) to top the country singles chart were the Wreckers in 2006. Even after altering their sound to fit what is selling today, and with all the promotion in the world, Reba, and Martina can only peak at 10 or 11. Radio wouldnt even touch Sara Evans’ last single, Faith’s Greatest Hits singles tanked. Trisha and Lee Ann can only get a lead-off single in the low teens. Shania still hasn’t came back.

I guess it’s sad thinking that all these artists may have peaked commerically, and we’re onto a newer generation to replace them. At the same time, the quality of their music is arguably better when their unleased from the restraints of radio.

Again, I think you have to go back and see how women have done relative to men in the same period. But I bet you’d find men releasing a lot fewer singles and having fewer top 10′s too.

I’d be surprised if women weren’d doing worse on a relative basis in the 00′s as they did in the 90′s. But I bet a decent amount of the overall drop (as opposed to any relative drop) is that there are simply fewer singles charting in the top 10.

What has changed over time is the number of women included on that A-list, along with the B-list not getting nearly as much airplay as it used to.