The 'Gaga effect' / El Efecto GaGa

LONDON–No two lists are the same, but as pop pundits gaze into their crystal balls at the start of a new decade, it is single female acts who look destined for the top, at the expense of indie bands. Emboldened by the success in 2009 of flamboyant Lady Gaga, YouTube sensation Susan Boyle and country star Taylor Swift – and the likes of Amy Winehouse and Duffy before them – women are being backed to eclipse the bands once again in 2010.

"The 'Gaga effect' is going to continue in the next year and you can already see more artistic, edgy female pop acts," said Albert Schilcher, vice president of talent and music at MTV Networks International.

"Indie acts are suffering somewhat. That's not to say there can't be another great indie band, but not a lot of them are being signed (by labels) at the moment," said Schilcher, who also predicted a resurgence in dance music. Paul Rees, editor of Q magazine, agreed.

"If you look at all the things that are being teed up by major labels, most of them are solo female artists," he told the BBC as part of its annual poll of the "next big things" in pop chosen by more than 100 industry experts. lready on her way to international stardom is L.A.-based Kesha, whose debut song "TiK ToK" hit No. 1, selling 610,000 digital tracks in a single week last month, the highest by a female artist on record. The New York Times described the track as "a zippy and salacious celebration of late nights and mornings-after" and likened the 22-year-old to Lady Gaga, widely considered to be the biggest international breakthrough of 2009.

Britain's answer to Kesha may be Ellie Goulding, who features in numerous top lists and has already carried off the 2010 Critics' Choice Award at the BRITs. With a sound described by BRITs organizers as "electro-folk-acoustic-pop," Goulding's debut album is due to be released in March through Universal Music's Polydor Records. On Friday, Goulding topped the BBC's Sound of 2010 poll and in second place was another female singer, Marina Diamandis. Other British female artists seen on the up include teenager Daisy Coburn, Coco Sumner (Sting's daughter) and Roxanne Tataei (Rox). Debi Nova of Costa Rica has been likened by some to Shakira. Few are writing off the bands, however. The Drums is a New York quartet destined for big things, according to the NME music magazine, which called them "the most talked-about new band on planet Earth." MTV, which features the group in its short list of 10 acts to watch in 2010, said the Drums were "spearheading a curious but undeniable surf-music craze that's currently enveloping the U.S. indie scene." SOURCE: TheStar.com