This week saw the most successful UK charts run ever enjoyed by female artists. But marketing women in pop hasn't changed much from the poster girls of postwar Britain

It's not often you spot a trend started by Vera Lynn. She might be a mistress of the music hall and soldiers' sweetheart, but fashionably ahead of the curve at 93? You'd hardly bet on it.
 
But, in September last year, Lynn's best of album went to the top of the charts and as Music Week pointed out recently, it was the first of 11 No 1s out of the last 18 to come from solo female artists. Last Sunday, Ellie Goulding's hyped debut landed in the top spot, sealing the most successful run on the UK charts ever enjoyed by women. Swap a Cheryl Cole for a Colbe Caillat, Whitney Houston for Leona Lewis, and the picture in the US is near identical; 10 of the last 16 Billboard No 1s are from solo female singers.
 
It's a triumph, especially for such a male-dominated industry â€' only 23% of senior management and 34% of UK jobs in music are held by women. And that the girls have come out on top can only inspire another wave of female musicians, singers, and innovators. Whether the fashion for kooky pop stars in hairbands and heavy eye make-up will hold is one thing; that they're there in such strong numbers â€' and making classic pop songs â€' is a proper achievement.
 
But before someone cracks open the champagne to the faint strain of Here Come the Girls, we should probably take stock. If there's one thing we can learn from Lynn, it's that the marketing of women in pop music isn't as radically different in the global age of Gaga than it was in postwar Britain. A seachange has occurred and talent, creativity and hard work have plenty to answer for. But the kind of youth and beauty seen in a L'Oreal advert still reigns supreme and a big promotional campaign can go a long way in the place of albums stuffed with filler.
 
Be it Lily Allen or Rihanna, Little Boots or Pixie Lott, pop music is plastered with poster girls. The irony is that for every Barbara Streisand and Celine Dion, I could name 20 VV Browns, Remi Nicoles and Siobhan Donaghys who've flagged into chart oblivion.
 
The other awkward but adhered to principle is the emphasis on solo stars. Female artists aren't marketed in groups like men. If they do happen to be in a band, it's largely with other blokes in one of two forms: taking a sideline as the keyboard player, or as the entire focus of the band (sorry, "the Machine", but it's all about Florence). There are exceptions to every rule but the solo female artist is a gold standard in the music industry. Whether we may be better off for it or not, there isn't a girl equivalent of U2, Coldplay, Radiohead or Kings of Leon.
 
Women in pop, then? A brilliant, inspiring, kicking-down-the-door success story. One that will read even better when we can recognise their talents across the industry â€' and not just as part of a passing fad.