Through their success, these three women have also accumulated a rare level of power in the industry, allowing them to take risks over how their music is released and consumed, and the rest of the business has taken notice.

“If Adele decides to not have her music on streaming for a certain period of time, that is going to send a strong signal to other artists,” said Casey Rae, chief executive of the Future of Music Coalition, an artists-advocacy group. “In reality, not all artists are able to make those same choices.”

[…]