All in all, this year’s awards season hasn’t been stellar for women in entertainment. Our social media feeds might have been filled with photos of stars like Olivia Colman and Regina King clutching Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress gongs at the Golden Globes, the Critics’ Choice Awards and the BAFTAs, but the truth is that very few women have triumphed in categories not explicitly aimed at their gender. Not a single woman was even nominated in the Best Director category at the aforementioned awards – and at the upcoming Oscars, women will be entirely absent from several gender-neutral categories including Best Director, Best Original Score and Best Film Editing.

The Grammys are always something of an awards season palate cleanser, interrupting the seemingly endless stream of film industry red carpets to celebrate the best music of the last 12 months. But this year, the Grammys were also refreshing for recognising women in big-ticket categories that didn’t start with the words ‘Best Female’.

Thirty-one women took home awards at the 61st annual Grammys on 10 February – an 82% increase from last year’s ceremony, when just 17 golden gramophones were handed out to women.

Why this year’s Grammy wins were so important for women in music