Taylor Swift was named Billboard's woman of the decade on Thursday night - but her speech contained none of the usual award show platitudes.

Axar.az reports citing BBC.

Instead, the star criticised "toxic male privilege" in the music industry, championed fellow female artists and escalated her feud with Scooter Braun.

"Women in music are not allowed to coast," she observed. "We are held at a higher, sometimes impossible-feeling, standard."

"I've seen a lot," she added.

Swift, who turned 30 on Thursday, opened her 15-minute speech by reflecting on the last decade of her career, and the struggles she had faced.

She said that in her early days, critics had speculated that "a male producer or co-writer" was the real reason for her success; or that a "savvy record label" was responsible for making her a star.