Who's on Michelle Obama's Spotify list? Beyoncé, of course

Beyoncé tops Michelle Obama's first-ever Spotify playlist - no surprise - but Diana Ross is right there alongside Bey and No. 3 pick Mary J. Blige.

She also included Alicia Keys, Demi Lovato, TLC, a show tune (Defying Gravity from Wicked) and a little old school in the form of Billie Holiday.

The list of 20 songs is a testament to female singers and female empowerment. The first lady released it Sunday in honor of the International Day of the Girl.

The two-year-old event is the brainchild of the United Nations and highlights issues of gender inequality, especially with regards to education. According to the #62MillionGirls campaign, that is how many girls worldwide lack access to schooling.

In an interview Sunday with HerCampus.com, an online magazine aimed at women college students, Obama talked about her Let Girls Learn campaign to promote education for adolescent girls, and was asked about her Spotify list.

"I'm hooked on the soundtrack from Hamilton and I just heard Nico and Vinz perform at Glamour's "The Power of an Educated Girl" event at the Apollo Theater - so I'm a fan, but it's so hard to choose just one," she confided.

Politicians have always used "campaign songs" to promote their campaigns and their messages, but now they've seized on new media to accomplish their goals.

Thanks to assiduous promotion by Spotify publicists, having a playlist is becoming de rigueur for politicos as a way to connect with voters, especially earphone-wearing millennials. President Obama, for instance, released his Spotify playlists while vacationing on Martha's Vineyard over the summer.

Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton released hers in June, just hours before her campaign kick-off rally in New York. Like the first lady's, Clinton's list was all about empowerment anthems.