FEATURE:
A Wake-Up Call for the Music Industry
Inside Linda Coogan Byrne’s Why Not Her? A Manifesto for Cultural Change
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WITH her book…
written “For the Girls”, Linda Coogan Byrne’s Why Not Her? A Manifesto for Cultural Change is an essential and urgent read. One of a few books this year that I have come across that I feel everyone needs to own. Released on 11th April, you can buy the book here. I am going to come to some thoughts regarding the book and is aims. It is a project that its author put her heart and soul into. Someone who tirelessly campaigns for gender equality and recognition of women in music. Her statistics and words regarding Irish female musicians and how they are overlooked on playlists is especially shocking. How there are always excuses that they are in the minority. You can follow Why Not Her? here. Taken from Linda Coogan Byrne’s book, when it comes to Irish women they “are releasing music independently — without the label support, playlist backing, or radio airplay their male counterparts get. The odds are stacked. And still, they rise”. I am going to explore that thought and sad realisation. Before that, here is more information about a book every music fan needs to own:
“Why Not Her? A Manifesto for Culture Change—A Bold Call to Action from Linda Coogan Byrne
Author, Activist, and Award-Winning Music Industry Consultant Demands Systemic Change in Music and Beyond
London/Dublin – April 11, 2025 – The wait is over. Why Not Her? A Manifesto for Culture Change is here to challenge the status quo and shake the foundations of the music industry—and beyond.
Written by Linda Coogan Byrne, a leading voice in gender equity and diversity, this manifesto is a fearless exposé of the systemic barriers that have long kept women and marginalised voices locked out of opportunities. With over two decades of experience in music, activism, and data-driven advocacy, Coogan Byrne lays bare the stark inequalities in the industry, weaving together powerful research, personal testimony, and an urgent call to action.
"This isn’t just about playlists or festival lineups. It’s about power—who gets heard and who is silenced," says Coogan Byrne. "This manifesto is my refusal to comply with a broken system. It’s about rewriting the rules and demanding better."
IN THIS PHOTO: Linda Coogan Byrne (photos via Irish Examiner)
Through her Why Not Her? movement, Coogan Byrne’s reports on gender and racial disparity have reached millions of people, forcing industry leaders to confront their biases. Her work has been featured in The Guardian, The Times, The Telegraph, The Independent, BBC, RTÉ, and Music Week and has driven tangible policy shifts across the media sector of the government.
A core message of the book is clear: silence is complicity. Resistance is not just necessary—it is imperative. With sharp analysis and firsthand industry insight, Coogan Byrne not only exposes injustice but also lays out a blueprint for real change.
As she writes in the book’s final chapter:
"Equality is not a gift to be granted—it is a right to be reclaimed. When one voice speaks up, it sparks change. When many voices rise together, it becomes a revolution no system can silence."
This is more than a book—it’s a movement. For industry professionals, policymakers, artists, and anyone committed to dismantling exclusionary structures, Why Not Her? is an essential read”.
Radio stations genuine gave these excuses when asked why they do not feature more women: “We don’t make the rules” (they do); “Women just moan” (they don’t); “We actually had some women on a special Friday night show back in February” (how generous of you!). The situation is bad for U.K. female artists but it is positively bleak for Irish women. This time last year, Why Not Her? published a report that outlined how Irish female artists made up just 2% of most-played songs on Irish radio in past year. The situation has not got much better. Think about incredible Irish women who are played on U.K. radio such as CMAT, and I wonder how her career would fare if she had to rely on Irish radio for support. The reality is Ireland has so many incredible women shaping and pushing the music landscape in exciting new directions. The fact that radio stations and festivals there marginalise them means many move out of the country or feel like they are trapped and cannot stay where they are. Gender imbalance is slightly improving in some areas. I have said how a massive festival like Glastonbury, whilst attempting to create greater balance across its bill, is taking steps back when it comes to female headliners.
Two last year (SZA and Dua Lipa) was the first time more than one women headlined the Pyramid Stage. Count the number of female artists who have headlined Glastonbury is the past fifty years and it makes for astronomically depressing reading. This year could have been a chance to keep moving in the right direction, though a festival with two male headline acts on the Pyramid Stage – Neil Young and The 1975 – seems like the festival settling into old (and bad) ways, in spite of a broader and fairer shake for women across over stages. I am going to bring in some passages from Why Not Her? A Manifesto for Cultural Change. I am starting out with this:
“The gender disparities evident in festival lineups (and on radio and streaming playlists - which we will look at in the next few chapters) are more than isolated industry phenomena—they are symptomatic of deeper, systemic inequities that ripple across all facets of society. Festivals, as public spaces of cultural expression, provide a striking lens through which we can explore these issues. While the music industry serves as the primary focus of this mani-festo, it also acts as a microcosm of much broader societal structures that dictate who gets opportunities, whose stories are heard, and who is left behind. By stepping back from the music industry, we can see how these patriarchal frameworks not only shape creative spaces but also 11
influence how we define success, handle adversity, and allocate value in our lives.The music industry is but one thread in a much larger tapestry. The inequities we observe there—from who gets booked at festi-vals to whose voices dominate airwaves—mirror the structures that dictate opportunities in every other sphere of life. These patriarchal frameworks seep into education systems, workplaces, and even our homes, shaping not just who succeeds but how we perceive success itself. To truly understand systemic inequality, we must broaden our perspective beyond the stage and playlists.These structures don’t just dictate opportunities or gatekeep success—they shape everything from career progression to men-tal health, impacting men, women, and gender-diverse individuals alike. The pressure for men to adhere to outdated notions of mas-culinity is as damaging as the systemic silencing of women’s voices. This conditioning runs deep, with consequences that are undeniably severe, particularly regarding mental health, as evidenced by the harrowing realities of suicide”.
I am going to come to my own thoughts and opinions to end. However, there are a couple of other extracts from Linda Coogan Byrne’s new (and essential) book that caught my eye and caused shock. Aside from fascinating statistics and urgent calls for change, there are passages like this that makes it clear how sexism and misogyny runs right through music. It seems especially severe and prevalent for Irish women:
“For generations, Irish women’s voices, much like the banshee’s, have been dismissed, feared, or outright silenced. The warnings they sounded—about inequality, about exclusion, about the cultural erasure they were experiencing—were waved away as exaggeration, just as the banshee’s cries were once shrugged off as superstition. But the truth always reveals itself. The banshee’s lament wasn’t a myth; it was a reckoning. And so too were these reports. In some myths, the banshee isn’t just a signal of doom but a figure of mourning, keening for the loss that has already happened. In that way, she mirrors the women in this industry—forced to carry the weight of exclusion, their warnings dismissed, their voices trailing into the wind until, finally, someone listens. I remember poring over the data late at night, seeing the reality of what was happening to women in Irish music laid bare in cold, hard numbers. The eerie thing was, we already knew this. Women in the industry had been crying out about it for years—just like the banshee, their voices trailing through the air, only to be met with denial, discomfort, or outright refusal to listen. There’s a long tradition in Ireland of women being seen as too emotional, too dramatic, too much. The banshee herself is feared not because she causes harm, but because she forces people to con-front something they don’t want to face. And isn’t that exactly what happens when women speak uncomfortable truths? They are called difficult, disruptive, hysterical—anything but right .But here’s the thing about a banshee’s cry: you can’t un-hear it. Once she keens, the message is out in the world, and nothing can take it back. These reports were our own banshee’s wail—undeniable, Linda Coogan Byrne26
impossible to ignore, and signalling that a long-overdue reckoning was at hand”.
You can see the facts and statistics and get a numerical and graphical representation of the inequalities that affect women through radio playlists, festivals and beyond. However, it is what the industry does with that data that is important! There does need to be action and activation from those in power. Especially in nations like Ireland where women are such a minority across playlists and when it comes to the most played artists, it cannot be for women to fight for themselves. At a time when women are producing the best music and ruling the industry, they are not being rewarded with opportunity or parity. It has to change:
“Understanding the facts is the first step toward consciousness, which leads to change. Facts alone are insufficient; they need to be combined with compassion, tenacity, and a will to confront embed-ded inequalities. This art is not about pointing fingers; it is about constructing bridges. The reports were more than simply critiques; they were blueprints, outlining specific strategies, offering actionable steps even, to break down the walls that had held so many people back. From redesigning radio playlists to broadening festival lineups, the idea was not to demolish what existed, but to reconstruct it in a way that acknowledged the contributions of all voices. Change is not easy, but it is always worthwhile. Using statistics to open doors and start conversations made me realise that when we face the truth and commit to improving, progress is not just possible but inevitable. With this important work, each step forward brings us closer to an industry that values talent and artistry over bias and tradition. The journey to equity is more than creating space; it’s about reimag-ining and reconstructing the foundations of our systems to serve everyone equally. This transcends the music industry. It’s a blueprint for collective liberation—a vision where the power of unity, diversity, WHY NOT HER? A MANIFESTO FOR CULTURE CHANGE33
and shared purpose propels us toward a more inclusive world. And at the heart of this transformation lies the undeniable strength and indeed vast potential of women, whose leadership will, one day, light the path forward. This path has always been about more than just discovering the truth or inspiring action; it’s about reimagining what is possible. The data may have opened the doors, but by Jesus the countless conversations kept them open, and it was during those chats that I realised something fundamental. The fight for equity is more than just a professional endeavour; it is a deeply emotional reckoning”.
I admire the work that Linda Coogan Byrne and Why Not Her? do. Publishing annual reports that look at the date around women being represented across the industry, including radio stations. I know that some of those highlighted in the report take note and improve but, too often, there are these excuses and ignorance. If men supposedly are requesting only men – which is not the case, and if you only play men then, funnily enough, that is all they will know! -, then it is down to those who play the songs and book acts to make change! If it means disappointing those listeners (sexists) then that is what need to happen. It is not about upsetting people or grand gestures. It is about levelling things up. That is the absolute minimum! The music industry should be gender-balanced when it comes to festival line-ups, playlists and including women (and non-binary artists). Women are dominating so should actually be in the majority in that respect – though we have to be realistic and realise the music industry might never go that far! I dread to think how Irish music will evolve if women feel they are not being heard and have to move to other countries so they can have a career. Festivals are still imbalanced and it is easy to make big leaps. Organisers hiding behind their own excuses. The data is out there, and Why Not Her? A Manifesto for Cultural Change is a book that argues consistently why this data cannot be ignored. Women practically backlisted in an industry that they are making golden and extraordinary. It is not about quality, demand or tradition. It is sexism and misogyny. It is also a music industry that is stuck in its patriarchal ways. Why make any change if people are not screaming en masse? There needs to be greater male allyship and calls for change. Incredible organisations like Why Not Her? do amazing work, though this needs to be met with similar commitment and outrage across the industry. What will the story be in a matter of weeks when Why Not Her? publish another report around gender and racial disparity across U.K. radio. The statistics on Irish radio. Despite some steps forward in some areas last year, I suspect we will have more questions than solutions this year. This needs to stop! Women need to be given more respect. The industry needs to realise their invaluable contributions and how the industry has, for decades, overlooked and side-lined them. If major changes do not happen, then it will be a massive disservice. Go and buy Why Not Her? A Manifesto for Cultural Change, as it is one of the most important books…
OF the past few years.