The Why Not Her? collective published their first report on gender disparity and lack of diversity across Irish radio in 2020. They have published a follow up report detailing the failures of certain radio stations to promote female and POC artists.

The 2022 follow-up report has revealed that FM104 and Today FM rank as two of the worst stations for improving diversity in their top 20 artists.

For FM104, 100 per cent of their top 20 Irish artists are white men. For the past five years, the top five domestic artists played on the station have been white men.

RTÉ 2FM, Spin 103.8, Dublin’s 98FM and Beat FM continue to be the ‘agents of change’ on Irish radio as they adapt to diversity and gender parity on their playlists. RTÉ Lyric has consistently been one of the most diverse stations in the industry.

Across Irish radio, music created in Ireland gets about one play to every six plays for international artists – around less than 15 per cent of all radio plays.

Founder of Why Not Her, Linda Coogan Byrne commented on the new findings: “While we are thankful to some Irish stations who have changed and shifted towards a more gender-equal and diversified sonic landscape, we urgently need to protect and support the livelihoods of all music acts and bands from our country and not just a select few that happen to be white and male. The time for change is now.”

To read more reports by Why Not Her? click here.

Elsewhere on District: Brian Teeling and Emma Roche remove artwork from National Gallery of Ireland