Linda Coogan Byrne is a label manager, consultant, and publicist with 15 years experience in the music and radio industry. When COVID-19 hit, Linda did a deep-dive into the data around radio plays, only to discover cis-men were being massively overly favoured.

Perpetuating a lack of diversity & equality benefits only white cis men - this is the harsh truth.

As a result, Linda set up Why Not Her? to highlight and redress the gender disparity on the airwaves. In only 2 years, Why Not Her’s gender disparity reports have reached over 150 million people worldwide and have improved the representation of women on radio.

In this interview, we speak with Linda about founding 'Why Not Her?', the rise of creative independent radio since the pandemic, and what more can be done to fix radio's gender inequality problem.

Key Takeaways

• Who it's about: Linda Coogan Byrne, a music industry veteran who founded Why Not Her? after discovering cis-men were being massively over-favoured in radio airplay data during the pandemic.
• What it does: Produces gender disparity reports on radio airplay, reaching 150 million people worldwide, and measurably improving representation of women on air.
• The core argument: The imbalance isn't anecdotal, its structural - and needs to be measured and published, not just discussed.
• What's changed since: The campaign has since grown into a full organisation offering culture-change and EDI training, and prodcued a published manifesto/book.

Timecodes

01:15 - The origin of 'Why Not Her?'
07:00 - Consequences for artists not getting played
13:20 - Goals of 'Why Not Her?'
20:32 - Support offered
24:30 - Independent radio hot takes
33:13 - Linda's book getting stolen?!
36:06 - Fixing diversity in radio presenters
46:35 - What more needs to be done?
 

Episode Links

• Connect with Linda: Website | Twitter | LinkedIn
• Why Not Her?