New report highlights gender disparity in the Irish charts

A new report from the Why Not Her team has highlighted the gender disparity in the Official Irish Albums and Singles Charts.

The report, carried out by Cian Sullivan, under the supervision of Linda Coogan Byrne, was compiled from the charts dating from December 7th 2018 to November 6th 2020.

Of the 73 Irish entries in the Official Irish Albums Chart over the last two years, the report finds that only 17 of those entries were by female artists. In addition, of the overall 341 weeks Irish artists spent on the Official Irish Albums Chart over the last two years, female artists only spent 56 of those weeks (16.4%).

Lisa Hannigan (pictured) was the last female act to hit the No.1 on the Official Irish Albums Chart in 2016 – while seven male acts have amassed 24 weeks at the No.1 position on the chart in the last two years.

The report finds that female artists fare no better on the Official Irish Singles Chart. Of the 69 Irish entries on the the Singles Chart over the last two years, only four were by female artists – and of the 500 weeks Irish artists spent on the chart over the same time period, only 23 weeks were spent by female artists (4.6%).

No female Irish act has entered the Top 10 on the Irish Singles Chart since Aoife Parle in 2016 – while five male acts have amassed 51 weeks in the Top 10 with twelve hit singles over the last two years.

“If you consume music in Ireland (buy, stream, download music) it is captured and reflected in the Charts," Cian Sullivan says of the findings. "Despite the fact that yes, some people (such as record execs, radio programmers, DJs, playlisters and streaming playlist compilers etc.) have more power to rectify the imbalance than the average music consumer, we also (as consumers and music enthusiasts) have the power within ourselves to shift the bias, however unconscious it may be on either end of the spectrum.

"We each have our part to share in the blame," he adds. "I’d like the data to speak for itself and act as a vehicle of change."

Linda Coogan Byrne also notes that "our dismal quota of Irish music across radio is a contributing factor" to the fact that "we see more International acts, artists and bands dominating the music landscape as opposed to our own domestic acts."

See the full report here.