Unboxing Women

Season finale about the Disney live-action remake of Ariel. For some reason we could not get the pronunciation of UNboxing Women correct in this whole episode.

Giddy chat about Harry wearing dresses and the repercussions for men in women's clothes everywhere.

Our anonymous guest worked at a streaming production company and shares with us the blatant discrimination she experienced there.

Watch this before you get a publishing contract! Info you definitely need as to which types of contracts there are and why you definitely need a lawyer who is specialised in the entertainment business, with a smattering of personal flair.

Links to "publishing admin" providers we mention: (after we recorded this episode Tunecore (Believe) just bought Sentric)

https://sentricmusic.com/

https://www.tunecore.com/music-publishing-administration

More info about how to network or music lawyer resources listen to and check shownotes of UW #63: Who do you need on your team as an unsigned artist?

We talk shop and spill secrets of the trade as well as give tips about how to do things yourself, or what to look out for when you're not doing it yourself!

Resource websites:

https://www.musicwomengermany.de/en/profiles

https://womeninctrl.com/

https://sheisthemusic.org/

https://www.femnoise.com/

https://www.thisisfemmehouse.com/

https://www.shesaid.so/

Links to things discussed in this episode:

Dana's EPK: https://www.danarexx.com/epk

Indepreneur music marketing courses: https://indepreneur.io/

Also listen to:

UW #37: Disrupting the corporate model with Steph Maksimow - about Marketing & Publicity

UW #39: Pushing back and showing initiative with Ashley DiBuduo - about PR

UW #51 : Why having a manager is overrated

Interesting results that opened our eyes and made us get into some really profound discussions on the patriarchy and misogyny in the music bizz and beyond.

Morgan went viral with #notallmen on Tiktok and has since used her voice and songs to move the needle on controversial feminist topics. Growing her fanbase both in the US and in Europe, she tells us about the journey and what's next.

Dana speaks about secrets she learned from touring with Anastacia, meeting new fans and what comes next.

What is behind a Superbowl Show and why don't artists get paid for it? Our thoughts on Rihanna's performance: did she sing live or not..?

Michaela catches us up on their music career since episode 14, as well as the growth of Golden Poppy Music, their Artist Management company. On top of that they have released their newest album "Come Home To Yourself" as the artist "The Sea Tease".

Discussing the documentary "P!nk - Staying True" and looking back at her origins as well as analysing how she's stayed on top of the game. Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQaYqB6NFBQ

Has Disney changed with the times?  Find out as we discuss new wave Disney movies (from 2010 to now) and compare them to the classic princess movies Disney is known for. 

SPOILER ALERT - we chat in-depth about storylines and scenes from the movies.

Catch our previous (and controversial) episodes: Ep 43: "Part I: The evolution of Disney Princesses", Ep 44: "Part II: Who are the real Disney Heroes?" and Ep 45: "How Disney perpetuates homophobia through their Villains".

'T is the season to analyse the success of certain Christmas songs and bring some very misogynistic lyrics to light.. your xmas will never be the same.

Link to the article "A Composer Breaks Down The Music Theory Behind Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You”." (Not from the Spotify Blog as mentioned in the audio, but from Stereo Gum): https://www.stereogum.com/2208354/mariah-carey-all-i-want-for-christmas-is-you-music-theory/columns/in-theory/?utm_source=Stereogum&utm_campaign=7996097726-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_06_11_07_32_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5d9c816fab-7996097726-387730742&mc_cid=7996097726&mc_eid=713406dc47

Shania Twain is the best-selling country artist of all time.  What you probably don't know if you're not a hardcore fan is that she grew up poor in an abusive family situation, hunting wild animals for food.  Against all odds, she did not let anything deter her from her dream!  Find out about Shania's history together with us.

Who uses Autotune? Why is it frowned upon in certain genres, while it is glorified in others?  We divulge a couple of secrets well-known in the industry, but that most music fans have no clue about.

We mention our Episode 25: "Vibrato in Pop Music", Episode 32: "Exploring Imposter Syndrome" and Episode 23: "Women Supporting Women - Vocal & Communication Coach Angela Durrant".

Daniela is a singer and actor doing musical theatre in Germany.  She tells us about some well-kept secrets in the German theatre world and beyond. With years of experience she has also stepped into projects with schools all around the world to give the children the opportunity to get introduced to musical theatre, opening their minds to the arts. Listen to this and more about what Dani is up to next in this episode.

Do you have a manager?  We analyse this ever-returning question asked by what seems like everyone working the music industry and Dana unpacks her experience with people who call themselves managers.

We chat about helpless female sidekicks in movies and how Reese Witherspoon made everyone aware of the problem back in 2016, but nothing has changed much.  Still this is a question we have to ask ourselves and our female community as to how we move the needle and make people realise their internalised misogyny that is perpetuated this vicious cycle.

Spoiler alert: We chat about a couple of movies where the line "What do we do now?" is uttered by the female characters and we describe scenes from 'Toy Story 3' and 'San Andreas'.  

Salt Ashes, aka Veiga Sanchez, burst into the electronic/dance music scene with her signature dark synth-pop melodies and zeitgeist club sound - all of which was inspired by Giorgio Moroder’s blend of disco and epic dark atmospheres.  We have a chat with this amazing woman about her artistic choices in sound, lyrics, branding and her touring adventures supporting Goldfrapp in early 2022.

How? Why? We hate it and made an episode about it. We try to figure out why (a lot of) men do this and we come to some surprising conclusions.  Let us know the best mansplaining that you have had to endure.

Adele was accused by the media of being transphobic after saying she was proud to be a female artist when the Grammys had just announced they were pulling the plug on gendered categories.  We dive into a conversation about Adele's past touring and vocal issues as well how this whole Grammys discussion came to be.

!!We realised after recording this that Adele said what she said after the Brits announced they were going non-binary.  Both the Brits and the Grammys went non-binary at the same time - hence our confusion.  This doesn't impact our opinion about both matters much so we decided to keep this episode as is.

Mary and Katie, an aunt and a niece who share the same abuser in their family, wrote a book about their experiences.  The idea arose from wanting to help bring mental illness into the light and in the process they found that by talking about it, they were able to move on as much as one can after having lived what these strong women have gone through.  Listen to our delightful chat about some very heavy subjects.

Women above 30 and camp men should be feared! This is Part III of our Disney series where we dissect the choices made by Disney with regards to Disney villains.  Who did they want children to be afraid of and how has that changed over the years?

Part I: "Disney Princesses" and Part II: "Disney Heroes" in this series also available in this space.

SPOILER ALERT - we chat in-depth about storylines and scenes from the movies.

Part II of our Disney analysis series where we have a good look at who the real heroes are! Is it the princes that come to the princesses aid, or do they just take the credit? How much saving do the men really do?  Part III: "Disney Villains" and Part I: "Disney princesses" are also available here.

SPOILER ALERT - we chat in-depth about storylines and scenes from the movies.

In this episode we analyse the evolution of the Disney Princesses from 1937 up till now.  How realistic are they for their time and how toxic are yesterday's princesses to today's children?  Join us for Part I of our series on Disney movies.  Part II: "Disney Heroes", and Part III: "Disney Villains" also available in this space.

SPOILER ALERT - we chat in-depth about storylines and scenes from the movies.

Simone has 6 years of experience at Deezer under her belt as a Senior Manager Editorial & Label Relations, where she was responsible for a myriad of editorial playlists and campaigns for popular artists.  She spills the tea on sexist radio programming and explains how playlisters discover songs for editorial playlists on streaming platforms. If you're an independent artist or signed to an independent label, this is a must-hear!

Maika has always said she is not a "fangirl". But what does that mean exactly and is that totally true?  In this episode we uncover what the term really means and compare it to its' male counterpart.

We mention #Britneyisfree - listen to our episode n°36 about #FreeBritney is you want the background on that.

We explore the double standards and misogyny in the Terms of Service of TikTok and Instagram.  Did you know Instagram explicitly bans female nipples ONLY?  

Women are getting shadow-banned, banned, deleted for all kinds of things that men are also doing on the same platforms, but no one seems to be banning them.

Maika talks about Devin Lytle:

Ashley DiBuduo explains the different facets of Talent Management and how a Red Carpet event works. We also dig into what it takes to stand out when applying for your dream job.

Get in touch with Ashley here:

Join us on a deep-dive into the origins of the word "bitch".

CE means "Common Era"

Steph Maksimow founded "Whoa, That's Fresh LLC Marketing & Publicity" and was immediately on the road to success after being stuck in a rut at a corporate job in a toxic male environment.  We discuss what she did when men kept underestimating her and telling her what to do.

Steph explains to us how music publicity works and what's important to keep in mind as an artist.

Connect with Steph here:

We had a pre-BritneyFreed chat about what was going on and what we came to realise while watching the "Framing Britney Spears" documentary.

SPOILER ALERT! Watch the "Framing Britney Spears" documentary before listening to our rant, as we discuss it at length (available on multiple streaming services).

In the meantime Britney has been freed from her conservatorship!

Sammy started off as a soprano opera singer in Australia and after realising she wanted to be more behind the scenes, redirected her career to her current role specialising in commercial business affairs in radio and music at an international broadcaster in the UK.

In this episode we review the movies, Lara Croft: Cradle of Life (2003), Alien and Little Women (2019) and discuss if acting like a man can get you ahead.  We compare real life with the roles played by women in these movies, as some were written through the male gaze and others were written as unisex or for a male character, but were eventually played by a woman.

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched the movies yet, please note that they are discussed at length.

Which movie do you want us to review next?

Today we are joined by Naomi Jean-Marie, a woman who wears many hats. Not only is she a fellow independent artist and singer-songwriter, but she also leads and organises a music project for charity at her local church as a vocal coach in Wembley, London.

Follow Naomi:

We unbox what Imposter Syndrome is, why everyone is talking about this right now and also how we deal with it.

We unbox the wonderful underwater world of Mermaid Celine who is the first professional Mermaid in Belgium and fast setting a trend!

Check out Mermaid Celine's tail and adventures here:

Meet special guest Matt Parisi, our first male guest on the show! He is a feminist and ally who regularly collaborates with female and non-binary artists and we look forward to sharing his views on the Female Revolution with you. Matt is an accomplished independent producer based in the UK. Follow him on:

Stormy J is a broadcaster, House Radio DJ and journalist based in the UK.  Together we dig deeper into what the perception of women is in the DJ world and how to stay mentally healthy.

Interesting article by Stormy J:

Why is it so hard to put women at your line-up? We analyse some popular festival line-ups and the reason why they are so so male. We also dig into the Grammys and some misogynistic quotes by former head Neil Portnow. (Dana mistakes Neil with Ken Ehrlich, but Ken is the producer of the show, not the president)

Why are men allowed to use vibrato in Pop Music, when women generally are specifically told to avoid it? Dana and Maika discuss their experiences on this, as well as taking apart a couple of singers from both genders, also delving into the mystery of 'falsetto'.

Lady Gaga is an absolute icon in the music industry, especially for women. But why are people fascinated with her and how is she different? Let's find out!

Today’s guest is Angela Durrant, online-based Vocal Coach and Impact & Communication Coach. Join Dana and Maika and listen to Angela's backstory!

Get in touch with Angela:

We've presumably all heard of the phenomenon 'Glass Ceiling' by now, but have you heard of the 'Glass Cliff'? Neither had we!

Today’s guest is Mandy Neukirchner, jazz guitarist and podcast host of the Bebop Mädchen podcast. Among other things, we delve into the search for female musicians.

Follow Mandy:

Ageism is a real issue in the music and entertainment industry! Join Dana and Maika in a chat about their experiences with ageism and the thing we all know can't be missing in this one: Madonna's young boyfriend.

Today’s guest is Yvonne Hartmann, Berlin-based photographer, graphic designer, art director and also co-founder of Musico Women, an online community for women working in the music business.

Follow Yvonne

Maika and Dana discuss the value of comedy in breaking taboos and the work of comedians towards a more inclusive entertainment industry.

Domestic violence touches 1 in 3 women worldwide! STOP THE ABUSE!!

Ashley runs a female lead community to inspire rising womxn songwriters and musicians to make an impact on this male-dominated industry.

Follow Ashley:

Kate O’Donnell, Artistic Director at Trans Creative UK, tells us what it means to be trans and how transgender people want to change the world.

Follow Kate:

Maika spills the beans on her music release plans for 2021.

Follow us on the socials and send us a DM or let us know your personal experiences with the hashtag #SUCHABITCH. ⁣ 

In this episode we chat with our guest Michaela D. Jordan founder of Golden Poppy Music Agency about doing shows as a young girl and how she helps independent artists with her brand new business model.⁣

Dana Rexx talks about her search for female producers and discusses the collabs she did for her new music coming out in 2021.

Season Finale! It is the last episode of Season 1 so get ready for some announcements about Season 2!! We also discuss Billie Eilish and her latest song.

Special guest Donata Kramarz from NOSOYO joins us to talk about gender roles and label feuds.

You can check out their work here:

Celebrating Maika's birthday while discussing the weird gender quirks of society.

We learn more about the lawsuits between Kesha and Dr Luke.

Today we explore if male movements should exist.

Actually we DO know what happened to Taylor Swift's butt.. join Maika Rose and Dana Rexx for this week's episode of 'Unboxing Women' as we discuss just that!⁣

What does inclusion for women mean?

We discuss what feminism means to women, to men, and how it applies to the music business.

The fourth episode of our series 'Unboxing Women', led by Dana Rexx and Maika Rose, exploring how women are perceived in modern society, with a focus on the music industry.

Maika and Dana talk about their youth and their path into the music business.

Dana and Maika discuss gender prejudice in traffic, amongst other things..

Our very first episode and an introduction to Unboxing Women, how Maika and Dana met and why they started the podcast.