Marina and the Diamonds

Background

• The musician Marina Diamandis is the woman behind the band ‘Marina and the Diamonds’. She was bon in 1986 to Welsh and Greek parents, although she has often claimed to be from Ancient Greece. Dropping out of four different music courses at four different universities, she decided to make her own way in music, and began writing left-field pop songs and the band was ounded in 2005. Early on, she claimed that her inspirations were Britney Spears and Gwen Stefani -- who she often covered at live gigs -- but her songs have a soulful edge pointing to a deeper source of influence. Diamandis' piano/keyboard-driven songs vary from melancholic ballads to out-and-out glam pop, but her voice and melodic style are what make her unique.

Essentially a solo artist, Marina wrote most of her early material alone, arranging it for a band to ensure her live shows carried the full energy of her studio recordings. In interviews she often showed a dislike of being grouped together with other emerging artists, especially when she had nothing in common with them except gender.

• “It's not about being pop or not pop, or electronic or not electronic, it's more about feeling the groove in the music and knowing there are real musicians playing it.”

• “I'm always going to want to experiment with production and with sound so everyone had better get used to the fact I'm probably going to change with each album!”

Background• Her first single, "Obsessions/Mowgli's Road," was issued by indie label Neon

Gold in the U.S. It was followed later in 2009 by The Crown Jewels EP, which contained three new songs, including an electronic remix of "I Am Not a Robot." After playing the British festival circuit during the summer of 2009, Marina briefly retired to the studio to finish her debut album, 2010's The Family Jewels, before touring again. The album hit number five in the U.K., but was not recognised through out the world. Her second full-length studio outing, Electra Heart, was preceded by the singles "Primadonna" and "Radioactive." It topped the charts in the U.K., led by a strong showing for the "Primadonna" single, and also cracked the Top 40 in America.

Diamandis' third album, 2015's Froot, was a radical departure in working style; instead of a large cast of producers, she co-produced the album with David Kosten and wrote all the songs herself. While still packed with memorable, new wave-inflected pop hooks, Froot was a more personal and evocative production that showcased Diamandis' maturation as a performer. Her record company now is Atlantic Records and her style has changed from pop to a more indie style.

WebsiteThe band logo which is easily identifiable and is consistent across all media formats.

Task bar is used to make it easier to navigate to different pages. You can also click the arrow to get to different ages as well.

All types of social media are advertised showing the importance of making a name o herself

Advertising her new album and influence of record company present

The background appears like stars and dos not show the artists face which is uncommon as she is not well know. Her perceived image is more about the music and less about the person. The multi-coloured style creates an indie style.

The website follows the same colour scheme on every page and includes lots of artist images and social media to identify with her audience and keep the website current and visually interesting. The main focus is on the music as it seems o be recurrent on most pages. However, you can easily see the influence of the record label as there are constant prompts across the website to buy her music. For example ‘buy now’. Her audience would be teenagers because of the bright colours and alternative style.

Album Artwork

New Album

• This is her most resent album called ‘Froot’ which was released this year. It’s psychedelic colour scheme conveys her alternative style and the black background emphasises the colours and may represent the dark side (meanings) behind the music.

Music Video

• https://youtu.be/WZzcY7ASQno

• The song was release on the 10th of October 2014 on the singers birthday which would have been a publicity stunt. The video depicts her as being a femme fatale (dangerous woman) wearing old school glamorous outfits with a retro styling to it.

Genre characteristics as you see a lot of close-ups and the main focus is the artist which may have been the record company's influence. The relationship between the lyrics and visuals is her wearing pineapple earrings to represent fruit, but the song is a metaphor for her being ready for a relationship and her being ‘ripe’ meaning ready. Also you see marina gradually getting closer o the man and at the end see them together to show the progression of their relationship. The relationship between the music and visuals is every time there is a pause, a cut is used to go to a different shot. Also, as the pace quickens the shots become shorter, but are still considered long takes which is conventional of the genre. Motifs across her work are her retro and vintage style shown though her costume and choice of setting. Voyeuristic treatment of the female body is shown as you see marina continuously stroke parts of her body to show off her figure. The video appears very 60s Hollywood glam and could be intertextually video referenced to Madonna ‘Vogue’ music du to th shots and editing style.

Album promotion• Theses are posters for Marina and

you can notice similarities between them. She uses iconic head shots and her logo on all of them which shows consistency. They also have a retro style and all are similar to the albums made before them. You can notice her change from pop to indie music as her appearance is less bright and more subtle. For instance her make up is natural now and she wears plain clothes compared to before when she was bright.

Cross-media conclusion

In conclusion, Marina and the Diamonds uses different ways of advertising herself and relies on social media to keep in contact with her fans. You can see how she has developed as an artist and her style has changed from pop o indie with a continuous retro theme through all aspects of promotion.