DIY Darling Spotlight: Marina V

DIY MARINA VMarina V is a DIY darling who has nurtured an incredibly devoted fan base. So much so, her fans are willing to do anything for her, including booking shows and financing her recordings.

In fact, fans have financed all of her recordings via multi-tiered marketing plans. Indeed, two years ago she raised over $30,000 from fan donations alone.

V also created an amazing array of merchandise, from CDs and posters to handwritten lyric sheets, sheet music and Russian artifacts from her homeland.

But, this artist doesn’t only rely on innovative marketing schemes. She’s also a serious performer. Marina has toured with Howard Jones, opened for Ben Harper, and played over 600 international shows at: NAMM, NACA, SXSW, the Kodak Theatre, the Nokia Theatre, the US Embassy in Moscow, the Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C. and a two-month residency at the Hollywood Hard Rock Café.

And all that work paid off… She received an award from Sir Bob Geldof for the “International Awards Project” and was flown to London to perform.  She also performed live on Good Morning Arizona, NBC LA, KUSI San Diego, and others. Many of her songs have been featured in documentaries, films and TV shows, such as Days of Our Lives, The Good Wife, the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), and National Geographic’s Amish: Out of Order. She even wrote and produced a song for a major Pepsi campaign.

Last month Marina was invited to be the debut act for Hellophonic’s social entertainment platform, and is currently working on her latest recording Inner Superhero, while her music video “Run” is in rotation in over 8,500 retail outlets across the US. To find out more, go to http://MarinaV.com.

By Bernard Baur

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