Despina Vandi

Despina Vandi (Greek: Δέσποινα Βανδή; pronounced [ðesˈpina ˈvanði]), born as Despina Malea (Greek: Δέσποινα Μαλέα) on 22 July 1969, is a Greek singer of Pontic Greek ancestry. Born in Tübingen near Stuttgart, Germany, Vandi's family returned to Kavala, Greece when she was six years old. After moving to Athens in the early 1990s, Vandi signed with Minos EMI and released two albums Gela Mou (1994) and Esena Perimeno (1996). She then began an exclusive collaboration with songwriter/producer Phoebus and struck commercial success with her third album, Deka Endoles (1997), followed by the multi-platinum Profities (1999), where she established a more "pop" stage performance style and image, becoming one of the most prominent portrayers of the laïko/pop genre.

Her single "Ipofero" (2000) became the best-selling single of all-time in Greece. Following Phoebus' departure from Minos EMI, Vandi followed him to the newly formed independent label Heaven Music and released Gia (2001), which became and remains her biggest commercial success, as well as one of the best-selling albums of all time in Greece and Cyprus. Vandi also released the album abroad and the self-titled single "Gia", topping the US Billboard Hot Dance Airplay and making her the first Greek artist to top a Billboard chart. She returned with Stin Avli Tou Paradeisou (2004), which was certified multi-platinum and became her fourth album to achieve six-figure sales. In 2007 10 Hronia Mazi, a ten-year celebration of her collaboration with Pheobus was released, followed by her eighth studio album C'est La Vie. In 2012 she released the album Allaxa, which was certified 2x platinum sales and has been her first double platinum record since 2005.

Heaven Music

Heaven Music is an independent record label in Athens, Greece, founded in 2001 by ANT1 Group. It is known for signing new and young artists.

Overview

During its first five years of operation under the control of George Levendis, Heaven Music was credited with certifications of a four-time platinum album, three double platinum albums, five platinum albums and twenty-four gold albums, as well as one double platinum, one platinum and eight golden CD-singles.

Heaven had an exclusive contract with the songwriter Phoebus since the company's founding until he left in late 2009. He is well known in Greece and Cyprus for his work with many popular singers and having produced several multi-platinum albums.

Heaven has shown a pattern of interest in new and young singers. It cooperated with parent company's talent show Fame Story, the Greek version of the Star Academy franchise, and signed several of its contestants.

Heaven has worked to promote its artists outside of Greece. In 2002, Heaven began a collaboration with the Ministry of Sound, a leading dance label in Europe, exposing Despina Vandi's album Gia, which was already certified multi-platinum in Greece, across Europe and North America.

Music video

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. There are also cases where songs are used in tie in marketing campaigns that allow them to become more than just a song. Tie ins and merchandising could be used in toys are marketing campaigns for food and other products. Although the origins of music videos date back to musical short films that first appeared in the 1920s, they came into prominence in the 1980s when MTV based their format around the medium. Prior to the 1980s, these works were described by various terms including "illustrated song", "filmed insert", "promotional (promo) film", "promotional clip", "promotional video", "song video", "song clip" or "film clip". Since the creation and increased popularity of YouTube, mainstream artists now promote new music videos by releasing trailers of short promos on the site for their upcoming song and music video. Consequentially, YouTube has been converted into a social media platform for celebrities and artists to market themselves to their fans and audiences.

Music

Music is an art form and cultural activity whose medium is sound and silence. The common elements of music are pitch (which governs melody and harmony), rhythm (and its associated concepts tempo, meter, and articulation), dynamics (loudness and softness), and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture (which are sometimes termed the "color" of a musical sound). Different styles or types of music may emphasize, de-emphasize or omit some of these elements. Music is performed with a vast range of instruments and with vocal techniques ranging from singing to rapping, and there are solely instrumental pieces, solely vocal pieces and pieces that combine singing and instruments. The word derives from Greek μουσική (mousike; "art of the Muses"). In its most general form, the activities describing music as an art form include the production of works of music (songs, tunes, symphonies, and so on), the criticism of music, the study of the history of music, and the aesthetic examination of music. Ancient Greek and Indian philosophers defined music as tones ordered horizontally as melodies and vertically as harmonies. Common sayings such as "the harmony of the spheres" and "it is music to my ears" point to the notion that music is often ordered and pleasant to listen to. However, 20th-century composer John Cage thought that any sound can be music, saying, for example, "There is no noise, only sound."

Google Play

Google Play or Google Play Store, and originally the Android Market, is a digital distribution platform operated by Google. It serves as the official app store for the Android operating system, allowing users to browse and download applications developed with the Android SDK and published through Google. Google Play also serves as a digital media store, offering music, magazines, books, movies, and television programs. It previously offered Google hardware devices for purchase until the introduction of a separate online hardware retailer, Google Store, on March 11, 2015.

Applications are available through Google Play either free of charge or at a cost. They can be downloaded directly to an Android or Google TV device through the Play Store mobile app, or by deploying the application to a device from the Google Play website. Many applications can be targeted to specific users based on a particular hardware attribute of their device, such as a motion sensor (for motion-dependent games) or a front-facing camera (for online video calling).