The only place you’ve been able to find the video for Ariana Grande’s latest song ‘Side By Side’ for the past 24 hours is over on the official homepage of clothing brand Guess.
Why? Because the firm has launched a new music project in tandem with UMG’s Republic Records – Guess Music.
The first fruits of this deal launched yesterday (Sunday, August 28): a 24-hour exclusive premiere of Republic artist Ariana Grande’s latest song “Side to Side,” featuring Nicki Minaj – which they just performed at the VMA’s.
And guess/Guess what?
The exercise-themed video is stuffed with products from Guess’s new athletic range – from water bottles to crop tops and plenty more besides.
Viewers have the chance to shop for clothes ‘inspired by Ariana’s outfits in the video’ on Guess.com’s “get Ariana’s look” merchandise page.
That probably explains the women wearing high heels on exercise bikes.
Impractical.
We know what you’re thinking. Hasn’t Universal literally just outlawed ‘exclusives’?
Yes and no.
Although Lucian Grainge has told his label heads that single-service sustained streaming exclusives with the likes of Apple Music are vetoed, one-day windowing deals are probably a different matter – especially with videos.
In addition, if there’s one party the Guess premiere is designed to irk, it’ll be YouTube – and that battle is a whole different ballgame to the Spotify/Apple Music wars.
Plus, the Guess deal is much more than a mere one-off timed exclusive. (Although the company proudly declares the video ‘exclusively at Guess’ on its site.)
In the first instance, it appears that Republic artists will continue to make video content which features Guess products- and that Guess will in turn exclusively premiere these videos to help sell the clothing featured.
“Paul Marciano, co-founder of Guess inc., has been discovering new talent for years… launching supermodel careers. Now, he is adding music talent discovery to his portfolio.”
UMG Press release
According to a press release, ‘Guess Music will connect established artists from Republic’s roster and beyond, and young emerging talent with designers to create accelerated artistic inspiration and exposure.’
This commercial coupling will also go further, and actually infiltrate the A&R process.
Back to the press release: “Paul Marciano, Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer for GUESS Inc. has been discovering new talent for years such as Claudia Schiffer, Elsa Hosk, Kate Upton, Anna Nicole Smith, and Gigi Hadid, launching their careers as international supermodels. Now, he is adding music talent discovery to his portfolio.
“Together, GUESS and Republic Records will identify up-and-coming artists who can cross-collaborate.”
“Discovering new talent has always been a passion of mine. I have been blessed and lucky to discover so many new faces within the modeling world. I am thrilled to experience this new venture with my friend Charlie Walk,” said Paul Marciano.
“Co-creating this new type of artist discovery platform with Republic Records, the music industry’s No. 1 record label group for multi-platinum, award-winning legends, is such an honor.
“I am confident that this unique partnership of music and fashion will bring attention to up-and-coming musicians and launch careers in the same way that our iconic advertising campaigns have done in the past.”
“I came to Paul and was inspired by his love and understanding of how music and fashion drive each other,” said President of Republic Label Group Charlie Walk.
“So, we created Guess Music, an open door music and fashion platform that gives the ability to collaborate with the biggest artists in the world, while additionally helping to launch the next generation of superstars.
“We wanted to create the opportunity to discover new music together globally.”
Guess was the official Title Sponsor of the Republic Records VMA after-party,.Music Business Worldwide
