Apparel retailer GUESS has a new label, but you can’t wear it. The brand has teamed up with record label Republic Records to co-create GUESS Music. The partnership is in a long tradition of retailers borrowing glamour and star power from musical artists, who in turn get a high-profile distribution channel in an increasingly fragmented industry.
GUESS is going even further, linking its core products to a popular singer. The first GUESS Music joint project launched August 28 with a 24-hour premiere on GUESS.com of Republic Records artist Ariana Grande’s latest song “Side to Side,” featuring Nicki Minaj — a number they performed at the annual MTV Video Music Awards. Grande wears and introduces GUESS’ new athletic line in the music video. Viewers have the chance to shop looks inspired by Ariana’s outfits in the video on GUESS’ “get Ariana’s look” merchandise page.
This collaborative effort lets new content be seen by the millions of followers and hundreds of industry leaders associated with GUESS and Republic Records. In addition, GUESS Music collections will be sold worldwide to celebrate the release of new music by a group of diverse artists, further exposing them and their art to a larger audience.
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“Discovering new talent has always been a passion of mine,” said Paul Marciano, Co-Founder and COO for Guess? Inc., in a statement. “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.”
Marciano discovered and launched the international supermodel careers of new talent such as Claudia Schiffer, Elsa Hosk, Kate Upton, Anna Nicole Smith, and Gigi Hadid. 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.
Music + Retail: A Brief, Harmonious History
The pairing of retail with music is certainly interesting, but not new. In fact, the two have been linked in more ways than just the disappearance of record shops and pure play music retailers of old.
For example, Hear Music was created as a joint venture between Concord Music Group and Starbucks in 2007 beginning with the signing of music icon Paul McCartney, who defected from his long-time label EMI. Coffee lovers guzzled down its biggest seller in 2004 with Ray Charles’ Grammy-winning Genius Loves Company. With total sales of 2.86 million records — 25% of which were sold at Starbucks locations — the future seemed bright. But, as music transitioned from physical to digital (sound familiar, retailers?), Starbucks followed the trend and pulled CDs from its 21,000 stores in March of this year.
However, this past January, Starbucks announced it was teaming up with music streaming service Spotify to offer customers new music options. The coffee giant will offer a “Pick of the Week” feature and give customers who use the company’s mobile app a free downloadable song, according to a TechCrunch report.
Throughout the years, artists such as Garth Brooks, Kiss and Def Leppard have sold albums exclusively at Walmart, and Pearl Jam offered their 2009 Backspacer disc only at Target. And, for the most part, the deals were successful for both parties. The artist would typically receive good press for a daring sales and promotion move, and the retailers would find happiness in the form of foot traffic and an increase in CD sales.
You Say You Want A Revolution?
The real question for these collaborations is, can two struggling industries save each other? As streaming takes over the music industry, artists, labels and songwriters are desperate to find new sources of exposure and income, so getting one’s songs out amongst the followers of a high-profile brand with millions of followers makes sense.
Now, a Garth Brooks/Brooks Brothers tie-in might be a bit heavy-handed and in some ways a complete mismatch between their two respective styles, but let’s be honest: it never hurts to try something new. Retailers are constantly trying to remain hip and relevant to their shoppers. Music can do that with the press of a play button.
Of course, it’s not a retail story without Amazon, which is preparing to launch its own Prime music streaming service in the coming months. As the retail giant forces more physical retailers to reconsider and redouble their digital efforts or be lost to the record bin, er, dustbin of history, it is also attempting to position itself as a music streaming leader. Retailers and music labels take note: it may be time to collaborate before it’s too late.
