Diesel "A Hundred Lovers", the vehicle used by Anomaly to launch musician Josep Xorto (far right, dancing) from its in-house record label Anomaly Music Group.

At a record label, the artists and repertoire division is one of the most important; it’s responsible for scouting new talent and fostering artistic development. London-based ad agency Anomaly has adopted the A&R rep’s modus operandi and started an in-house record label, Anomaly Music Group.

The April launch of interactive music video “A Hundred Lovers” for clothing brand Diesel marks the group’s first release. The song is by budding British musician Josep Xorto, who also stars and is the first artist the agency has promoted through a major ad campaign.

“We’re a commercially-focused creative agency. We think A&R is an important part of our whole business,” says partner Paul Graham of Anomaly’s London office. “Rather than try to be the expert, it’s much better to find the expert [talent out there] and do it together.”

Produced by Stink Digital and directed by Arno Salters, the video is based on the Madison dance scene from filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard’s 1964 film Band of Outsiders. It is also an interactive catalogue for the brand’s Spring/Summer 2010 collection – when viewers click on the dancers’ clothing, detailed product information and an e-commerce link pops up.

Graham describes Anomaly Music Group’s approach to A&R as more evolved than that of a typical label. The music division operates as a collective of managers, publishers, producers, marketers and artists – all of whom contribute to the promotional strategy and share the intellectual property rights (IP).

Anomaly finances the hard production costs of recording an original song, but promotion and distribution are handled collectively through the agency in the form of a brand campaign. In this case, Xorto, who’s worked as a model, gains exposure and Diesel gets a youth-focused campaign tied to an undiscovered musician.

But what would Godard think of this branded homage? “I’d hope he’d like it,” says Graham. “He might disagree.” Q

anomaly.com
www.diesel.com/ahundredlovers