- Andrew McMains

NEW YORK Euro RSCG's acquisition last week of startup music label The:Hours further illustrates how the music and advertising industries are increasingly rubbing shoulders, with both seeking to develop new business models, along with new sources of revenue and exposure.

"There's a big opportunity here, which is if you set up a company that actually has expertise in both [music and marketing], then it's probably going to play better and leverage this new world," Euro RSCG global CEO David Jones said. "In this new content creation model and world, our ability to actually be owners of content and make money out of content is something very exciting."

Havas' Euro RSCG took a 51 percent stake in The:Hours that can grow to 100 percent after five years, Jones said. He declined to say how much Euro RSCG paid in the cash deal.

The label will retain its name and have separate profit and loss responsibilities, but its staffers will sit in Euro RSCG's offices in New York and Los Angeles, in hopes of facilitating collaboration. The label, which launched in January and also has a Paris office, employs 15 staffers and its artists include Fires of Rome and Marion Cotillard.

Euro RSCG and The:Hours expect to collaborate early in the creative process, with record executives involved when clients brief the agency. As such, the label envisions its artists creating original music for ad projects rather than just matching songs with brands after the fact. "There are many opportunities and there are still a lot of things to be discovered now because it's just the beginning," said Leslie Dubest, the label's chief creative officer.