CDs On Caffeine
Despite traditional record retailers’ hard feelings, Starbucks is taking a step further into the music business.
The coffee company is launching the “Hear Music Debut” CD series, which aims to “uniquely parlay [Starbucks’] marketing and distribution strength to break new artists,” according to Starbucks entertainment prexy Ken Lombard.
The first CD in the series will be a joint release with
The album will be supported by in-store promotion and Starbucks’ Hear Music channel on XM Satellite Radio, according to Reuters. Antigone Rising will also receive exposure on Starbucks’ in-flight channel on United Airlines.
The coffee company is reportedly in discussions with labels for other artist releases, as well.
In the past, Hear Music – a division of Starbucks – partnered with Concord Records on Ray Charles’ Grammy Winning Genius Loves Company, which has sold more than 2.7 million copies since last September, according to Reuters. Nearly 25 percent of those were reportedly sold in Starbucks outlets.
The company has also issued releases from
“We have demonstrated that we can effectively leverage our unique marketing and distribution assets as well as our customer base to support and establish artists,” Lombard said.
However, Starbucks’ music business ventures have recently earned the wrath of traditional retailers, who feel their customers look to them to have hot new releases on hand ASAP. Some are livid over the upcoming acoustic version of
Starbucks also drew ire recently when a number of its stores sold copies of
