Starbucks Hires Mintz

Starbucks Corp. has appointed veteran entertainment lawyer Alan Mintz to VP of content development for Starbucks Entertainment.

In his new role, effective June 5th, Mintz will oversee the Starbucks Entertainment content team’s negotiations with artists, labels, movie studios and publishers to identify future projects for the company to consider.

Mintz joins Starbucks with a strong background in music. He served as manager and producer for Herbie Hancock for three years and has worked with other artists including Dana Glover, Carbon Leaf, and The Elms.

Before becoming a manager, Mintz was a senior partner at Selverne, Mandelbaum & Mintz, where he specialized in music and new technology, according to the Los Angeles Times. He also spent four years at Sony Music Entertainment as senior VP of Epic Records.

Starbucks reportedly wants to become an entertainment destination by selling books, music and movies alongside lattes and cappuccinos. So far, the company has made strides in music, but hasn’t been very successful in movie marketing.

Mintz will also oversee Starbucks’ relationship with the William Morris Agency, which signed the coffee company as a client in May.

Starbucks Entertainment headquarters was set to relocate June 12th from Seattle to Santa Monica, Calif., where Mintz will be based. Existing members of the Starbucks Hear Music team will make the transition from Seattle in order to be closer to Los Angeles record labels and movie studios.