Walking Man Live

The famous coffee house known to open cafes across the street from each others has found success within the music industry. Starbucks originally tested the waters with distributing Ray Charles’ Genius Loves Company at its coffee houses. They must have figured out they did something right when that album went platinum and 25% of all sales were from Starbucks. Recently, Starbucks decided to not only be a distributor, but also a record label for new recordings, with the first artist to sign-up being Sir Paul McCartney.

This new label called Hear Music has attracted a lot of attention after their first release by Sir McCartney, Memory Almost Full, peaked at #3 in the Billboard Top 200. Hear Music is a combination of Starbucks Corporation and Concord Records. Starbucks will do all A&R work to acquire new artists, and Concord will do all promotion and marketing. And of course, the main distribution channel will be the Starbucks stores. Memory Almost Full is also Sir McCartney’s first solo album to be available for digital download via Apple’s iTunes.

Becoming a record label is only the starting point for the company - A long term goal is to establish several Hear Music Stores across the US. These stores will feature over 5,000 physical records and over 1 million digital songs available for download right at the store. Customers will be able to use a tablet-like PC to browse and purchase the songs while at the store. Instead of transferring the songs to a media player such as an iPod or mp3 cellphone, users will create mix CD’s on the spot. A 5 track CD will cost $6.99, and $.99 for every extra track.

In addition to purchasing physical records and digital mixes, the stores will feature wifi, listening stations to discover new artists, and of course coffee.

Currently the Starbucks in Huntington Village, Long Island is carrying new releases from Maroon 5, Wilco, CéU, and Angelique Kidjo. The Starbucks is located on the corner of Wall Street and Main Street Huntington, NY 11743.