Hear Music
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| Hear Music | |
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| Parent company | Starbucks |
| Founded | 1990 (as catalog company) 2007 (as record label) |
| Distributing label | Concord Music Group |
| Genre | Various |
| Country of origin | U.S. |
| Official website | Hear Music - The Sound of Starbucks |
Hear Music is the brand name of Starbucks' retail music concept and record label. Hear Music began as a catalog company in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1990 before being purchased by Starbucks in 1999.
The Hear Music brand currently has four components: the music that each location plays and accompanying XM radio channel (XM 45 Starbucks XM Cafe); in-store CD sales, including Starbucks exclusives; specially-branded retail stores (which opened shortly after the catalog was formed) and a label distributing their own recordings.
As of December 2006, there are four Starbucks Hear Music Coffeehouses: Santa Monica, California, on the Third Street Promenade; San Antonio, Texas, on the River Walk; Miami, Florida, on the Lincoln Road shopping promenade; and Bellevue, Washington, in Bellevue Square.[1] The original Hear Music Store was located in Berkeley, California, it is now closed. Ten Starbucks locations also have Hear Music "media bars," a service which uses tablet-based PCs to allow customers to create their own mix CDs. The media bars are currently located in Seattle and in Austin, Texas. Additionally, the music section in Canadian bookstore chain Chapters was at one time licensed version of the Hear Music concept; however, the company no longer uses the brand name.
Currently, Starbucks is one of the top 40 music-oriented retailers and has flourished selling music. Its biggest success was Ray Charles' Grammy-winning Genius Loves Company, with total sales of 2.86 million records; 25% of those were sold at Starbucks locations.
In 2005, Starbucks announced a partnership with singer/songwriter Alanis Morissette. In an exclusive six-week deal, Morissette announced that she would retail an acoustic version of Jagged Little Pill in Starbucks stores only. The acoustic version was released on June 13, 2005 in order to celebrate the album's tenth anniversary.
On 2007-07-31, The Hear Music XM channel was discontinued, and Starbucks brand was added to channel 45 to become Starbucks XM Café.
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[edit] Creation as a record label
On March 12, 2007 Starbucks and Concord Music Group launched the Hear Music record label.[2] The company's first artist signing was considered a huge coup, with former Beatle Paul McCartney lured from his long-time label EMI on March 21, 2007.[3]
In July 2007, the label signed Canadian musician Joni Mitchell and announced that her first album of new material in nearly ten years, Shine, would be released on September 25, 2007.[4]
In March 2008, it was announced that Carly Simon had signed with the label, and would be releasing a new album entitled This Kind of Love with them in late April 2008. The album would be her first collection of original songs since 2000's The Bedroom Tapes[5].
[edit] Current Artists
- Paul McCartney
- Joni Mitchell
- Sia
- James Taylor
- Hilary McRae
- Carly Simon
- John Mellencamp
[edit] References
- ^ Harris, Craig. "Starbucks opens Hear Music shop in Bellevue", Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 2006-11-24. Retrieved on 2007-03-22.
- ^ Business Wire (2007-03-12). "Starbucks Launches Hear Music Record Label". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-03-22.
- ^ McCartney joins Starbucks label (2007-03-22). Retrieved on 2007-12-19.
- ^ Cohen, Jonathan (2007-07-25). Joni Mitchell Joins McCartney On Hear Music Roster. Billboard.biz. Retrieved on 2007-08-09.
- ^ Rolling Stone : Carly Simon Signs With Starbucks’ Hear Music
- "Starbucks Buys Music Retailer for $10 Million", Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 1999-11-20. Retrieved on April 11, 2007.
[edit] External links
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