Starbucks has announced a further expansion of its recorded music operations by launching a joint venture record label with the Concord Music Group, the company it worked with on previous releases from the likes of Ray Charles and Sergio Mendes. The new label will operate under Starbucks' existing music brand Hear Music. The Starbucks team will act as the new label's A&R function, who will look to sign both established and new talent, while Concord will oversee marketing, promotion and distribution.
Confirming the new venture, Starbucks' Entertainment President Ken Lombard told Billboard this week: "We started to get so many calls from artists interested in going direct with us, that it [the label] really felt like not only the right time, but the natural next step in our strategy".
Although Concord itself releases primarily jazz and soul music, the new venture is set to be "multi-genre". The New York Post has reported the label's first signing will be Paul McCartney, though neither Starbucks nor Concord have commented on that rumour - although US website Hits Daily Double points out McCartney isn't currently under any recording contract despite his long history of working with EMI's Parlophone, and Macca, whose solo recorded work rarely attracts the buzz of his live work, could benefit from a label which has direct access to a large part of his target audience via their global coffee shop network, so it's a rumour that could well prove to be true.