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Carly Simon Sues Starbucks

Coffee chain's failed music label bungled her album's release, singer says

By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 12, 2009 5:36 PM CDT
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(Newser) – Carly Simon intended the 2008 album This Kind of Love to be her swan song, and she was excited about the record company that would release it: Starbucks-owned Hear Music. The coffee chain had wooed her with a big advance and promises of high exposure in stores, but instead Starbucks all but closed its record label 5 days before the album’s release. Now, unable to retire as she planned, Simon is suing the company.

The singer blames the album’s weak sales on Starbucks' decision to dismantle the apparatus for music promotion and distribution. Her suit accuses the company of deceiving her, reports the NY Times. But for Simon, who has been sending handwritten notes to CEO Howard Schulz to express her dissatisfaction, the action is also highly personal: “I want to be somebody who faces things and who doesn’t get stepped on," she says. "I’ve been stepped on too much in my life.”

In this image released by Hear Music, Carly Simon's 2008 CD, This Kind of Love, is shown.
In this image released by Hear Music, Carly Simon's 2008 CD, "This Kind of Love", is shown.   (AP Photo/Hear Music, file)
In this April 24, 2008 file photo, Carly Simon is photographed in New York.
In this April 24, 2008 file photo, Carly Simon is photographed in New York.   (AP Photo/Jim Cooper, file)
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There was always a challenge in terms of getting the stores to focus on our entertainment ventures. Once the word got out that we were shutting down the label, I think it put a message out to the field that this didn’t matter anymore. - Alan Mintz, former Hear Music executive

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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 35 comments
JGirl
Nov 11, 2009 6:14 AM CST
i hate starbucks coffee anyway
Reader372
Oct 14, 2009 12:36 PM CDT
I've listened to the album trice, It is terrible. I have loved many of her past songs, but these are very bad. I don't blame STARBUCKS for wanting to disassociate themselves from garbage.
chas_m
Oct 14, 2009 7:12 AM CDT
Carly Simon is still alive?

 
Starbucks • lawsuit • promotion • civil lawsuits • music distribution • record label • album sales • Carly Simon • Hear Music

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