Paul McCartney switches to caffeinated: Is the music industry dozing?

Posted May 4th 2007 7:45PM by Richard Driver
Filed under: Products and Services, Launches, Industry, Competitive Strategy, Starbucks (SBUX)

In Fox News' review of the new Paul McCartney album, Memory Almost Full, the writer comments that "McCartney, the most successful pop performer/singer/writer in history, has left the mainstream music business." Although his reference is in regard to the degree of support the former Beatle had received from Capitol Records, an imprint of EMI, for his 2005 Grammy-nominated album Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, it made me wonder how big a role markets that are not music are beginning to play in the sale of music, both physically and digitally.

Memory Almost Full will be the first Beatle-related album available for sale digitally, a shift that McCartney's solo catalog may echo soon, but it's also notable because it's being released by Starbucks' (NASDAQ: SBUX) new independently owned label, Hear Music. This isn't the first time that the role of independent or small labels has been brought up in reference to the digital stores, but a name like McCartney's switching is big news indeed. His back catalog may not bring in as much as a digital Beatles catalog would, and understandably so. Still, the Beatles catalog will be available from EMI, a major music label, and it has been the most accommodating to digital sales thus far.

The point is that the "mainstream music business" was not able to keep an artist like McCartney satisfied. I realize that I am biased with regard to McCartney, but the relevance of this change cannot be overlooked for the music market. Hear Music probably should not even be linked with the music market because of its connection with Starbucks. If another industry, in this case a service industry, is able to better accommodate artists and ultimately fans, then the music industry needs to wake up. Sales are slow anyway.

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Tags: Hear Music, HearMusic, Memory Almost Full, MemoryAlmostFull, music industry, MusicIndustry, Paul McCartney, PaulMccartney

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

5-05-2007 @ 2:49PM

jason said...

Starbucks' customers buy tangible CDs? Fact? If so, along with music and coffee, they should sell cigarettes to complete a triple play (equivalent to cable's triple play). We know how that's going. That would be considering SBUX can make a ton of money on the music business(cigarettes have proven their money making prowess). McCartney is a good start though.

6-06-2007 @ 4:27PM

Pamela said...

The production, distribution, and purchase of physical recordings is terribly inefficient compared to digital downloads. The seller’s costs are high to create, ship, stock and sell a CD compared to the cost per unit of selling just the music via computer downloads. The only advantage to the customer (with a computer) is the nostalgia. Believe it or not, vinyl records are still being sold for this same reason. In a few short years, physical recordings will be out of the mainstream and will have become a specialty item. It seems to me that Starbucks and Paul McCartney are both well suited to this enduring remnant of the once mighty record stores.