Starbucks: One Beatle to Go
June 9th, 2007 by Lior ShamirWith over ten thousand shops in twenty nine countries, the precision Starbucks brand is shaking its beans to the beat of the nicest guy in music: Sir Paul McCartney. With projected exposure to the tune of six million coffee drinkers, the former Beatle is part of an unprecedented move that is, arguably, proportional in scale and scope to MTV Europe’s introduction with “Money For Nothing” by Dire Straits in 1987.
Many brands with a global, consumer reach – perhaps most notably, Levis – have launched fledgling artists to the top of the charts. However, Starbuck’s distinctly music-centric ethos and trademark flavor for the arts make this deal particularly powerful on all fronts.
I have always associated the coffee chain with obscure World music and lounge Jazz but don’t mind stirring my latte to more mainstream sounds. I can only imagine that anything Starbuck’s chooses to place in heavy rotation will surely become popular, mainstream or not. So why Paul?
With the assumption that Starbuck’s music label, Hear Music, wanted to launch with a bang (exit Afro-Cuban congas and improv sax), surely other major acts were on the menu as worthy contenders? I wonder who Hear Music went after first. Are Peter Gabriel or Carlos Santana, for instance, not a better fit for their renowned infusion of non-Western cultural musical motifs and bi-lingual lyrics in their music?
A deal like this is a God-send to any artist, especially with the knowledge that his or her record is the only item on the playlist. I hope that Hear Music will swiftly follow up with something more unique to the palette than Paul McCartney and somehow preserve the eclectic environments we identify with Starbucks’ coffee bars. But I’m not holding my breath as this signing alone has taken the best part of a year to secure.
Could it be that Starbuck’s is tirelessly looping the same record over and over to discourage its customers from hanging around too long? Now there’s a thought.. and who would ever blame Paul? He’s just such a nice guy.
So, has anyone heard the record? I don’t really do Starbucks.