With Starbucks

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6476843.stm


Steve

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Website / Music Lab Machines / Blog

Am I just being a grumpy git or is this a little distasteful...? Macca signing such a deal and the fact that a coffee shop is selling music. Mind you, it's not that suprising really, after all in years to come nike will be making electric cars or something like! Erm? Can I send them my demo? That's a joke BTW! Although i expect many will be doing so soon.
Why can't they just sell Mary jane instead! Also a joke!

As for Macca, what else can you expect from a greedy c*nt.

The signs were there with 'Maxwells silver hammer' - Latte Madonna anyone.

Quote The real musiclover:

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As for Macca, what else can you expect from a greedy c*nt.

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Yes, what an arse he is. A 45 year career at the top of the music biz, breaking and making the rules of the record industry, including some of the most valuable publishing in the history of songwriting. EMI would have been broke years ago without Apple's assets. How dare he earn money eh? What an arse.

Do you remember Beatlemania? 1963 to 1965? When their singles sold a million advance copies? When he was earning half an old penny for each six shilling record EMI sold? I remember the outrage at the time when his royalty was upped from a farthing. Have you compared his net worth with the value of EMI?

What a complete avaricious tosser he is.

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www.bemuso.com

Quote hollowsun:

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6476843.stm

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The Beeb story is slightly wrong...

Sir Paul McCartney has been unveiled as the first signing to the music label of coffee house chain Starbucks.

The company announced plans last week to sign established and new acts to Hear Music, which has previously released albums of licensed songs.

Macca is not signed to the licensed Starbucks label Hear... he is signed to a new label Starbucks Records.

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www.bemuso.com

For a second there Rob i thought you may have been in mild agreement with my basic premise!

Maybe you were? No worries either way.

How dare he earn money? No resentment here mate. Long may his millions fulfill his boots!

Or are Starbucks doing good work in this particular musical department?

Maybe I struggle to make my point sometimes?

This should pay for his ... ahem ... amicable Heatherism.

On the point of this greedy counts thing here...

I think it's a bit tricky to not appear greedy when you are a success in a capitalist society.

Its hard to be succesful and not collect money. Its hard to play the game and not make the best deal you can, in any game.

Its hard to stay where you are, if you dont get more you shrink and have less. I would have thought the Mr M is at a point where the world wont let him be poor, thats as much of a trap as enforced poverty for some you know.

I have taken through my life [since my teenage years] the fact that that probably the most miserable and evil man i've ever known is also just about the richest i've known.

Should be be ashamed of being sucessful? I don't think so - no more than we should be ashamed of being a Pleb or being poor. It's just our lot. History won't judge us on how much dough we made, but on what we did, if anything.

I didn't know Macca was a count!

Oh yeah, an old count now.

Quote table for two:

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This should pay for his ... ahem ... amicable Heatherism.

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The opposite - I read that's why he did this, to avoid paying her as part of the divorce settlement. If he signed with EMI, who offered £25 million for four albums, he had to pay her half. If he started afresh somewhere else, he doesn't. True/not who knows?

Quote The real musiclover:

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Or are Starbucks doing good work in this particular musical department?

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Macca is well known to be disenchanted with the promotion work, particularly in the USA, on his solo records. You can argue that he's not what he was etc. but I don't think you can argue that his label (still Capitol in the USA I think) really works his new releases. Starbucks says they will. It will be very interesting to see the result. It's not often a blue chip artist gives the finger to a decades old label relationship. Macca may be rich but he's still an artist and it must hurt when his records don't sell. I'm rooting for him and the new label. Let's hope it works out.

Quote Herewego:

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The opposite - I read that's why he did this, to avoid paying her as part of the divorce settlement. If he signed with EMI, who offered £25 million for four albums, he had to pay her half. If he started afresh somewhere else, he doesn't. True/not who knows?

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That could also be a factor, but it seems likely Macca would rather sell records than take £25 mill from a company that doesn't do the legwork. He doesn't really need another £25 mill.

On the question of Long John's settlement... that will be interesting in its own right. The legal benchmark is I think a fair split rather than half. What value will the court put on 4 years of wifeness with a bloke who earns all the dough? Should she get half what he earned on Yesterday in that period? Interesting question.

I think it's much less likely that she would have any claim on a post-split advance for a four album deal that doesn't overlap their relationship by so much as a day.

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www.bemuso.com

come on guys, does anyone really think that sir paul is going to sell anymore abums because he is in starbucks? i don't...

he will sell the same exact amount of copies he sold last album... minus the amount of beatle "fans" who died since...

-=sigh=-

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NoteToSelfDontDie.com / my new drum kit!!!!111!1

You can't blame a bloke for being successful and success often (but not always) brings wealth.

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Stand by for action - we are about to launch Stingray!
Cue irritating bongo music ...

I think there's pretty much a done deal with Heather at around the £30 million mark... not a big deal out of a fortune worth over £800 million.

Not bad for Heather either... £7.5m p.a. for four years' work with one leg in the air!

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Dynamite with a laser beam...

If he's offered a settlement and she is contesting it - which seems to be the case - doesn't she get stung for expenses unless the court raises her settlement by a certain amount?

Quote The real musiclover:

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Maybe I struggle to make my point sometimes?

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Maybe... but I don't understand how you can call a guy greedy when during his heyday - in the most successful band on Earth - he was earning 0.5 percent from his record label. Unless you were joshing.

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www.bemuso.com

Don't have an issue about Paulie having a load of money or not, and what he does with it - thats none of my business.

But I do feel odd about the fact that the link with Starbucks and music is an overt example that society now seems to view music as a pure commodity like any other, ready or not to be consumed by the masses.

I guess this is at least honest, though I find it depressing.

PS. I am not one of those who suffers under the illusion that musicians can exist outside of a market, but personally have always enjoyed it when musicians and composers produce commercially viable work that also has some depth and meaning for me. Certainly some of McCartneys best work did just that for me.

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Matt
www.krcollective.org

Quote matt k:

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But I do feel odd about the fact that the link with Starbucks and music is an overt example that society now seems to view music as a pure commodity like any other, ready or not to be consumed by the masses.

I guess this is at least honest, though I find it depressing.

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Isn't that the same as EMI Parlophone/Capitol? Except that they didn't have coffee shops. Otherwise it's the same innit?

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www.bemuso.com

Mozart and Emperor Franz Josef?

Bach and the Catholic Church knocking out an oratorio a week to keep the crowds coming along for more soul-saving?

What's new?

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Dynamite with a laser beam...

I have to agree with the last two posts. Music IS a commodity. How else does one make a living from it? It's great that artists can make a living purely from their art.

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madtheory creations
Synths and pianos for Kontakt

Josh? Me?

Hey good luck to him. He's a very talented guy. I'm a lifelong Beatles fan. Both in and out of the group!

I've been a bit off lately and was probably ranting, rightly or wrongly at the expense (!) of macca.

Maybe i simply meant does a bloke of his calibre really need starbucks? Of course why shouldn't he exploit a legitimate new outlet for his music?

Anyway... What of starbucks? Is there an a&r in every branch?

Of course music is a commodity and money needs to be generated from it. That is fine and has always been the case. But it IS different to market it alongside products that are pure consumer products - music is a commodity but not ONLY a commodity.

Mind you I'm not knocking the importance of double expresso's in my life either!



I still hold that music has within it the ability to move and effect others and that pure commodities do not have this. Lets not split hairs either, cos as much as I love Java or my green and blacks chocolate they have not affected my life in the way that Bach, and Robert Johnson have.

Thats all I'm saying is that music often seemed at its finest to me when in was commercially viable but creative and valuable. Instant Karma anybody? (Yea with extra cream)

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Matt
www.krcollective.org

Perhaps you are splitting hairs- associating good music with good coffee sounds like a great idea to me. Bob Dylan in Greenwich village back in the sixties anyone?

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madtheory creations
Synths and pianos for Kontakt

Quote The real musiclover:

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Anyway... What of starbucks? Is there an a&r in every branch?

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Starbucks Records is a pukkah record label.

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www.bemuso.com