Influx

It’s huge news that McCartney signed to Starbucks’ new record label, it grabs the headlines, it’s something you can’t quite believe, one of the world’s greatest musical legends signs a contract for a record label run by a cafe chain.

The signing seems like a huge ego boost for a fledgling label.

However, when you take a step back and try to digest the news, it doesn’t seem so smart from the perspective of brand image and perception. McCartney may have been a great and one of the greatest, he may still grab headlines, but his albums aren’t selling like they once used to.

More importantly, given Howard Schultz’s recent memo about the brand needing to make sure it doesn’t dilute itself and remain fresh, the McCartney signing runs counter to that idea.

It’s great for Starbucks have a record company.

Someone has to try and keep the market afloat, especially when music sales are falling 20% a year.

It’s a great idea for Starbucks’ to bring people new and interesting cultural ideas, that they might not discover for themselves, not Paul McCartney.

This is a signing designed to flatter the brand’s ego and show us just how big it wants to be, which, according to yesterday’s shareholders meeting, is a brand with 40,000 retail outlets worldwide.