Starbucks to End CD Sales Next Month

I love the format, so this is a bummer, although certainly not unexpected.

http://www.billboard.com/articles/6479986/starbucks-stop-selling-music

I'm betting I'm not the only one here with a weird fascination with the Starbucks compilations. There have been some very cool ones, and they served for many years to introduce people to different artists/styles. Time marches on....

 

RIP

Is their any listings of all the CDs they put out?

Which ones are the most Collectable?

 

Maybe they are making room to start selling vinyl.

 

Not sure if this is complete. And it looks like they're under a couple of different labels. Starbucks, Starbucks Coffee, and Starbucks Entertainment.

http://www.discogs.com/label/116767-Starbucks-Entertainment

 

Starbucks and CD haters are loving this ''news''.

 

Definitely a format inflection point. I've got Big Waves, an excellent surf rock comp; Bob Dylan - Music that Matters to Him; and the jazz comp that I believe was their kickoff release, Blue Note Blend.

I found the following on the Starbucks web site:

"Since the release of the first Blue Note Blend 20 years ago, the Starbucks entertainment team has hand-picked 250 original CDs, spanning nearly every musical genre and geography. It has spotlighted the extraordinary careers of legendary artists like John Lennon, Aretha Franklin and Bonnie Raitt. Bob Dylan, Yo-Yo Ma the Rolling Stones and Ray Charles are among the legends who identified their favorite recordings for the Artist Choice series. Seasonal CDs have celebrated everything from Valentine’s Day to summer road trips to holiday festivities."
​

So yes, R.I.P.

 

How dare you call my post a "hate post"?

 

Their Hendrix comp is still my go-to for Jimi on road trips with my with my wife in the car. One of the best selection of Hendrix tunes I know.

 

I've got these two, decent enough for the car

 

I go to starbucks quite a bit....several stores near me. I have never seen one of their compilation CDs in any of the stores here. The CDs they do have are of no interest to me and have never bought one. I have never seen anyone else buy one either. I can see why they decided to discontinue them.

 

I the the only CD I ever got from Starbucks was the Red charity cd that had U2's cover of I Believe In Father Christmas.

 

Yes, for a coffee joint. For "a leader in music curation", it is a bit of a stretch.

 

Rolling Stones Rarities
(Which was also released by Virgin)

 

Newsflash! Lou Reed says Starbucks and their cds are garbage.

 

Do any other non-music-type stores sell cds anymore? Tim Horton's? Pier One? Ikea?

 

Just another sign of the impending CD universe imploding. Where have all the flickering stars gone?

Years down the road I will tell my grand kids about how I'd ask the JavaBarristaCocoaBlenda behind the counter what was the latest $tarbucks (c) release and they'd ask me if I wanted a frap.

Ah, memories to cherish.

 

It was the only place to buy Joni Mitchell's Shine album, more than likely her last one.

 

"No, I do not wish to 'frap', young lady, I would like a cup of coffee!"

 

I only have 1 Starbucks CD. The name escapes me at the moment, but it has a unique Patti Smith track on it.

 

No loss

 

It was also the only place for awhile to buy the Simon & Garfunkel 1969 Live CD... IIRC it was pulled fairly quick and became quite an expensive item before it was properly rereleased. I remember looking--and never finding--it at various local Starbucks at the time. That was the one and only time I looked for a disc there....

 

They sold a kids' CD that was great. It was real songs by real musicians, selected for their appeal to kids, rather than the usual kid music collections. My daughter became obsessed with several of the songs.

I wonder what ever became of it.

 

You missed out on the third one in the series. It had The Cure on the cover! I couldn't believe my eyes the first time I saw it in a Starbucks near my office in downtown Boston. Robert Smith on full display at a coffee place more known for playing Tony Bennett!!

They released a series of excellent jazz comps in the late 90s on the Blue Note label, in conjuction with a Blue Note Blend of coffee. I picked up three volumes of great jazz that way and was one of my introductions to that genre.

 

They just lost a bit more of their hipster cred. About 10 years ago, I remember seeing a live folk blues singer/guitarist performing in a Starbucks. Now that's an integral part of the coffeehouse experience. Where did it go?

 

I don't recall them ever having any hipster cred. Even in neighborhoods with several Starbucks, the hipster crowd always flocked to the independent joints, leaving Starbucks to the community college students and middle-aged.