| Admitting
that the music business was not a big contributor to the company's result, the
management is being passed onto Concord Music , which will assume responsibility
for current and future artistes of Hear Music. Concord Music Group, was formed
in 2004 with the merger of Concord Records and Fantasy Records. Besides the Hear
Music joint venture with Starbucks, its projects include a revival of the classic
Stax label for rhythm n' blues and soul music. In
2006 Starbucks entered into partnership with Apple Inc to allow customers to buy
songs wirelessly from the Apple iTunes music store without paying WiFi connection
fees when they are in Starbucks stores. It will continue to maintain its relationship
with Apple. Starbucks
Entertainment has also seen failures. In 2006, the company promoted a movie, "Akeelah
and the Bee," which turned out to be a flop at the box office. It also scrapped
a plan to allow customers to create customized CDs in its stores. In
recent months, the chain's overall fortunes has gone down due to recession in
U.S economy causing a sharp downturn in consumer spending in the country. It blamed
hard-hit housing markets in California and Florida for slowing sales and said
that its quarterly and 2008 profits would be below expectations. Former
Beatle Paul McCartney was the first artist to release an album under the Hear
Music label. It has also released CDs by Joni Mitchell and James Taylor, among
others.
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