snapshot 4/25/08

Starbucks’ Hear Music Fading Out
Starbucks has handed Ken Lombard, President of Starbucks Entertainment, a pink slip and has handed over day-to-day operations of their Hear Music record label to the Concord Music Group.

Chris Bruzzo, chief technology officer, has been promoted to senior VP and will assume the leadership helm of the Entertainment category as part of his responsibilities. The company said the move was part of a strategic overhaul to examine all aspects of its business that are not directly related to its core. However, the reality is that Hear Music, after much fanfare, failed to meet expectations, and the company will most likely faze the initiative to black by the end of 2008, and replace it with a deeper relationship with Apple’s iTunes.


Lars Ulrich: "We've Always Been Fiercely Independent and Controlling"
You know, this is our last record under contract with Warner, so we're looking at how we can embrace everything. We want to be as free a players as possible. We've been observing Radiohead and Trent Reznor and in twenty-seven years or however long it takes for the next record, we'll be looking forward to everything in terms of possibilities with the Internet.