Posted by Richard Head

Tuesday October 13, 2009

Carly Simon is suing Starbucks.

The singer claims the coffee company’s now-defunct music venture did not adequately promote her 2008 album, dooming the record before it was even released.

Simon is seeking unspecified damages related to the release of the 14-track This Kind Of Love in April 2008.

In a lawsuit filed on Friday with California’s Los Angeles County Superior Court, Simon –  whose biggest success came during the 1970s and 80s with hits such as You’re So Vain and Anticipation — and her attorneys said This Kind Of Love wasn’t available in “a substantial number” of Starbucks stores during the key early months following its release.

Later, when the disc was stocked in Starbucks locations, the Seattle-based company slashed the price.

“By doing so, Starbucks stigmatized Ms Simon’s album as an album that could not be sold at full price,” according to the claim.

Starbucks said it met all its contractual obligations and even extended the amount of time it promoted the album — which has sold only 124,000 copies, according to The New York Times — in New York and Boston.

“Unfortunately, sales continued to lag as the title received tepid response from music consumers,” the company said in a statement. “Other retailers faced the same fate with this CD.”

Simon — whose next record, Never Been Gone, is scheduled to be released later this month by Iris Records — blamed the performance of the title on a decision by Starbucks days before the album’s release to end its involvement in Hear Music, a joint venture with Concord Music.

Tags: carly simon