Idolator

Starbucks is turning over the day-to-day management of its record label, Hear Music, to the Concord Group, and Hear Music head Ken Lombard has left the company "to pursue other business interests," according to a statement from the coffee conglomerate. Hear Music, which was launched in 2007, made a splash when it signed Paul McCartney for the album Memory Almost Full, which debuted on the album charts at No. 3 last June. But subsequent releases by the likes of Kenny G and Joni Mitchell didn't fare as well, and murmurings that the music division had lost its demographic way, coupled with an overall bleak outlook for the second quarter of '08, made the divestiture a likely inevitabilty. [Puget Sound Business Journal]

- Paul McCartney has confirmed a one-album deal with Starbucks' Hear Music label; in addition to being sold in the chain's 4.2 kajillion stores, the new album—due in early June—will be made available to other retailers. McCartney's Chaos and Creation in the Backyard bored approximately 533,000 listeners, according to Nielsen SoundScan. [NYT]
- Borders is scaling back its brick-and-mortar outlets, and will sell or franchise its 73 overseas superstores. The chain also plans to reduce the number of CDs it sells, and is planning new "digital centers" in which customers can download music. As Borders' CFO notes: "We are looking to get into the downloading business." And why not? It's going so well these days! [WSJ]
- Stagecoach, the countrified Coachella spin-off, will offer 3,000 reserved seats set up by the front of the stage, which will allow Willie Nelson to wander off mid-set and take a nap under a lawn chair. [LA Times]