First McCartney, Now New Artists: Starbucks Expands Its Music-Biz Reach

Just over a month after its record label's first-ever release, Starbucks has announced a partnership with iTunes and NBC Universal that will expand the coffee giant's attempts to entertain us with more than just pricey lattes. Starting today, the Seattle company will be selling digital EPs from emerging artists via the Starbucks Entertainment section of the Apple music store. The first three acts to get the 'Bucks treatment are country act Rissi Palmer, U.K. soul singer Alice Russell and U.K. pop band the WinterKids. Actual CDs will reportedly be available in Starbucks stores, which will also be carrying Saturday Night Live: The Best of '06/'07 starting August 28, a DVD featuring show highlights, dress-rehearsal footage, commentary by the cast and bonus outtakes from an arguably funnier show, 30 Rock.

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Song Stories

“The Pretender”

Foo Fighters | 2007

This song wasn't part of the planned track listing for 2007's Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, and was put together in a day. "It happened after we recorded a lot of stuff," said Dave Grohl. Yet it ended up as the album opener and the lead single. Grohl called it "a stomping Foo Fighters uptempo song with a little bit of Chuck Berry in it." The singer hinted at the lyrics' political overtones: "Everyone's been f---ed over before and I think a lot of people feel f---ed over right now and they're not getting what they were promised."

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