Swallow it down ...

Music I'm still trying to work out the opposition of music stores to the carrying of the Alanis accoustic Pill only at Starbucks for six weeks before release. Now HMV Canada are playing the bad wolf and have pulled her back catalogue from the shelves in protest, a real kettle-pot-black situation when you consider that they frequently have exclusive releases of music and films, especially in this country. Alanis has responded:

"For me, it was just about coming up with a creative new way for people to share this music," Morissette told the Toronto Star. "If people don't choose to go into a Starbucks and take that few minutes between the time they order a coffee and receive their coffee to focus on music, then they're welcome to get that music where they typically get it. Or not get it at all. It's really their choice." Morissette's Canadian label Warner Music Canada, which had no say in the Starbucks deal, would not comment on how the exclusive release or the boycott might impact sales.

The really issue seems to the exclusivity -- those vital six weeks. But a fair comparison would be in cinemas, when a film has an exclusive run in major cities before a general release -- for example in the UK items often spend time at Odeon Leicester Square before making the long trip northwards. How is this different?

I have emailed the Starbucks UK website and they didn't seem to have heard about the album but sent me the telephone number of their music distributor -- I'll let you know what happens with that. When visited Starbucks in Liverpool yesterday I asked about whether they would stock the album. The barristas hadn't heard about it, or the controversy but gave a flyer to write in and said that they would look into it themselves because they 'love Alanis' and thought the album was a great idea ...