The Fix

When you heard Thurston Moore planned to release some exclusive Sonic Youth tracks through Starbucks, you probably thought it was a joke, right?

It’s not. Hits Are for Squares goes up for sale June 10 at select Starbucks stores, and online via Starbucks Entertainment’s Hear Music/Universal Special Markets.

The disc collects 14 Sonic Youth famous-people-favorites, plus one brand new and exclusive Sonic Youth jam called “Slow Revolution”. Famous musicians, pals of Sonic Youth, and world-changers who contributed to the comp include Eddie Vedder, Dave Eggers, David Cross, Chloë Sevigny, Radiohead, Beck, the Flaming Lips, Mike Watt, Flea, Mike D, Gus Van Sant, and Juno screenwriter Diablo Cody. Promised but not delivered (scheduling conflicts, we’d guess) Jeff Tweedy and Marc Jacobs.

Moore leaked his roasty Starbucks news to Pitchformedia.com way back in June 2007, joking, “Starbucks is the new record store, right?” Kim Gordon later remarked that Starbucks is “less evil than” Universal, parent to Sonic Youth’s label, Geffen.

Though hoarier readers may prefer to think of kids getting into Sonic Youth via an old copy of Confusion Is Sex, Starbucks is a music retailer with some taste–and it’s clear Sonic Youth would rather work with the coffee vendors than traditional labels.

Starbucks acquired Hear Music in 1999, and in 2004 launched its own channel on XM Satellite Radio. In Seattle, Austin, San Antonio and Miami, coffee and music lovers can download and mix custom CDs at Starbucks Hear Music Coffeehouses. Starbucks wants to do for CDs what it’s done for nonfat grande lattes, and it might just be working: Starbucks reports selling 4.4 million CDs in North America in 2007, up 22 percent from the year before.

Of course, keeping new CDs in stock can hardly be a top priority for a coffee shop compared to keeping enough soy milk around. Many Starbucks locations may only have one Frank Sinatra, or Buddy Holly, or Carly Simons CD languishing, not a healthily filled rack. This new Sonic Youth album’s cover speaks volumes on who may buy the disc: yuppie dudes popping in for a quick recharge of energy. Even if yuppies are not the future, buying music at Starbucks might be.