Solutions Talk

Starbucks Music: It's really not just about the coffee

Today's Notable Quote: "I've been working on it for a little while," McCartney said. "The songs are a little bit retrospective, some are of now, and some hark back to the past. All of them are songs I'm very proud of." - Paul McCartney, from Press-Telegram wire reports.

Starbucks slowly, deliberately, and most likely successfully marching toward dominance in...music. Read this short, but significant article on the latest plank in their strategy.

McCartney signs with Starbucks

Sir Paul intends to help Starbucks transition from lattes to liner notes--

iPod, youPod...to protect, or not to protect?

Today's Notable Quote: "In 2006 under 2 billion DRM-protected songs were sold worldwide by online stores, while over 20 billion songs were sold completely DRM-free and unprotected on CDs by the music companies themselves." - Apple CEO, Steve Jobs.

Who owns the rights...how free is the consumer to move "their" music around? Read on...

some have called for Apple to “open” the digital rights management (DRM) system that Apple uses to protect its music against theft

You can choose your color, size and style...but how "free" is the music transfer process?

Weekend Listening Pleasures

Quote of the Day: "There is no other music, not in my house." - Kevin Kline to his friends, on 1960s pop music (from The Big Chill).

Weekends are a great time to take care of a few odds and ends around the house, spend extra time with the family and friends, go to worship on Sunday, and maybe even take in a movie.

I plan to do all of these things--and most will be set to a soundtrack. Sometimes the soundtrack will be similar to the one recommended by Mr. Kline's character in the quote above. Lately, however, my soundtrack has been Frank Sinatra (great sense of style), Elton John (killer piano and vocals), David Wilcox (poignant, straightforward lyrics), Nat "King" Cole (inimitable, golden voice), and Diana Krall (Blue-eyed jazzmeisteress). Each of these vocalists have their own distinctive style, and are among my "all time" favorites.

I'm about to start back on a Sarah Vaughan "kick"--she was, in my opinion, perhaps the outstanding jazz vocalist of the 20th century.

Vaughan was one of those rare vocal artists who could find more in a song than the composer knew was there – certainly more than any lyric sheet would indicate.  The great saxophonist Teddy Edwards once said of Vaughan, “She had great feeling, and great facility to execute this sound. She had all the components, man.” Her incredibly strong voice ably covered a 3 octave range and more than held it's own with the most boisterous orchestral arrangements.

David, Frank, Diana, Elton, Nat, Sarah (and maybe a little Beatles or Motown). The soundtrack is set for the rest of the weekend!

Start With the Ending

Quote of the Day: "Start with the ending - get it out of the way." - David Wilcox American Songwriter, Musician

First impressions, so say the experts...are very important. When meeting an important someone for the first time, we tend to be "on our best behavior"--hoping to convince them to buy whatever it is that we are "selling". Remember your first date, your first job interview, your first (fill in the blank)?

Endings, or "last impressions" are vitally important, as well--in fact some students of human behavior would argue that the last thing we say to a person in a conversation, or business transaction may be more important in forming their opinion of us than is the first impression.

Today's quote is from a song by David Wilcox. My daughter and I enjoyed one of his concerts recently, and were struck by the poignancy of his simple lyrics. In the song from which the quote is lifted, Wilcox makes the point that when the end of a situation is in sight, we feel we have "nothing to lose", and are therefore more open and honest with those around us. Writer and speaker Stephen Covey refers often in his works to the concept of "starting with the end in mind."

How will you and I be remembered? Not likely on the basis of some "long-ago" first impression.

Start with the Ending...starting today.