We are disappointed that Ms. Simon has brought a lawsuit against Starbucks. For over a year, Starbucks and StarCon, the former joint venture between Starbucks and Concord Records, have tried to work with Ms. Simon and her representatives to resolve her concerns.

We have reviewed the complaint and would like to provide some additional relevant information: 

Most importantly, Starbucks believes that StarCon more than fulfilled its obligations to Ms. Simon.

Not only were agreed upon marketing and promotional efforts carried out, the album, This Kind of Love, was carried at Starbucks for an additional promotional period in two key markets. Unfortunately, sales continued to lag as the title received tepid response from music consumers. Other retailers faced the same fate with this CD. And it should be pointed out that the promotional activities that StarCon delivered were in line with that of other artists StarCon was marketing during that time.

We would have preferred to work this out with Ms. Simon, but it appears we are headed for litigation.