Joni Mitchell joins McCartney on Hear Music roster

By Jonathan Cohen

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Joni Mitchell, who had been largely retired from the music business since 2002, has joined Paul McCartney on the roster of Starbucks Entertainment's Hear Music label. Mitchell's new album, "Shine," will be released September 25 through the coffee retailer's stores as well as traditional outlets.

Mitchell angrily threatened to quit recording after the release of 2002's "Travelogue," but her work with Starbucks on a 2005 "Artists Choice" compilation helped encourage her to not throw in the towel just yet.

"Joni acknowledged back in 2005 that not only was she very, very impressed with our commitment to music and our customers' love of music, but that (the compilation) really helped to re-energize her passion for music," Starbucks Entertainment president Ken Lombard told Billboard.com "As we continue to have discussions with respect to this new CD, it is obvious to us that she's back, in a big way."

In fact, it was Mitchell who reached out to Starbucks when she was nearing completion on "Shine." "Frankly, for Joni fans, this is the Joni they've been waiting for," Lombard said. "This is true Joni -- it is almost the return of her as a storyteller."

"Shine" includes nine new songs as well as a new version of Mitchell's evergreen, "Big Yellow Taxi." The album is part of a series of new work from the singer/songwriter, including a ballet based on her music, "The Fiddle and the Drum," and a visual art exhibit that opens in the fall in New York.

Hear Music launched in June with the release of McCartney's "Memory Almost Full," which has already sold 448,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Reuters/Billboard