Carly Simon suing over CD failure

Carly Simon is planning her first concerts in Europe next year.

Carly Simon is suing Starbucks for failing to properly promote her 2008 album This Kind of Love.

Her lawsuit claims the album was not available in "a substantial number" of Starbucks stores during the important early months following its release.

Simon also claims offering the album at sale price "stigmatised" it.

In a statement, the coffee chain said it had fulfilled all its obligations regarding the CD but it had only had a "tepid response" from customers.

Mixed reviews

Carly Simon followed in the footsteps of Sir Paul McCartney and Joni Mitchell by signing with Starbucks' Hear Music Label, a joint venture with Concord Music.

But days before the album's release in April of this year, the company announced it was handing day to day running of the label to Concord.

Simon claims without Starbucks's backing she could not get the promotion and distribution she was promised.

In an interview with the New York Times Simon admitted the album had got some negative reviews, saying: "I always get mixed reviews."

But she says "you can't sell a product that's not in stores".

The singer, whose biggest hits include You're So Vain and Anticipation, is seeking unspecified damages.

She is due to release another album, Never Been Gone, later this month on Iris Records.