Paul McCartney becomes the first artist to sign with Hear Music, a brand being created by Starbucks.

The anouncement was made toward end of the coffee giant’s annual meeting in McCaw Hall at the Seattle Center. Chairman Howard Schultzoward announced that Paul McCartney would be the first artist for Starbucks’ new record label, Hear Music.

“It’s a new world now,” said the rock icon said during a video chat from London with Schultz, conducted in front of over 6,000 people at the annual shareholders’ meeting. “People are thinking of new ways to reach the people. For me, that’s always been my aim.”

“Let’s get on with it, man,” McCartney told the crowd as he held two thumbs up. He said that the new album would reflect the past and that he was excited to be a partner with Starbucks.

The new yet-to-be-named album would be distributed in early June in 13,200 Starbucks stores in 39 countries and other retail outlets.

The take on McCartney represents a sort of return to Starbucks’ earliest — and most successful — marketing strategy: putting together new music and a familiar name. For those of you who can recall, Starbucks promoted the Ray Charles album “Genius Loves Company”, which went on to sell more than five million copies.

Schultz also said the coffee giant would open 10,000 more stores in the next four years. Company executives went on record saying that Starbucks would be in Russia and India by the end of this year.