"Starbucks did more than its fair share to help the album," said Chris Bruzzo, Starbucks' vice president of brand, content and online, of Carly Simon's 2008 album that Starbucks' Hear Music label produced and over which she is suing the coffee company.

Bruzzo said the CDs from Simon and Sonic Youth were marked down last summer, when Starbucks cut back its in-store music offerings from dozens to about four per store, but said they were not discounted during the crucial promotional periods for the albums.

He also said the Sonic Youth album was what Starbucks calls a "stretch" choice, meaning it's not music that customers have said they listen to, but that Starbucks suggests they try.

As for the unhappiness with how those albums sold, Bruzzo said, "Every artist brings a different level of expectation about how well something is going to sell in our stores. We humbly offer it to our customers, and our customers either buy it or they don't."