Originally a music retail/catalog company, Hear Music was founded by Don MacKinnon and two partners in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1990. It was sold in 1992 to CML Group, which undertook an unsuccessful rollout. MacKinnon and a partner bought it back from CML in 1996. In 1999, the company, which was then headquartered in San Francisco, was purchased by Starbucks Coffee Company, and the headquarters were relocated to Seattle. Starbucks used it to release to their own compilations and other releases. In 2007, it became a joint venture between Concord Music Group and Starbucks. Hear Music was an assumed business name of Starcon, LLC, mentioned as 'StarCon, LLC d/b/a Hear Music' on some releases.