Billboard reported this afternoon that Paul McCartney's latest album, Memory Almost Full, debuted at #3 in the albums chart this week, with 161,000 copies sold. A strong showing for McCartney on new label Hear Music, founded by Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX), is also a nice indicator for Starbucks, which fellow blogger Georges Yared wrote about this morning. The album, which has received rave reviews, debuted at #5 in McCartney's home country of England last weekend.

As far as touring in promotion of the album, the former Beatle has only announced two secret shows, one in London last week and one tonight in New York. A full blown tour, reminiscent of his 2005 or 2002 tours is dependent on the outcome of his divorce, which is currently on hold according to reports. The 2002 tour was chronicled by the live album Back in the U.S. which debuted with 224,000 copies sold in its first week according to Billboard.

While not a #1 release, such a strong debut by "new" label Hear Music should shake up the music world, primarily because so many copies of the album were sold at Starbucks locations. The album is available at most retailers and from online stores, but the marketing Starbucks put into the release included a "global listening party" where the album played continuously in stores the day it was released, making every coffee buyer a listener if not a buyer.