Starbucks Considers MP3 Download Service

[Serg]

Starbucks Considers MP3 Download ServiceMike Slocombe24 Jan 2006
Not content with having a café on every street corner in the known universe, Starbucks has announced that it's considering expanding its entertainment business to offer a MP3 download service at their stores.
The coffee giant already offers compact disc sales and in-store CD burning, but Ken Lombard, president of Starbucks Entertainment, says that his customers are "asking for device fill-up" (do people really talk like that?) and that the company intends to "go forward and do that."
There's no firm plans yet, as Lombard went on to say that Starbucks are still talking to various companies about the technology and that a date hasn't been set for the introduction of their MP3 download service,
Starbucks – the US's biggest coffee chain – boasts 10,000 retail outlets globally and Lombard stated that their decision to get into MP3 music sales represented "perfect" timing, seeing as he believed that the music industry currently "found itself in the midst of a tremendous amount of chaos."
Starbucks have already stuck their espresso-scented tentacles deep into the music business and established themselves as a major CD outlet, shifting around 3.5 million CDs in their fiscal year ended 30 September.
They also co-produced Ray Charles "Genius Loves Company"album of duets, and have announced plans to promote movies and offer DVDs and soundtracks at 5,500 of their US and Canada stores.
The CD burning service will remain on offer at Starbucks coffee shops (via the in-store Hear Music outlet) with the company keen to continue striking deals to exclusively offer artists' CDs before they go on general release.
Being old punk rockers at heart, we can't imagine what could be worse than forcing fans to visit an expensive multi-national coffee shop instead of their local record shop and it seems that some retailers don't like it either.
Last year, HMV Canada refused to stock Alanis Morissette's records (good move anyway, we say!) in protest at the wallet-stuffing exclusivity agreement she'd signed with Starbucks.
Of more concern to music fans is the growing influence of mainstream retailers who can wield their corporate buying power to influence record sales – and even the bands themselves - by refusing to stock records that don't appeal to their 'values.'
Way back in 1996, Sheryl Crow had her record shunted off the shelves of Wal-Mart because one of the songs contains an unflattering comment about the company's gun sales policy, and the Fugees lost all credibility by releasing a Wal-Mart friendly version of their album, 'The Score' with all the naughty words taken out.
And it's the same story at Starbucks, who recently decided that seasoned rock'n'roll veteran Bruce Springsteen's new record was too racy for their stores, refusing to stock the album because of its challenging, explicit lyrics.
If the Starbucks service takes off, we can expect more pressure on artists and record companies to conform to their wholesome values - and this can only be bad news for music fans.
Quietly oiling the wheels of his global-domination tank, Lombard also added that Starbucks will test selling books at its stores later this year.
Lord help us.
Starbucks

[brandr]

The Starbuck Corporation is not all about good wholesome values they have the most diverse employment that I have seen and it is not all wholesome they also have innovative business practices. They are not all about hold the artists down it is another place for the artists to hock their goods if they don't fit in the Starbucks mold, so be it sell it else where... Starbucks is a great company and a great company to work for I know many people who work there at the corporate headquarters and love it and are treated great... Don't buy your music there if you need your artists to have lyrics that Starbucks finds inappropriate... But, they do make a nice cup of joe...

my 2 cents

[LyricB]

It's funny how Starbucks has become such a familiar aspect of our lives, starting with having really good coffee and now all the other things they've quietly weaved into thier corporation.

[brian]

I've still never been to a Starbucks.

[Triumph]

I think this is potentially the beginning of the end for Starbucks. They have moved into fringe markets before, but this has nothing to do with their core business and they are neither qualified or positioned to do well with this.

If they are just co-branding another service, it might be alright, but if they are actually going to set this up themselves, well it will be a huge money hole. Would people pay $4.00 for a cup of coffee from Apple and iTunes?

[S//P]

Originally Posted by brian

I've still never been to a Starbucks.

ditto to that, they dont seem to have many in england maybe in london and some other cities but certainly not where i live!

[lindsey]

Man that is so odd about not having a Starbucks in London. Here in Southern California they are seriously a dime a dozen and can almost be found every mile or every two blocks.

But I know a majority of Starbucks have free wifi for any customers that have a laptop etc to use. So the free mp3 downloads would not surprise me. I think it is pretty nice. Although I dont own a MP3 player yet. Still stuck on a CD player.

[vicki2]

I'm surprised you don't have a Starbucks in London, but I haven't looked. Here in Scotland, we certainly have them. Even tiny St. Andrews has one with wi-fi, and good old blue collar Dundee has one too. I, as an American, am long addicted to their coffee, but I'm not certain that this foray into downloads makes much sense. Jeeze, stick to good coffee!