Starbucks is getting tired of the same old grind and now
has a Entertainment Division, complete with a President, Ken Lombard. We
noticed that last spring the coffee
house had partnered with HP and was going to give the music download and burn
model a trial in Santa Monica. Due to interest there, Starbucks will now expand
the Hear Music franchise with 45 new locations from Seattle to Austin, Texas.
The concept is customers can sip a cup of coffee whilst searching a
digital music catalog, then burn a personalized CD.
The Hear Music media bar is an in-store kiosk that allows consumers to The new locations mark an expansion of the on-demand service, which was Rollout of the media bar begins Monday (Oct. 18) in Seattle and Oct. 25 Starbucks says it plans to move the Hear Music media bar into |
What is interesting is that Lombard
says they are targeting the "adult" crowd. These are the folks that shun the
current top fourty and yearn for hits from yesteryear. Ironically, the sector
they have targeted has the power to place the music right back into the top
fourty! If you don't think they are on to something, then just take a gander at
the Ray Charles "Genius Loves Company" compilation cd. It's was in the Top
Ten at Billboard for 6 straight week. Just this week it fell to number 11.
Starbucks conceived and produced the album. According to Reuters, Starbucks is offering seven songs for
$8.99. Additional songs cost 99 cents each. The company has a catalog of 150,000
tracks and content deals with all four major labels and 40
independents.
Source: Reuters
