Starbucks Readying MP3 Download Stations
Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz has revealed that the concern will feature Digital Music filling stations in some of its stores by the end of 2007.
“Within 12 months, probably, you’re going to be able to walk into a Starbucks and digitally be able to fill up your MP3 player with music,” Schultz disclosed during a forum by the Levin Institute in New York.
There’s been some clues leading up to this disclosure. Starbucks tested CD-burning machines in several stores last year, but yanked them after only a short period when they started exploring digital downloads. Soon after, Starbucks took the wraps off its own branded area on Apple Computer’s iTunes Web site.
The Future: A MP3 Gas Pump in Starbucks seems like a no brainer. You could even tie it into the sound system so that the downloaded songs then become the store’s soundtrack. The promotional considerations notwithstanding, this is good for the heath of the industry. Make it so!
