Starbucks and Apple today announced the availability of the Starbucks Hear Music catalog on the iTunes Store, giving iTunes users the ability to preview, buy and download a wide variety of Starbucks popular Hear Music titles. Hear Music produces a wide range of albums showcasing new and classic artists including the well-known Artist Choice series, Opus Collections, Debut Series releases by emerging artists, as well as new works from major artists. Starbucks Hear Music offerings will be available in a special new Starbucks Entertainment area within the iTunes Store and will include a wide variety of popular content as well as playlists created specifically for iTunes.
“We’re excited to work with iTunes to add a significant new digital experience to the innovative buying experience we’ve been offering in Starbucks locations for more than 10 years,” said Ken Lombard, president of Starbucks Entertainment, in the press release. “Many of our customers want to listen to our music on their iPods, and now that will be easier than ever.”
“Millions of people enjoy the great music featured at Starbucks locations worldwide, and ask us for it by name,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of iTunes, in the press release. “Starbucks Hear Music has been a hit with music fans and we’re thrilled to add a Starbucks area to iTunes with all this great music online for the first time.”
The Starbucks Entertainment area within iTunes will feature a wide variety of playlists including unique music hand-picked by the same Starbucks Hear Music content team responsible for selecting the music played in Starbucks stores around the world. Playlists and content will be updated frequently and will also include digital versions of many of Hear Music’s popular CD series and co-releases such as the Marvin Gaye Opus Collection and Sonya Kitchell’s Words Came Back to Me, which was released as part of Starbucks ongoing Hear Music Debut CD series. Customers can purchase either the entire playlist or individual tracks from the Starbucks Hear Music playlists.
The iTunes Store features over 3.5 million songs, 65,000 podcasts, 20,000 audiobooks, over 5,000 music videos and 220 television shows.
Starbucks Coffee Company launched Starbucks Entertainment in 2004 to help customers discover quality entertainment options as part of their daily coffee routines. Starbucks Coffee Company first acquired Hear Music in 1999 to become Starbucks Hear Music, the sound of music at Starbucks.
Visit the new Starbucks Entertainment section of Apple’s iTunes Store here.
“Starbucks Corp. on Thursday raised its long-term store opening goal to 40,000 from its prior target of 30,000, pushing the coffee-shop operator’s shares up in afternoon trading,” Angela Moore reports for MarketWatch. “At an analysts’ meeting in its hometown of Seattle, Starbucks said that the 40,000 growth target is made up of 20,000 locations in the United States and 20,000 internationally.”
“The company currently has about 12,000 locations,” Moore reports. “Starbucks also said it was partnering with Apple Computer Inc., giving users of Apple’s iTunes music Web site the ability to preview, buy and download a wide variety of Starbucks popular Hear Music titles. At the meeting, Starbucks executives said the move was not purely promotional, but was seen as a profit driver for the company.”
Full article here.
Related article:
Starbucks to enter digital music market with HP – will they use Apple iTunes? – March 11, 2004
more unique content you won’t find on the Best Buy, Zune, or the lame “Plays For Sure” music stores.
Hear Music has been a channel on XM for a few years now as well!
What the fcuk does Starbuck’s coffee have to do with music?
Is there something you yanks have been doing that the rest of the world doesn’t know about?
Why not get toilet paper manufacturers involved with their music to listen to while contemplating your navel?
Baz
there is also itunes collection section which offers variety of music years to years. you can’t find this content any other place but itunes, too.
ipod+itunes can’t be beat by other companies. why? the full of higher contents with the best music player make even better in terms of integration, combination, availavility. no one can’t. they just try to mimic. they don’t have any philosophy on their concept as a part of culture or life.
Well, coffee shops originated in England as very sophisticated locations for authors and other people of intellect to hang out at. Consequently, in the U.S. we like to hear interesting music while drinking our coffee. It adds to the level of sophistication and can just possibly provide something to talk about.
Coffee shops are all about the atmosphere. And the “Yanks” did not invent that.
Actually, this is great news! More than once I have been sitting in a *$s and wished I could get the music they were playing from the iTMS.
Ray Charles and the Count Basie Orchestra is so amazing. Check it out.
I’ve got to say, this doesn’t do much for the stereotype of Mac users as the latte types.
“What the fcuk does Starbuck’s coffee have to do with music?”
What does drinking tea have to do with anything? The only way yanks like tea is when it’s made with salt water, preferably in Boston Harbor. LOL
A good cup of coffee is a wonderful thing. Make mine a Mocha Latte. Tea tastes like watered down pond scum.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Tea_Party
Consolidation.
Becoming unassailable.
“Coffee shops originated in England”. You’re kidding, right?
The French would object, as would the Italians. And the Turks. Possibly the Arabs as well.
In any event, just consider Starbucks another record label. It’s almost, but not quite, true.
Well that’s good news as Starbucks Hear Music gets added…just the sort of news needed as more also rans appear on the market, *yawns*.
The only problem I do have with Starbucks here in England is that to connect to their wireless service you have to pay first.
Not within a Starbucks, but via opening an account with the wireless provider so that you’re charged around £0.20 pence an hour for the privilege, outrageous!
Starbucks are not the only major eatery to charge for wireless access, McDonalds here are the same and as it happens it’s the same wireless provider as found in Starbucks.
BTW I bought a new 30Gb iPod – it arrived on Monday and I am very happy with it. I upgraded from a greyscale 4G 20Gb.
On the subject of coffee shops, yes true began here in England first and were also how stockmarkets began. Coffee shops were a place to trade many commodities and not just coffee beans.
standardmess
was right in the sense of the name ‘coffee shop’ and the literary and intellectual connections.
The eighteenth century coffee shops in England were original in that sense.
Damn…! I’ve been eyeballing SBUX ever since it dropped below $30 a few weeks ago. Now, it’s jumped over 11% in two days to hit over $38… Sometimes, ya just gotta play the hunches, and I didn’t. Crap!
MDN magic word: “whether” … as in, “it makes a distinct difference whether you do something, or just sit there thinking about it…”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffeehouses
Wow,
So with 15 StarBucks shops in every mall in America, do you think Steve will have them put in an iPod vending machine? iPod sales off the charts
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Now a virtual store within a store for Starbucks, hmmm, interesting, this might be a way for some of the “PlaysforSure” losers (ala Zune) to jump ship and join iTS.
Now if only I could order a pound of coffee whilst buying my week’s tv shows.
Hey I know, since SB brands all kinds of stuff, why not Starbucks iPods?
this is great news. I have a few hear albums. I have a couple of the “playlists” and lucinda william’s artists choice. All very good. You will see some idiots whining and complainig about apple and strabucks above. They are just ignorant children. apple once again has aligned itself with a quality market leader to produce something we will enjoy
Coffee is ok, once in a while, if you’re out of cocaine.
Launch iTunes, click on the Starbucks link and order a Latte.
Ten minutes later a cute chicklet drives up to your door with your drink of choice. Now that’s what I call a feature.
I work at starbucks. the music sucks.
“A good cup of coffee is a wonderful thing. Make mine a Mocha Latte. Tea tastes like watered down pond scum.”
the problem is, most American coffee isn’t good and tastes worse than used motor oil, and leaves a foul taste in your mouth for the rest of the day. Give me a cup of STRONG tea anytime!
A mocha latte? That sounds like a kids drink! I bet you drink mocktails on your nights out on the town!
Gotta go – I hear the kettle whistling – time to make my next cuppa.
Good German Beer
http://www.maisel.com/unsere_biere/maisels_weisse/maisels_weisse_kristall_23.html
http://www.stuttgarter-hofbraeu.de/malteser/malteser_popup.html