Link: Starbucks is entering the digital music business…in a very innovative way. The company owns music retailer Hear Music and, not suprisingly, has plans to blend music and coffee retailing. Unlike iTunes and other download services, the Hear Music retail model gives the customer a tangible product — a custom CD, with artwork, liner notes, and all the details of a traditional CD (and record, for that matter). Stick that model into any Starbucks on any street corner, and you’ve got the Starbucks/Hear Music coffeehouse idea.
Buy a latte, sit at the counter, select your songs, wait a few minutes, and you’ve got your custom CD.
The linked article, from Fast Company, details the background behind the Starbucks plan, which is apparently an effort to reinvent the brand with the goal of making Starbucks the world’s biggest brand.
I’m guessing we won’t see these new and improved Starbucks coffeehouses in Toledo for awhile….
