MP3 Downloading Stations Coming to Starbucks

Industry

By: Jenn K. Lee on January 25, 2007 10:02 PM

By this time next year, you may be able to get more than just your tall, venti, or grande caffeine fix at your local Starbucks. Company chairman Howard Schultz announced this week that within about 12 months, you will "digitally be able to fill up your MP3 player with music" right there in the store.

I never saw any in person, but apparently those CD-burning machines that were removed from stores last year may be replaced with MP3 downloading stations of some kind. In light of the recent addition of the "Starbucks Hear Music" catalog to the iTunes Music Store, many are speculating that these stations will be provided in conjunction with Apple.

If the rumors are true, you can count on leaving your Creative, Microsoft, and SanDisk DAPs at home. Bringing them to Starbucks would indeed be fruitless.

[Seattle Times via Gizmodo]

Comments

Utew on January 27, 2007 3:45 AM

Jenn,

I keep seeing that Starbucks logo on the front page and all it makes me do is want a Java Chip Frappacino.... on the other hand, it does not make me want to run right down and download music... ;-)

Daveworld on January 30, 2007 10:48 PM

It would make perfect business sense to team with Apple on this. Think of a city like NY with everyone carrying an iPod and where you will find a Starbucks on every 2 block. Sorry but you go with the market leader on this one!

Latest Articles:

abi Editor's Choice

SanDisk Sansa Clip

The Clip has a fantastic little form factor; cheap in build quality but very rugged. The interface is simple and relatively straight forward. The features on the clip are more or less average, mostly identical to the Sansa Express. However, what earns this player a spot in Editor’s Choice is the superb sound quality; you will not find another player at this size and price that can match it. Read the full review or go ahead and buy it.
Samsung P3

The Samsung P2 was a success and the P3 is a very welcome and substantial update. Samsung has paid close attention to users on P2 issues and made great strides in addressing and improving most of them. The best feature of the P3 is its native video support. Most content you thow at it will playback without conversion on the great looking screen. Stop by the Samsung P3 forums for more details or check out our indepth P3 review.
Microsoft Zune 120

Sure, many of us are not big fans of the walled garden, but there are a lot of great things going on with the Zune- sturdy hardware, ultra easy to use user interface, and a media player that is worthy of editor’s choice. The best part of the Zune is the constant firmware and software updates virtually giving you a new device at each major refresh. You can check out the latest Zune 120 & 16 review or stop by our Zune forums for the latest.
Cowon iAudio D2

The D2 is a fantastic sounding PMP with a very nice looking screen and a tone of features. One of the best features of the D2 is the SDHC slot allowing you to add another 32GB to this small wonder. The touch interface does not lend well to on the move operation, but it is not enough to keep it from being an editor’s choice. You can find usually find it at Amazon for the best price and before to check out the review.
Phonak Audéo PFE

Phonak Audéo PFE offer outstanding clarity and precision; natural, dynamic mids and treble, and decent bass for a single armature in-ear phone. They handle dense, complex music very well. The PFE work well with most acoustic and some electronic music genres, but bassheads might have to look at other alternatives. They're great for sports as well, since they fit very securely. Check out our review.