The iTunes/Starbucks Deal Could Be Sweeter Than A Vanilla Steamed Milk On A Cold Day
Sure, the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store is an idea whose time is long overdue, but of the announcements made at today’s Apple event, the one that held the most interest for me was the partnership between the computer/music giant and Starbucks Coffee, which has also been trying to market music lately:
When your Wi-Fi powered iPod Touch or iPhone, or any laptop, is within range of a Starbucks, a button will pop up on the music store interface. Tap it, and you get songs recently played in that Starbucks, plus whatever music Starbucks is promoting at the time. Access to Starbucks’ Wi-Fi network will be free while you are shopping.
Rollout will start in NYC and Seattle, hitting 600 stores. By November, the SF area will have 350 stores. Apple and Starbucks plan to have all shops in major cities ready to go by end of 2008, and every Starbucks that has Wi-Fi by end of 2009.
Now, I’m not so into Starbucks’ musical offerings for the most part, but this idea is just jaw-droppingly killer–if it’s implemented properly (a big if, I know), it has the potential to integrate the hearing-music and buying-music experiences in the real world as well as the iTunes Store does on the desktop. (Not to mention that it’ll save the poor baristas at least a couple of “what’s this song playing right now?” questions.) Of course, if the prices of the songs were lower, perhaps there’d be an even higher purchase rate–and yes, I know I’m talking about this in the context of a store that charges $2.50 for a cup of coffee. But I really like where this idea can go (do you know how many times I’ve written down lyrics while out and about, in hopes of Googling them later?), and the potential it has for making ever-ubiquitous “background music” at least a little less anonymous. An optimistic outlook? Perhaps. But given that the two companies involved have actually been able to sell music lately, an area where so many other outfits have failed spectacularly, I’m willing to see where this goes.
Apple Partners With Starbucks For Free Wi-Fi Access to iTunes Music Store [Gizmodo]
