SEATTLE, WA. (Starbucks Coffee Company PR/ www.starbucks.com) - Starbucks Coffee Company today unveiled the Hear
Music media bar, an innovative service, powered by HP technology, which allows Starbucks customers to create personalized CD compilations and burn full-length albums from a vast digital library of songs.
Fifteen stores in Seattle will feature the Hear
Music media bar, at which customers can also explore their musical interests through exclusive Hear
Music editorial features and recommendations. Starbucks and HP executives helped to launch the service today at a special celebration at the Olive Way Starbucks location in downtown Seattle.
"Starbucks has a long-standing history of providing innovative experiences for consumers, and the Hear
Music media bar is no exception," said Ken Lombard, president, Starbucks Entertainment.
"The Hear
Music media bar will create unique opportunities for Seattle residents and visitors to discover and acquire a wide array of great music."
Seattle Starbucks customers will be able to interact with the Hear Music media bar at self-service screens placed throughout the 15 participating stores. Using a stylus pen on a touch screen, customers can burn existing albums or create custom CD compilations, song by song, from an initial catalog of more than 150,000 hand-picked songs covering a wide array of genres; select personalized album artwork and titles for custom CDs; listen to full-length songs and albums before purchasing; and pay for CD creations using a Starbucks Card or most credit cards, including the Starbucks Card Duetto Visa. Albums are offered at standard retail prices, while custom CDs are available at the price of $8.99 for the first seven songs and $0.99 for each additional song.
As the leader in technology innovation and the preferred technology provider for both Starbucks corporate headquarters and its retail stores, HP jointly develops solutions with Starbucks that support and enhance the overall Starbucks Experience. The Hear Music media bar is powered by HP software, hardware and services, including HP Tablet PCs, workstations, printing technology, networking, and design and integration services that enable the innovative touch-screen interface for customers to create and burn their own CD simply and easily.
To help celebrate the launch of the Hear Music media bar, Starbucks is sponsoring a concert from chart-topping artist Jill Scott and Mos Def, who will perform tonight at Benaroya Hall. Select audio tracks from the concert will be available for burning to CD exclusively at the Hear Music media bar in the weeks following the launch of the service.
As a special show of support for local music programs, Starbucks will provide a $5,000 donation to the Vera Project (www.theveraproject.org), a non-profit community center that produces live music and arts performances in Seattle as educational and community building opportunities. Programs include weekend concerts, training in audio engineering or event production and art exhibitions. The Vera Project serves more than 12,000 young people in Seattle.
Further demonstrating the impact that Starbucks is having on the music industry, the launch of the Hear Music media bar comes on the heels of the highly successful sales of Ray Charles Genius Loves Company; the launch of Starbucks "Hear Music" Channel 75 on XM Satellite Radio; the introduction of the new Starbucks Hear Music Coffeehouse retail concept; the recent release of Emmylou Harris Artist's Choice compilation CD; and the future release of Norah Jones Artist's Choice CD in early November.
Starbucks expects to extend the Hear Music media bar to other Starbucks locations in 2005. For more information on the Hear Music media bar and to find store locations in Seattle, consumers can visit https://www.starbucks.com/hearmusic.
