Starbucks goes music

I finally checked out the Hear Music Coffeehouse which opened on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica last March. What a great idea! The first-of-its-kind record store combines a Starbucks coffeehouse with a music listening bar including dozens of interactive Tablet PC-based listening stations. The store has a huge digital library with hundreds of thousands of songs to to chose from with a wide range of music styles (including a great world music section). I could totally relax listening to overhead music while sipping on my double espresso con panne. Later on I went to the store’s CD burning service, compiled an eclectic list with my new favorite songs and walked out with my personal Summer hits 2004 CD. That was fun! Although the Apple music store remains my favorite shopping destination...
According to a great story in Fast Company, Starbucks plans to have 100 coffee shops across the country enabled with Hear Music CD-burning stations by next Christmas, and more than 1,000 locations up and running by the end of 2005. Plus: Starbucks founder Howard Schultz aims to transform the record industry. Plus: Starbucks want to become a "cultural concierge" for customers.