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Where is this Starbucks/Apple Venture Going ?

Thu Oct 5, 2006 7:14 PM EDT
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By Jimmy G
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Apple to offer Starbucks music on iTunes - Oct. 5, 2006

Lest anyone think that Starbucks makes all it's money selling coffee, actually quite the contrary. Believe it or not, Starbucks makes a nice profit from music sales. The music cd's are prominently displayed by the counter for to see and make that impulse purchase. Now with this announcement they will be able tio expand those music sales into a new and profitable arena, the iTunes music store.

I think this will give a huge boost to their sales of music and if we look a little deeper possibly to the sales of their newest venture, movies. Starbucks Entertainment recently released "Akeelah and the Bee" in cooperation with Lionsgate Studios and sell the DVD's at all of their stores. What a better way to promote and drive DVD sales. If memory serves correctly, Lionsgate was one of the first studios to pair with Apple and sell its movies on the new iTunes Movie Store. So what may this hold? Possibly Starbucks may delve deeper in the movie business and use the ITMS to distribute its content right to our desktop. Maybe an Apple/Starbucks venture where the Starbucks cards can also be used to buy movies/music ?? Interesting to ponder in any case.

Republished from A Husbands View

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Brian Ford

Apple would be smart to work with Starbucks, as they have a @!$%#load of walkthrough traffic that is "not" comprised of typical Apple customers. If they could get something going within Starbucks to promote Apple (musically and as far as computer hardware) -- cha-ching

  • 3 votes
Reply#1 - Thu Oct 5, 2006 10:24 PM EDT
Jimmy G

Brian,
You are absolutely right, some cross promotion would be great for Apple.
I have always talked with my friends that Apple would kill if the built in a small Starbucks bar in their stores. People hang out in there anyway, why not let them site, enjoy a cup of coffee, and play with all the toys. No doubt the longer your in that store, the better the odds you leave with something.

  • 3 votes
#1.1 - Thu Oct 5, 2006 10:50 PM EDT
ZekeTyler

Apple would kill if the built in a small Starbucks bar in their stores.

Or, conversely put a couple iMacs in selected Starbucks stores and allowed some free web browsing. That may ding the t-mobile not-for-free wireless thing Starbucks has going on now, but would certainly increase Apple's profile.

  • 2 votes
#1.2 - Fri Oct 6, 2006 7:15 AM EDT
Reply
knguyen

Where did you find this fact that Starbucks makes more money from selling CDs than coffee?

  • 3 votes
Reply#2 - Fri Oct 6, 2006 1:14 AM EDT
Garak

Seriously. I'd imagine selling cups of joe at $4 a pop rakes in quite a bit of cash.

  • 2 votes
#2.1 - Fri Oct 6, 2006 8:04 AM EDT
Jimmy G

knguyen,

Heh you know you are right, I thought I had read last year where this was true, but as I looked into it the music sales, while rising, do not supplant coffee sales. A bit of bad journalism on my part, I misread a passage in a business article. In any case, I wanted to make the point that they were a great portal for Apple, just made it poorly.

Thx

  • 3 votes
#2.2 - Fri Oct 6, 2006 9:41 AM EDT
Brian Ford

I actually wouldn't have been surprised to find out something like this was true. (Though, I'm not surprised to find that it's not true, either.)

Movie theaters actually make very, very little money showing movies. Almost -all- of their profit comes from selling concessions. My boss (in my days as a projectionist) described theaters as "restaurants that also happen to show movies".

  • 4 votes
#2.3 - Fri Oct 6, 2006 9:53 AM EDT
Reply
Steven R.

If they added a mini genius bar (1 apple employee) at each of the stores showing off features of macs either the ones people bring or a few iMacs in store like ZekeTyler mentioned, I think these people on their way to work would be great for getting more macs in the work place.

  • 2 votes
Reply#3 - Fri Oct 6, 2006 9:08 AM EDT
gleuch

or what if starbucks was to use apple computers for internet access purposes, i.e. one can pay for an hour's use of a computer to surf the internet, do work, etc.

  • 1 vote
#3.1 - Fri Oct 6, 2006 2:05 PM EDT
Steven R.

The possibilities boggle the mind! :)

  • 1 vote
#3.2 - Fri Oct 6, 2006 2:13 PM EDT
Reply
greer

In the not-too-distant future when iPods are wi-fi enabled and you can buy songs wireless directly on the iPod, it would make sense if people could sit in Starbucks, drink a coffee and eat an over-priced scone all-the-while browsing the iTunes music store on their iPods and buying music.

They could even have promotional songs on iTunes that are free to download at Starbucks only. This would drive iPod users to Starbucks, and get Starbucks coffee drinkers seeing a lot of iPods and maybe get them thinking of buying one.

  • 2 votes
Reply#4 - Fri Oct 6, 2006 1:16 PM EDT
Michael Sautter

Starbucks has a channel on XM Radio called Hear Music.
It's a nice mix of music, I was kind of surprised that I like it.

from XM:
Hear Music™, the Voice of Music at Starbucks, brings you Hear Music - XM 75.

Hear Music is dedicated to helping you discover your next favorite artist. Whether it's an emerging singer songwriter that shouldn't be passed up or a legendary artist essential to anyone's music collection, you'll hear it on Hear Music.

Hear Music, XM channel 75.

    Reply#5 - Sat Oct 7, 2006 12:44 AM EDT
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