Starbucks plans to give away Free iTunes Downloads

Starbucks Coffee Co. on Monday announced that it will soon provide its customers with more than 50 million free digital songs to download from iTunes in a move that will give a significant boost to their recent deal with Apple Inc. to launch a new wireless iTunes music service.

Earlier this month, Apple and the Seattle, Washington-based coffee drink company announced a partnership that the two companies have said would let users of the iPhone and newly introduced iPod touch to access the iTunes Store and download the currently-playing Starbucks musical track with the touch of a button.

The new iTunes Wi-Fi music service, scheduled to roll out in New York and Seattle Oct. 2, allows users wirelessly browse, search for, preview, buy and download music from the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store at Starbucks onto their iPod touch, iPhone or PC or Mac, as long as the system has iTunes on it.

Now, to promote its new in-store partnership with Apple, the American coffee chain Starbucks is planning to give away 1.5 million downloads per day from Oct. 2 to Nov. 7 in its more than 10,000 company-owned and licensed U.S. stores. It will give a total of more than 50 million free songs throughout the promotion.

Customers will receive free "song of the day" cards to download music hand-selected by Starbucks Entertainment, including tunes by Bob Dylan, Joss Stone, John Mayer, Dave Matthews, KT Tunstall, John Legend, Annie Lennox, Joni Mitchell, Keith Urban, Paul McCartney, Sia, Band of Horses, Hilary McRae, Federico Aubele and Sara Bareilles.

The Song of the Day cards, which is redeemable on the Starbuck's iTunes Stores and that allows customers to use the T-Mobile HotSpot Wi-Fi Network, will be available in all U.S. Starbucks stores. They can redeem their cards until the end of this year.

“This is a landmark moment for Starbucks. With the launch of the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store at Starbucks we can now provide the same classic coffeehouse experience and compelling music offerings our customers have come to expect from us through a new platform ideal for the digital music consumer,” said Ken Lombard, president of Starbucks Entertainment.

“This is the first step in combining the power of brick and mortar retail and digital music,” he added.

Moreover, Starbucks plans to introduce a new feature, called “Now Playing”, which will allow customers to use the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store at Starbucks to instantly preview what's playing over the sound system and let them buy and download the music currently playing overhead.

The broader rollout of free access to iTunes Wi-Fi music stores will begin in October at more than 600 company-operated and licensed stores, covering both New York and Seattle, and then will roll out in San Francisco in early November.

Starbucks said it would open additional music stores in 350 Starbucks locations in the San Francisco Bay area by the end of this year, 500 stores in the Los Angeles in early February 2008, 300 stores in Chicago in March next year, and additional markets throughout the U.S. later in 2008.

In Friday's regular trading Starbucks shares closed at $27.47, down $0.02 or 0.07%, on a volume of 12.55 million shares.