Starbucks and Apple today announced “Pick of the Week,” a new program offering coffeehouse customers a chance to discover complimentary new music and music videos each week. Pick of the Week featured artists include a great line-up with Carly Simon, Duffy, Counting Crows, Adele, Sia, Hilary McRae and many more.
Each Tuesday, more than 7,000 Starbucks company-operated locations in the US will stock a new Pick of the Week download card redeemable on the iTunes Store for a complimentary song or music video hand-picked by the Starbucks Entertainment team and iTunes. The first Pick of the Week, available starting today at participating Starbucks locations, is Counting Crows’ new song, “Washington Square.”
“With Pick of the Week, Starbucks will leverage its trusted curatorial voice in music and entertainment through its partnership with iTunes to provide our customers with a world-class digital discovery experience,” said Ken Lombard, president Starbucks Entertainment, in the press release.
“Pick of the Week provides an incredible way for Starbucks customers to discover great new music and videos for free on the iTunes Store,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of iTunes, in the press release. “With the world’s largest online catalog of music and video there is truly something for everyone.”
In October 2007, Starbucks and iTunes teamed up to launch Song of the Day, which offered Starbucks customers the opportunity to pick up a new complimentary download hand-picked by Starbucks Entertainment and iTunes each day for a month. Customer response to Song of the Day was unprecedented and resulted in more than 6 million songs downloaded. Realizing that a large audience hungry to discover new music and entertainment content had been tapped, Starbucks and iTunes worked together to create an ongoing version of the program to drive discovery and sales for great artists.
Once Pick of the Week cards are distributed, customers will then have up to 60 days from the date they are available to redeem their complimentary digital entertainment offering on iTunes.
Pick of the Week is the next phase in a partnership between Starbucks and Apple which began with the launch of the Starbucks Entertainment Area within iTunes in October 2006 and the launch of the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store at select Starbucks locations in October of 2007. The iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store at Starbucks lets customers at participating Starbucks use the Wi-Fi network to wirelessly download music onto their iPhone, iPod touch or computer with no Wi-Fi connection fees or hotspot login.
The iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store at Starbucks is currently available in select Starbucks locations in the New York, Seattle and San Francisco metropolitan areas on its way to a national service rollout. Starbucks also offers the exclusive Now Playing feature on the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store, which allows customers to instantly preview, buy and download the music currently playing overhead in participating Starbucks locations.
Source: Starbucks Coffee Company
Ahhhh my two food groups working together…….
I can’t wait for Starbucks Latte of the Day Download. I bet it will make your iPhone snappier (and also have to urinate a lot).
This just in:
Microsoft and McDonald’s team up to provide free music and video downloads
Today Microsoft (MSFT +$0.14) and McDonald’s (MCD +$0.35) launched a new free music and food sharing campaign. The new features include downloading a free mp3 from the Zune store. This Mp3 can be played 3 times over the course of 3 minutes, whichever comes first. Zune users can download these mp3s wirelessly from within a McDonald’s restaurant, but they must be connected to a power source by using the provided Zune docks stationed throughout the restaurant.
Also, McDonald’s is pioneering a new food sharing promotion where, if you really like your McFishin’ you can share what’s left of it with someone else who has a Zune. Of course, they can only take up to 3 bites of it, or they will have to buy one themselves. McDonald’s is also experimenting with a new “Leftovers” concept where instead of throwing away their leftover food in the trash, they can place it on top of the trash can for others to pick at. Microsoft and McDonald’s both see this as an opportunity to create a social buzz while dining.
Unfortunately, no one from either company was available for comment.
Welcome to the Social.
Whatever happened to the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store access at Starbucks here in Los Angeles?
@k_shaw: delicious!
Perhaps something else “social” can be exchanged.
When is this Starbucks’ thing coming to Washington, DC?
I am wondering when the free wifi to certain Starbucks customers will be available. I thought it was suppose to be mid April.