Would you like Dylan with that venti blended latte?
Starbucks, music distributor. Makes sense. I plan to buy the Coldplay album from Starbucks the next time I'm in there even though I'll be paying full price. It's convenient. And it was Starbucks that introduced me to Coldplay's music the last time I was in its Menlo Park store for a couple of hours working on my laptop. And based on the long line of teenagers at that store at the end of a school day, Starbucks is the perfect sales channel for music. According to this New York Times story yesterday (registration required):
Starbucks plans to announce today that it will exclusively sell "Bob Dylan: Live at the Gaslight 1962," further encroaching on the turf of traditional music retailers by offering a recording that has been prized by fans as a bootleg for decades.
Over the last year, the chain has become a force in the music business with the success of the Grammy-winning album of Ray Charles duets, "Genius Loves Company." Starbucks sold more than 750,000 copies of the album.
..."We're focused on providing our customers unique opportunities," said Ken Lombard, president of Starbucks Entertainment, referring to albums that were unavailable elsewhere. "We want the music customer to think of Starbucks as a destination."