Starbucks will stop selling CDs in its stores by the end of March. However, reports suggest the coffee chain is exploring other avenues to tap into its music heritage, likely involving digital distribution.
"Music has always been a key component of our coffee house experience and it will continue to be," Maggie Jantzen, a spokeswoman, told Mashable. "However, we will continue to evolve the format of our music offerings to ensure we're offering relevant options for our customers."
Continuing will be Starbucks' "Pick of the Week" that offers free downloads for those who use the Starbucks app. Their themed compilations, including the holiday series and single-song downloads offered via promotional cards, are expected to continue.
According to press materials, locations in the late eighties only played light classical and instrumental songs through tapes provided by an outside playlist service. Vocal driven jazz, such as Ella Fitzgerald, as well as classic jazz, blues and reggae were added. Managers noticed how customers engaged with the music, many asking about the artists and some wondering why compilations weren't for sale.
In 1995, the first recorded offering, Note Blend CD, arrived. In 1999, Starbucks acquired Hear Music and eventually came out with exclusive CDs from Paul McCartney, Joni Mitchell, Ray Charles, Alanis Morissette and others.
About 20 CDs are regularly stocked in front of registers at most locations. The mix includes contemporary hits such as that Taylor Swift's 1989 and Sam Smith, but heavily favored compilations of jazz greats, crooner standards, and newer ballad singers such as Michael Bublé, Norah Jones and Harry Connick Junior.
The stores are sometimes ridiculed for their oldies mix. But in an interview with Fast Company in 2004, CEO Howard Schultz said aficionados of standards had no other welcoming place to buy CDs. He said, "The Starbucks customer [who] might want to find a Diana Krall album, a Tony Bennett album, or anything that was not being played on the radio, well, they would have a hard time going into Tower Records."
The move to end CD sales was attributed to the challenging CD category. While Starbucks reportedly saw a "small" increase in CD sales, overall CD sales declined 15 percent industry wide in 2014. Selling an increasingly antiquated product also didn't fit with Starbucks' reputation for being at the forefront of technological advances, such as mobile payments and speedy WiFi.
"CDs make them look dated as a brand," Steven Addis, CEO of the brand agency Addis, told USA Today. "They need to move to streaming and have their own streaming service."
- Starbucks to junk CDs - USA Today
- Starbucks to Stop Selling CDs - Billboard
- Starbucks to scrap CDs in stores worldwide - Mashable
- Joni Mitchell and Starbucks Hear Music Produce and Release Two New CDs - Starbucks
- A Musical Look Back at 40 - Starbucks
- Blue Note Blend Jazz Album Pays Tribute to Two Decades of Starbucks Music - Starbucks