Hey, it worked for Pepsi. I think. AP reports:
Starbucks Corp. plans to give away 50 million free digital songs to
customers in all of its domestic coffee houses to promote a new
wireless iTunes music service that's about to debut in select markets.
From Oct. 2 to Nov. 7, baristas in the company's more than 10,000
U.S. stores will hand out about 1.5 million "Song of the Day" cards
each day. The cards can be redeemed at Apple Inc.'s online iTunes Store.
Thirty-seven
artists with featured songs include Paul McCartney and Joni Mitchell --
the first two to sign on with Starbucks' Hear Music label -- along with
Joss Stone, Dave Matthews, John Mayer, Annie Lennox and Band of Horses.
The first song will be Bob Dylan's "Joker Man."
Also
on Oct. 2, Starbucks will start selling iTunes digital release cards
that allow a full album of music and bonus material to be downloaded
online. KT Tunstall's "Drastic Fantastic" and the soundtrack to the
film "Into the Wild" with new music from Pearl Jam frontman Eddie
Vedder will be the first two featured albums, retailing for $14.99 and
$11.99, respectively.
Starbucks also will offer a limited-edition
reloadable purchasing card that includes two free iTunes downloads when
customers register their cards online.
It's hard to get excited about something like this. I guess if you're already getting fleeced at Starbucks, getting a free song or two is a nice incentive to keep it up. Not a game changer, obviously.