revolution

Last week, Apple and Starbucks announced a new, revolutionary distribution method: with the new iPod Touch (an iPod with wifi capabilities), when you enter a Starbucks location (right now, selected locations – all Starbucks locations should be online for this by the end of 2009), your iPod Touch goes online, and shows you the song that is currently playing in that Starbucks location. And it gives you access to the 10 songs that were played just prior to that. And…… wait for it…… it gives you a one-click option to buy that track, or any one of the ten previous tracks.

Obviously there are limitations – for now. Not all Starbucks locations are able to do this. Only the iPod Touch and the iPhone are compatible.

But consider this: have you ever walked into a store and they are playing a great song. You don’t know who the artist is, or what the song title is, but you instantly like it. Up till now, you’d have to be motivated enough to approach an employee and ask them what is currently playing, be lucky enough to find an employee who has the time and willingness to figure this out for you, you have to record the info somehow, and either remember it later to go buy it on iTunes or Napster or whatever service you use, or you have to go buy the CD. Not much instant about that. With this new scenario, you hear the song, you decide you like it, and you immediately are offered the option to buy it.
Right now it’s Starbucks. It’s not that big of a leap to your favorite TV series (perhaps through iTV? Tivo?) and that great song (that was placed through a sync license) in that very emotional scene at the end of the season finale. Or the movie sound track for the latest Bond movie (or Bourne movie).

I recently read an ebook on internet music marketing by Andrew Dubber. One of this main points is the sequence that people buy music in: people hear music, they like music, and then they buy music. This new distribution strategy makes the jump between those steps almost immediate.

Finally, the convenience. When you hear a song you instantly are offered the option to download it. When I first started using the iTunes music store I was convinced I would not use it much. Then I started discovering new music. And realizing I could buy one song with one click (well in my case two – I make myself confirm each purchase). I am not going to tell you how much money I have spent in the ITMS over the past few years, but it’s significant. And more importantly, I would probably have never bough most of these physical CDs – I buy a track or two, and decide I like it enough to buy the entire project – but often I would not have bought the project had I not been able to buy the one track.