Starbucks & Spotify Redefine Retail Experience by Connecting Spotify Music Streaming Service Into World-Class Store & Digital...
May 18 2015 - 5:00PM
Business Wire
Partnership Connects Starbucks 7,000 U.S.
Company-Owned Stores, 10M-Member My Starbucks Rewards Loyalty
Program and Spotify’s 60M Users to Create First-of-Its-Kind Music
Ecosystem
MSR Members and Spotify Users to Earn “Stars as
Currency” for Subscribing to Spotify Premium
Popular Starbucks Music Made Available for
Everyone on Spotify
Starbucks Coffee Company (NASDAQ: SBUX) today announced that it
has entered into a letter of intent with leading music streaming
service, Spotify®, to establish a multi-year relationship that will
link its 7,000 company-operated stores in the U.S. and 10 Million
My Starbucks Rewards® loyalty members with Spotify’s more than 60
Million global users to offer a first-of-its-kind music ecosystem.
This interconnectivity will allow Starbucks MSR members unique
access to Starbucks music on Spotify, the ability to influence
in-store playlists as well as opportunities for Starbucks MSR
members to earn “Stars as Currency.”
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“For over forty years, music has played a vital role in
Starbucks Third Place experience – inspiring our partners and
customers in unexpected ways that have helped to shape the global
pop culture. And we are delighted and honored to bring Spotify
directly to our customers,” said Howard Schultz, chairman and ceo
of Starbucks. “Throughout its history, Starbucks has worked closely
with the music industry, offering a variety of artists a platform
for their work. By connecting Spotify’s world-class streaming
platform into our world-class store and digital ecosystem, we are
reinventing the way our millions of global customers discover
music.”
Through a phased rollout later this fall in Starbucks® U.S.
company-owned locations, followed shortly thereafter in Canada and
the United Kingdom, the agreement specifies that Starbucks and
Spotify will collaborate on a next generation music ecosystem. As
part of the agreement, Spotify Premium will be promoted in these
stores.
Coming first, Starbucks 150,000 U.S.-based partners (employees)
will receive a Spotify Premium subscription, followed shortly
thereafter by partners in Canada and the U.K. This fall, Starbucks
partners can help shape the in-store music programming using tools
provided by Spotify. These partner-influenced playlists will then
be accessible on Spotify via the Starbucks Mobile App so that
customers can stream music anywhere, anytime from their mobile
device.
In addition, Spotify users will enjoy opportunities to obtain
“Stars as Currency” for My Starbucks Rewards loyalty program. This
will represent the first time that Starbucks loyalty program stars
can be accessed by a third party for the benefit of Starbucks MSR
members and Spotify users. Spotify will also include a dedicated
section on Spotify featuring new playlists from Starbucks and its
most popular music from the past 20 years, available to all Spotify
users.
“Starbucks has a rich music heritage and customers who are
passionate music fans which makes us incredibly proud to be their
music partner,” said Daniel Ek, CEO of Spotify. “Spotify has
powered more than 25 Billion hours of listening around the world so
far, and we’re looking forward to creating unique in-store music
experiences while also making more than 20 years of popular
Starbucks music available to both Starbucks customers and Spotify’s
60 Million global music fans.”
“We plan on building one of the most robust digital ecosystems
of any retailer in the world. Given the evolution of the music
industry and the proliferation of streaming technology, it was
natural that we would partner with Spotify in offering our
customers a new way to engage with their favorite music,” added
Kevin Johnson, president and coo of Starbucks. “Starbucks ability
to innovate with partners such as Spotify, creating new ways and
platforms to engage with our customers, will afford us
unprecedented interconnectivity across all of our capabilities, and
provide new access points for Spotify as they continue to grow
globally.”
For more than four decades, Starbucks has built a differentiated
Third Place experience with music at the heart of its coffeehouse
culture. In 1994, a dedicated entertainment team began selecting
original CDs spanning a diversity of musical genres and
geographies. This program has spotlighted the extraordinary careers
of legendary artists such as the late John Lennon, Aretha Franklin
and Bonnie Raitt, among many others. Bob Dylan, Yo-Yo Ma, the
Rolling Stones and Ray Charles are among the legends who identified
their favorite recordings for Starbucks Artist Choice series.
Starbucks seasonal CDs have celebrated moments ranging from
Valentine’s Day to summer road trips to holiday festivities.
Starbucks has also become a champion of emerging artists such as
John Legend, Madeleine Peyroux and Fleet Foxes, introducing
customers to these musicians at an early point in their
careers.
About Starbucks
Since 1971, Starbucks Coffee Company has been committed to
ethically sourcing and roasting high-quality arabica coffee. Today,
with stores around the globe, the company is the premier roaster
and retailer of specialty coffee in the world. Through our
unwavering commitment to excellence and our guiding principles, we
bring the unique Starbucks Experience to life for every customer
through every cup. To share in the experience, please visit us in
our stores or online at www.starbucks.com. You can learn more
about the Starbucks Reserve™ Roastery and Tasting Room
here: www.Starbucks.com/roastery
About Spotify
Spotify is an award-winning digital music service that gives you
on-demand access to over 30 million tracks. Our dream is to make
all the world’s music available instantly to everyone, wherever and
whenever you want it. Spotify makes it easier than ever to
discover, manage and share music with your friends, while making
sure that artists get a fair deal. Spotify is now available in 58
markets globally with more than 60 million active users, and over
15 million paying subscribers. Since its launch in Sweden in 2008,
Spotify has driven more than US$2bn to rights holders. Spotify is
now the second biggest source of digital music revenue for labels
in Europe, and the biggest and most successful music streaming
service of its kind globally. For more information on Spotify
please visit www.spotify.com.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150518006730/en/
StarbucksHaley Drage,
206-318-7100press@starbucks.comorSpotifyMarni Greenberg,
415-680-4387marni@spotify.com
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