Starbucks To Offer Music DownloadsStarbucks To Offer Music Downloads

Starbucks Corp., plans to provide stations for customers to buy digital songs and download them into their music players, according to media reports.

The company currently enables customers to burn music CDs at some outlets.

The company has not set a date for the move, and is still looking for a partner or partners to handle the systems. Hewlett-Packard is their technology partner both for music CD burning and, along with T-mobile, the company's wireless networking technology, though with the departure of former CEO Carly Fiorina, the company has been moving away from splashy consumer-oriented partnerships.

Apple is another obvious choice as a Starbucks music download systems partner, as the leading company offering music from their iTunes music store.

Starbucks is also planning to sell books, and will start test-marking book sales at some stores later this year, according to press reports.

A logical feature to offer after the company sets up the infrastructure to sell books and electronic music would be digital books, or "e-books," as well as podcasts and other digital content, although the company has to date announced no such plans.