I never used the Hear Music kiosks - they just didn't seem to offer any value to me. If I can download and burn my own tracks from my desk at work, why would I want to try to put together a similar CD while standing up at a coffee shop? Besides, at 99 cents per track, that's more than ten bucks for a "whole" album of songs. If I'm going to do that, I want to put some serious thought into it. And since they'll probably end up on my MP3 player anyway (I don't own an iPod) it seemed kind of poinless.
From the Seattle PI Article:
"Starbucks Corp. has quietly pulled CD-burning kiosks out of most of its Austin, Texas, and Seattle stores. It started with 45 in 2004, with plans to go nationwide, but has downscaled to five stores in each city.
Experts blame iPods, and the ability to burn CDs on home computers, for curbing the success of what Starbucks had hoped would be a hit.
"Launching the service without the ability for customers to download music directly to their MP3 players was a major misstep," said John Moore, a former marketer for the Seattle-based coffee giant who now runs Brand Autopsy, an Austin consulting firm."
Read all about it: