Starbucks announced today that they have collaborated with Spotify and things are quite interesting.
According to the Starbucks website, they have teamed up with 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."
With the collaboration, coffee enthusiasts get reward points when they subscribe to Spotify Premium. As part of the deal, Spotify will be paying Starbucks so that the latter can issue "stars" (reward points) to its subscribers.
Starting September, Spotify will automatically be the music source for all Starbucks stores in the U.S. (soon in the U.K. and Canada). All partners will be given a Spotify Premium subscription which they will use to help set the music to be played in stores. Long are the days that the baristas are just baristas; now they're DJs as well. Customers also play a role as they will be able to suggest songs that will be played.
“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,” according to Spotify CEO, Daniel Ek.
Spotify will feature Starbucks playlists, which has new music as well as Starbucks’ most popular music from the past 20 years. The music-streaming app's goal is to be everywhere and that's where Starbucks stands. Starbucks will be able to share how the streaming works. As of writing, there is no announcement yet on the collaboration for Asia but at least we can access the Starbucks playlist through Spotify.
