According to an article at Business Journal, Starbucks has taken longer than planned to introduce music to its cafes. Now, you may be wondering why Coolfer is posting about music sold at a coffee chain. Well, Starbucks nows how to pull a few extra bucks out of its customers, and with so many stores it's automatically a major player in music sales.

Back in March, the company announced it would put CD-burning kiosks in 2,500 cafes within two years. Adding custom CDs to coffee and pastries was seen as a bold move to address what has become a lifestyle, not just a collection of food and beverage products.

Now, says the article, the program is being called "a test" and only ten Seattle-area stores will have the kiosks this fall. Store managers have had a difficult time integrating the kiosks into the store in a way that fits the rest of the cafe's ambience.

And what about the price? Starbucks, says the article, charges $12 for a 10-track CD with liner notes. Will customers pay more than the cost of downloading from iTunes for a CD in cheaply produced package? (People are always talking about the death of the CD, but the same people--journalists--now applaud Starbucks for selling burned CDs. How ironic.)

There are a lot of variables at play. Starbucks is finding this out and wisely moving ahead at a slow pace.

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