The ubiquitous coffee shop chain Starbucks is planning to offer latte buyers the chance to buy iPod files whilst they wait for their drinks.

Whilst the plans are not set in stone yet, Starbucks bosses have mooted the possibility of selling digital music to customers. It already sells CDs and has secured several deals with artists such as Alanis Morrisette.

Ken Lombard, president of Starbucks Entertainment, told the Midem music industry conference in Cannes: “A lot of our customers are asking for device fill-up, and going forward we’ll do that.”

But he added that no date for moving into iPod music had yet been established, as it was still consulting with technology companies over how to implement the scheme.

Starbucks may face several challenges in setting up a service for iPods. Apple’s iTunes service currently has a monopoly on paid downloads to the device.

This has meant that firms such as HMV, Coca-Cola and Napster cannot sell files which can be used on the devices, whilst an attempt by Real Networks to launch an iPod compatible service found itself locked out by Apple’s software.

© 2006 Adfero Ltd