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Hacking the Starbuck's Muzak Machine?
llamaluvr asks: "My friend is employed at a Starbucks coffeehouse, and he told me about a system they use for controlling what kind of music is played in the store. The machine can only play a particular type of CD, which contains 90-100 songs that "expire" after awhile, and is appearantly compiled/ produced by Hear Music, a subsidary of Starbucks. PlayNetwork is in charge of the the hardware. Anyway, he and his fellow employees are sick of Starbucks lame playlists, and they can't use normal CDs, as the machine tells them that the CDs are "expired". Does anybody know anything about how this system works? Is it at all possible to make a CD on your own that can be played on these machines?"
Now that hacking carries a life sentence there's no way I'm going to help you steal music like this.
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Slashdot's Attorney
Unplug the jukebox, take the speaker wires and maybe the amp, and plug a normal cd player in. Simple.
Chances are it's just got a date or an ID on it, no signing or anything fancy like that, meant to keep stores from playing the wrong disc or from having playable music if they don't continue to subscribe.
I'd dump an image and look for something nonstandard in the TOC. If I were making a player that locked users out, I'd put it right there so I could use a standard CD player and just add code to compare the tail of that buffer to a 16 bit date number or such.
If you're really unlucky, they might actually be going so far as to put this on a special kind of limited use disc (a unique Disc Application Code in the Wobble Track), but it's unlikely they'd go to that expense unless this is a very popular and expensive service (which it may well be). At the least, I wouldn't be surprised if it were an audio disc and not a data CDR. I believe gcombust can tell you what DAC was read when a disc was inserted, and that might tell you more.
By the way, if it does have a special DAC, you're screwed without getting special media pressed or modifying the player. You can't write a wobble with a regular CD burner.
Says the RIAA: When you EQ, you're stealing bass!
I'd also like to note that the article mentions a CD that they "made themselves". Most likely from music stolen online, so my original point still stands.
Ponder for a second the other side of the issue, before you and your friend do anything rash.
The company/licensee/franchisee may be paying a licensing fee for this equipment and may be contractually bound to use said CD or Subscription service. By using a homemade CD in said system, they may be asking for trouble.
Keep in mind, this is just one possibility. I'd hate to see someone get in trouble because they didn't think before they acted.
they really get into this kind of shit...
This solution would obviate the need for this hackery, allow for them to listen to better music, and help make the planet a slightly nicer place to live.
Back in the old days we had to be more clever to circumvent this kind of thing, fortunately specialty stores still sell these circumvention devices
"as plurdled gabbleblotchits on a lurgid bee" - Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz. (One man's humorous is another mans flamebait)
ASCAP has a FAQ that deals with the whole issue of public performance of copyrighted material. Well worth reading.
If the CD has between 90 and 100 songs on it, there is no way it is a regular CD, it has to be some kind of compressed music.
It means that the guys would have first to find out the kind of compression (mp3, wma, ogg...) and only then try to make a CD "with music whose original record they own (just to make clear the fair use)".
If it is some kind of compressed file, it may have some kind of authorization file, that may be encrypted...
If the CD used in the Muzak Machine contains 90-100 soungs, then the fusic files must be compressed in some way. (MP3, WMA, OGG) WMA files are probably the easiest to incorporate file expiration data, so I'd wager that the jukebox is running embeded WinCE.
In all likihood, you'll have to reverse engineer the CD to determine how the music is stored on the disk, what makes it expire, and how to make your files emulate an authorized disk.
If your end goal is actually to play YOUR music at Starbucks, would it not just be easier to bypass their system altogether and patch in a regular CD deck or Discman to play your CD's?
_____
If you can't hear the voices in my head, then you're just not listening hard enough.
Starbuck's place Starbucks rule's. If you don't like it leave.
They are trying to run a business and I imagine they set up just such a system to ensure consistency between various stores and to set the environment they want.
One should not theorize before one has data. -Sherlock Holmes-
"I really hate my job at starbucks, and I need to find a quick and easy method of relieving me of this burden. I figure hacking the jukebox that the company supplies to keep royalty costs down will help. Any tips? Either that or I piss in the yukon gold."
Umm...I'm not sure this should have been modded at '+4 Funny'...more like '+5 Serious'
What makes you think you are allowed to change the music? Corporation's marketing dep. says "we want this music to be played all the time in your Starbucks because 1) we have found that it leads to more people drinking more coffee and 2) we want to sell our cd compilations of the music so people can listen at home and pretend they are in Starbucks" Corporation says "behold, it is law"
And then you come along and think, hell, I work here, I wanna hear TMBG all day long and not this crap.
DO YOU THINK YOUR OPINION MATTERS?
Watch how quickly you get fired for tampering with their ordained music selections (which I'm sure is both a corporate perogative as well as the CEO's favorite songs)
This isn't 1999. It doesn't matter if you're happy or not. There will be no pool table in the office lounge. Suck it up. You work at a glorified McDonalds.
Seriously, your friend should just quit and get a different job. The end results will be the same either way; he'll no longer be working at Starbucks and so he won't have to listen to their crappy music anymore.
If he hacks the machine and gets caught (and he will get caught), he'll just get fired anyway, and might even be looking at a lawsuit (public establishments have limits on what music they can play, though I'd have to ask my wife about the particulars) or even criminal charges. In other words, stuff that looks real bad on a resume.
That said, it shouldn't be difficult if you can get ahold of one of the expired CDs and know how to read a hex dump. It'll probably take some time, though.
Under capitalism man exploits man. Under communism it's the other way around.
Bring your own CD player in and plug the Audio jacks that go to the speakers into that instead. Viola, problem solved, countless hours of hacking saved.
The Generation
I'd say something witty here, but I'm not that bright.
I've been redirected to the 2600 mailbag!
Ahh, A nice legally binding electronic signature...
A number of people have mentioned the idea of disconnecting the current CD player, but I think they're overlooking a potentially serious legal problem (or several legal problems). 1) The store probably has a contract with the content provider. This contract may go so far as to state that the store has agreed to play ONLY music from the content providor and playing other music voids the deal or incurs heavy fines. 2) Any contract with the content provider likely includes fees for rights to the music supplied and means the content provider has taken care of this sticky legal situation. I'm not sure, but I think there is a legal problem if the employees start playing other ASCAP or BMI (or other organizations) music in a place of business. I've never heard of a company being fined or sued for something like this, but a jilted content provider may be eager to report a former customer to ASCAP or such for licensing violations because they are playing the music in a public place of business.
Before you go too far down this path, consider that any music played in a retail establishment like Starbucks is technically a "public performance" and would need to be licensed for that purpose. The reason SB uses that kind of technology is (probably) because they pay licensing fees as part of the deal, hence the expiration (it is a limited use license).
Most stores don't bother with this, because they are not going to be targeted by the RIAA. However, Starbucks is using music to create an "ambiance" meaning that the music is part of their product, and the patrons are expected to linger and enjoy it. Thus, they are "selling" the music as much as the coffee (even if you don't want to pay for it).
Plugging in your own CD player, or hacking the system in order to play your own music will make Starbucks libel for copyright infringement, which I imagine they wouldn't appreciate.
Sorry, I suggest you forget this endeavor.
I'm a lawyer with excellent karma. Something's gotta be wrong.
If your end goal is actually to play YOUR music at Starbucks, would it not just be easier to bypass their system altogether and patch in a regular CD deck or Discman to play your CD's?
But where's the fun in that? This is the sort of thing that you do, just to prove that you can do it!
Actually it is rocket science...
I was in Maccy D's a few weeks ago and 'Golden Brown' (Lyrics) was playing, during early afternoon, plenty of kids around.
For those that don't know, 'Golden Brown' = heroin.
Ali
Ph33r m3!!!
The only reason people are posting dont do this, you'll get fired, is because they dont know the answer to the poster's question, and any one who posts such a message should be considered off topic. He knows if he gets caught he might get fired, and no, he doesnt care... Its just Starbucks.
::i visited slashdot and all i got was this lousy sig::
I was previously trying to do somethign similar with the music at my local Red Lobster, so, I had my friend steal one of the old CDs so I could attempt to make my own version. What I found out was such: The CD is played backwards in their CD drive. The compression was not mp3, ogg, wma, or anythign to that effect, it was a proprietary format used by whatever the distributing company is. There is a security section at the end (beginning) of the CD that it requires to even acknowledge the disks presence. That part atleast was easy to duplicate. It however, may be based on the songs that are on the CD itself, meaning it would be hard to reproduce for a new set of tracks. Basically, they had no fancy "wobble tracks" or anything like that, they just made it really complicated to actually create a new CD with new music. In order to you'd have to firt come up with their codec (which I am sure is probably possible) or use some technique to reverse engineer the codec based on the output from the machine that will read them. After you come up with all that, you are going to have to reverse the CD Image, which is going to confuse the hell out of any burning software you have (there's probably some that does it, I just haven't tried them) and I've never actually seen a program that simply reverses a binary file. So basically, I stopped trying to make new CDs. My new approach would be the circumvention approach, using an mp3-cd player and wiring it into the system.. unless ofcourse there is some sort encryption it sends (it's a bunch of really big boxes... so who knows.)
Forget all this "It's Starbucks' place, so it's Starbucks' rules". That *is* true, but any sensible company is (or should be) always looking for ways to improve their business.
Have you tried finding out what both customers and staff prefer to listen to, then sending it to the people that organise the music for Starbucks? That would seem to make the most sense to me...
You want to play your music then open your own coffee shop. When you work for Starbucks and take their money then you do things their way or you leave. So if you hack thier machine and they find out and fire your friends sorry ass don't come bitching about it. He got what he asked for.
I don't drink Starbucks coffee if I have another choice, but I don't begrudge their baristas the choice to work for a company that treats them with respect. If you're working in the $7/hour zone, there are a lot of worse places to be. And damn but the chonga bagels are tasty :)
The moderator that got this one needs to get laid....look at the other posts about plugging in a cd player--really if u couldn't figure out how to plug in a CD player to an existing system, you should not be allowed to post on /.
This reply applies to many of the asinine posts in this topic, I just chose this one at random.
Do you not, perhaps, think that the poster of the question realises that changing the CD might not be, gasp horror, disapproved of by the powers that be leading to firing, threats of legal action, death, being sent to bed without supper etc. etc.
The poster possibly also considered
a) replacing the CD player
b) planting cockroaches and calling the environmental health department (or whatever you call it)
c) deploying tactical nuclear missiles
I believe the poster is asking for advice on what, in prehistory, used to be termed 'a hack'.
Starbucks's Muzak is slightly annoying, by not so much that it distracts me from my reading; nor is it loud enough to overpower my head phones.
I suppose it's somewhat "hip" music, picked by a demographer at Starbucks to appeal to their yuppie customers and above all not to offend customers or in any way frustrate those customers in their quest to give Starbucks $5.00 for a cup of coffee.
And that's a good thing. I'm no fan of corporate blandness or lowest common denominator marketing, but...
A Starbucks employee is often a pierced-nosed, tattooed counter-culture wanna-be, and there is no way I'm going to enjoy my Venti Mocha Frap listening to what that employee wants to hear.
I know this makes me sound old and curmudgeonly, but I've always been this way.
Opinions on the Twiddler2 hand-held keyboard?
I am betting that the second the District Manager (or who ever) walked in pink slips would fly.
Starbucks pays a lot of money to licence both the rights to play the music and getting the music that they feel helps build the atmosphere that will bring in more custommers... What makes you think they would like you playing with their formula anyway... ie. The music isn't there for the employees, it is there for the custommers
I have mod points and I am not afraid to use them
I don't know about other people here, but I read this as the Starbucks employees wanting to listen to their own music after hours, while they were cleaning up, closing, or whatever, not that they wanted to muck with the company's chosen mood music. But that's just me, you can read it however you'd like.
By the way, I'd love to see an image (and damnit, not a scan of one;) of one of these disks, if only for shits and giggles.
I don't understand why the big franchises are seen as better than local cafés and burger joints. What's with that?
Is it because of the uniform appearance? Is it because the food is the same? Well, the food is not the same. It's made from local ingredients (for example McD says so). Thus the food is local, and as such the mayonnaise is from local ingredients and as such you'll get your stomach all wetty if it so happens, even at McDonald's.
As for the coffee... I've had better coffee elsewhere outside of the big chains. Even smaller chains have nicer coffee.
The uniform appearance among countries cannot possibly be so big a factor... It serves a secondary function with regard to the food/coffee.
So all I can think about is the human nature of laziness. Once you've gotten used to how something works, you want to stay with it. Is it so?
For the asker's question: don't hack it. Start your own café. If you do hack it, just turn the volume down and plug in your own boom box.
they can't use normal CDs, as the machine tells them that the CDs are "expired".
Easy. Use Consumer Activism. Report a fault to the equipment supplier each time it refuses to play a CD. This drives up their costs, therefore their prices and reduces their competitiveness. Eventually Starbucks will get the message and start using not fault equipment.
We use the same system in the retail store I work in as the systems monkey. I went through the same dilema as this starbucks guy and thought I'd throw the cd into a cdrom to see whats on it. Theres a
A dvance=0
EndTime=24:00
x te rcials=0
g ramPlay=Nextg s=170
data.txt
playdisc.aud
data.txt reveals this.....
[Playlist]
Version=3.1
ID=219091
Title=Your company name DISC 20
Programs=3
Songs=389
ProgramAdvance=0
Song
Expiration=2003/02/12
StartTime=05:00
[Program1]
ID=13522
Title=Club & Dance & Pop 1
StartTime=05:00
EndTime=08:30
ProgramPlay=Ne
MaxPlayTime=0
SongPlay=Random
Songs=49
Comm
[Program2]
ID=13523
Title=Modern Adult Contemporary
StartTime=08:30
EndTime=21:00
Pro
MaxPlayTime=0
SongPlay=Random
Son
Commercials=0
and so on, it lists the songs that are in each program too. As you can see, modern adult contemporary(translated "crap") is played most of the day. However, there is the redeeming club and pop that starts after a certain time of day. I considered replacing the unit with a cd changer and choosing my own music but instead just changed the time of day programed into the player so it would play the club and pop music earlier in the day. You'll have to take one of the discs home to find out what your discs are configured like but if you want to change the time on the player(there has to be a disc in it to do this) press the menu button repeatedly until "press select to set the current time of day" is displayed on the menu screen, hit select then use the view button to change the number, hit select again to accept the change then use the view button to do the same with minutes if desired...........
hope this helps ya out.
Plugging in your own CD player, or hacking the system in order to play your own music will make Starbucks libel for copyright infringement, which I imagine they wouldn't appreciate.
/. to save him from this caffeinated private hell, and you tell him that he should give up on his dream of freedom because it might place those who cause his suffering in jeopardy of a strong-arm visit from the RIAA?
Sorry, I suggest you forget this endeavor.
Your argument is factually correct, but you make the fatal error of assuming that someone making $6.25/hr with no benefits might give a fuck about what is good for the company as a whole.
He just wants to listen to something besides kiddie pop- the same kiddie pop that they've been subjecting him to all day, every day, for weeks and weeks on end! If you've ever been a wage slave forced to listen to someone else's music, you'll know that it amounts to torture after the first repeat rolls around. He appeals to
Seems to me it ain't his problem, especially if they can't pin it on him when he makes the swap. Worst thing that happens from the employee's perspective is that he has to find a new job... it may be that changing CD's at Starbucks is a firing offence.
Humpty Dumpty was pushed.
RIAA, DMCA, and all that shit don't even matter. If the right kids are working at the shit coffehouse and throw on a hacked disc, no one will know, no one will care. Leave it to the slashdot crowd to become highly paranoid that one low level service sector employee fucking with a small piece of equipment in one franchise will bring down a shitstorm on starbucks CORPORATION.
You fucks need to pull your collective heads out of what ever dark and damp place it is inserted.