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Hacking the Starbuck's Muzak Machine?

Posted by Cliff on from the fighing-the-corporate-sanctioned-music-lists dept.

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?"

7 of 101 comments (clear)

  1. Forget it by PhysicsGenius · · Score: 2, Funny

    Now that hacking carries a life sentence there's no way I'm going to help you steal music like this.

    1. Re:Forget it by chris_mahan · · Score: 2, Funny

      Then go to Target or Walmart or K-mart (Big-K?) and buy a $90 boombox, put it on the counter, insert CD, press play, and enjoy your tunes while the cappucino machine.

      I suggest, however, that the poster wants to be able to play the tunes while the customers are in the house. I say: they need to be fired, because they expose their corporation to lawsuit and potentially embarrassing headlines.

      --

      "Piter, too, is dead."

  2. Note by Slashdot's+Attorney · · Score: 3, Funny

    The above "Ask Slashdot" article is intended for entertainment purposes only, and should not be construed as encouraging, condoning, or acknowledging any "hacking," tampering, or other misuse of equipment as may be prohibited under the DMCA and related laws. Slashdot furthermore denies all responsibility for the actions, thoughts, and written words of its users.

    --
    Slashdot's Attorney
  3. Back in the old days by SuperguyA1 · · Score: 5, Funny

    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)
  4. Re:Work somewhere else by seconddevil · · Score: 2, Funny

    Yeah, I agree... businesses this big must have crap all 'round!

  5. Re:The best solution by trentfoley · · Score: 3, Funny
    mega-corporations who destroy local businesses and don't even have good coffee.

    Hold on, there Tweek. Even 7-11 has "good" coffee. What they don't have is "great" coffee. I'd watch out for the underpants gnomes if I were you.

  6. Duh by Random+Hamster · · Score: 3, Funny

    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'.