Starbucks is expanding its digital music service to coffee shops in Seattle and Austin, Texas, this month. The service, called the Hear Media music bar, will be available at 15 Starbucks stores in Seattle starting Monday. It will debut in another 30 coffee shops in Austin on Oct. 25, the company said Thursday. The Seattle-based coffee retailer eventually plans to add the new 'music bars' nationwide as part of its plan to leverage its well-known name and chain of more than 8,300 stores to reach beyond coffee beans for profits. The coffee shop giant opened its first store with the service in March in Santa Monica, Calif.

The service is designed to let customers burn custom music compilations onto a CD, selecting songs from Hear Music's digital library of about 150,000 songs. Consumers can browse the catalog with a stylus pen on a touch screen and listen to songs and albums before purchasing. The first seven songs cost $8.99. Each additional song costs 99 cents.

The foray into music is just one of numerous ways Starbucks is trying to use its brand and its stores to sell more than coffee. About two years ago, it started offering wireless Internet service for customers for about $10 a day. It also sells games, books and other goods in some stores.

Starbucks customers in Seattle and Austin now have something to do while waiting for their coffee-- burn a mix CD.