Users can burn CDs at the Starbucks Santa Monica Hear Music coffeehouse.

Starbucks said today that the chief of its music group has resigned and confirmed earlier reports that the coffee giant is moving its music group from its Seattle headquarters to Los Angeles to be closer to record labels and artists.

The company said vice president of music Don MacKinnon resigned for personal reasons. Starbucks Entertainment President Ken Lombard told Bloomberg News that the company is conducting a search for a replacement for the 38-year-old MacKinnon, who founded the Hear Music stores Starbucks bought in 1999.

Lombard also said that Starbucks is relocating 6 of the 77 people in the entertainment division to Los Angeles. The move will help Starbucks "have additional conversations to build our entertainment-content pipeline," Lombard said.

"We're looking for unique music opportunities, unique projects we can provide with a quality retail distribution option," he said. The move puts employees "on the ground and in the mainstream where they can be much more proactive about locating new artists."

Starbucks has made major moves in the music industry in recent years, selling nearly 3.5 million CDs in its cafes and music stores in 2005, signing exclusive sales agreements with artists like Alanis Morissette and coproducing albums such as the late Ray Charles' Genius Loves Company.

Starbucks' three Hear Music stores added custom-CD burning stations in 2004, and Lombard hinted earlier this year that digital downloads could be on the way.

The company has recently focused on the movie business as well. In April, Starbucks will begin in-store promotions of the movie Akeelah and the Bee, and company spokesperson Sana Gould said in January that Starbucks has been meeting with Hollywood studios about possible film projects to support.