Uber and Spotify partner for in-car music streaming

Smartphone taxi app company Uber and music streaming service Spotify have announced a partnership that will enable Uber passengers to listen to their own Spotify playlists during car journeys, initially in ten cities. “Uber users who link their Spotify account to their Uber account can basically push a button and get a ride, and get into the car, and in the car their Spotify music, their Spotify station, is playing,” said Travis Kalanick, Chief Executive of Uber. “For Uber, it’s the first time we’ve personalised the experience inside the car. And for music lovers, that’s nirvana. It’s a really awesome place to be,” he added. Spotify is positioning cars as another delivery channel, in addition to computers and mobile devices. “One of the big things for us is how do we get into the car. Given that people’s average commute time is 30 minutes to an hour, how do we get into that space and allow people to play their music?” said Spotify’s Chief Executive, Daniel Ek. He continued, “Instead of just doing car integrations, we thought ‘what’s the next generation of transportation system?’ Uber’s an obvious fit for us.” Drivers will need to opt in to the feature, which will be available from the end of the month in London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Nashville, New York, San Francisco, Singapore, Stockholm, Sydney and Toronto. Read the full story at the Guardian