Uber will let you stream your Spotify playlists during rides

Uber Technologies has announced a partnership with Spotify that will let Spotify premium users ($10 a month subscription) stream their music in participating Uber vehicles.

Spotify has been having a rough few days. It got dumped by Taylor Swift and then released numbers around how much money it paid to her, which she then disputed. That said, we are in no way calling Uber the rebound. This is in fact a match that appears to be engineered in heaven.

Uber Technologies and Spotify do share some similarities. They both operate popular mobile apps. They have in similar ways disrupted the respective industries that they operate in. And they both offer users the chance to rent services at an affordable price.

Beginning on 21 November, riders will be able to choose their own playlist what will stream as they ride to their destination. The Uber/ Spotify integration will be first offered in 10 cities during its launch and thereafter in the months to come continue to roll out to new areas. The 10 cities are New York, San Francisco, Nashville, Los Angeles, London, Mexico City, Singapore, Stockholm, Toronto and Sydney.

This is amazing news. There is nothing more traumatic than bad music played at high volume by a cab driver who does not care for the passenger. Let’s face it, when it comes down to it, other people’s choice in music is always just a little off our own taste. And that one is paying for a ride and yet being subjected to bad music by the cab driver is upsetting.

This service of playing your own music in an Uber ride however does not come with absolute dictatorship for the Uber user. Uber drivers have the right to, if they find your music choice unbearable, opt out, meaning you will not see the option to play music. They can also control your music volume, turning it down if it is too loud, halting your plans to get the party started early.

“If somebody comes in with death metal and wants it really loud, the driver has control of how loud it will be,” said Uber CEO Travis Kalanick.

Once an Uber user has set up a playlist within the Uber app, a driver can have your favourite songs playing before you even get into the car. That is genius.