Uber and Spotify Partner to Improve the Customer Experience

By the end of this week, Uber riders will be able to play their own music playlists during their trips. Though not that many details have been revealed, here’s what we know so far. Uber and Spotify users can access their Spotify accounts via the Uber app, which lets them play DJ and curate the tunes that will play out of their Uber car’s speakers. Ultimately, the feature is optional, on the part of both drivers and riders. Drivers can refuse the option from appearing in the app when riders try to find a cab, and users can choose whether or not they want the feature to be used during their ride.

The feature will be available first in 10 cities—New York, Toronto, London, Stockholm, Nashville, Mexico City, Los Angeles, Sydney and Singapore—and will continue to roll out worldwide over the next few weeks. It’s part of the overall strategy by Uber to continue to dominate the taxi industry in cities around the globe; by partnering with Spotify, it’s making its customers more and more in control of their own customer experience by giving them the option to choose the soundtrack to their journey from point a to b. It’s also a bonus for Spotify in its quest to eventually replace the FM/AM dial in people cars when they want to listen to music. For now, the feature is only available to Spotify Premium users (they pay approximately $10 a month for the service); however, to sweeten the deal, Uber will provide a week of free Spotify Premium services when they take their first “music ride” using the feature.

While this feature is a boon for consumers of Spotify and Uber, Uber drivers have begun to express concern over the feature. In the online forum UberPeople.net, various drivers raised salient points, such as the inability to be able to have the feature in their cars, since playing selected music through car speakers requires an auxiliary port, which only exists in later-year car makes and models. Being unable to feature an app that Uber is advertising worldwide is bound to raise the expectations of an Uber rider, who may give their driver a poor rating, which eventually renders them unable to drive for Uber (a series of poor ratings eliminates them from driving).

In the end, the new tune that Uber and Spotify have composed is bound to have the taxi and digital music industries singing its praises. The real measure is whether it will be music to riders and drivers ears, or tone deaf to their needs.