Uber, which has disrupted the car-hire market with its cheaper priced share rides, is going a step further to make the journey more enjoyable. The company has reportedly tied up with Spotify to stream music, according to people familiar with the matter.
The New York Times and TechCrunch both confirmed the news after relating evidence surfaced online.
The partnership is expected to be announced anytime Monday but nothing is official yet. All reports and rumors, however, strongly point toward Spotify's integration into Uber cars, allowing passengers to enjoy the music they like during commute.
In addition to all this, Uber sent out invites to the press on Friday, for a global conference call with CEO Travis Kalanick and a "Special Partner Guest" to announce a "first-of-its-kind partnership."
TechCrunch also stumbled upon a 10-month-old French video on Vimeo, which appears like an official advert for the unannounced partnership. All of this points only to one thing, a partnership between Uber and Spotify.
According to the New York Times, customers will be able to play their choice of music directly from the Uber app after boarding a requested ride via smartphone. The music will be played inside the Uber vehicle through the car's speakers.
To support this, TechCrunch shared screenshots that show how Uber will carry out the operation. According to the tech blog, Uber drivers have been asked to update their car information on whether they have an AUX audio input. Another screenshot obtained by TechCrunch showed a mockup of Spotify's minimalistic music interface, which shows the song title, name of the artist and functions like play, pause, skip, forward, rewind and shuffle.
The new partnership will not only benefit the customers but also the companies in gaining a stronger foothold in their respective fields. For Spotify, which competes against giants like Pandora, Rdio, Apple, Amazon and many others, the Uber-integration will bring more users in to its network. Similarly, Uber will add a unique element to its service, which is not offered by its rival Lyft ride-hailing service.
