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Uber and Spotify set to announce partnership?

A new setup will let ride-sharers listen to their Spotify tunes when they climb into an Uber vehicle, according to a report.

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Edward Moyer
2 min read

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Uber riders may soon be cranking their own Spotify tunes in Uber cars. Here, a sticker with the Uber logo is displayed in the window of a car in San Francisco. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Ever had to put up with a cab driver's annoying choice of tunes? Then a purported partnership between Uber and Spotify might strike the right note for you.

The ride-sharing outfit and the music-streaming service are set to announce a system that would allow you to step into an Uber vehicle and hear your own Spotify selections, according to a report in The New York Times, which cites a couple of unnamed sources. The report notes that Uber sent out media invites last night for a Monday conference call involving a "special partner guest" and a "first-of-its-kind partnership." The invite shows a music staff.

It's not clear how the setup would work or whether it would require a separate app in addition to Spotify's and Uber's existing apps. Neither Uber nor Spotify responded to a request for comment.

The offering could help nudge sonically sensitive ride-sharers toward Uber and Spotify, both of which operate in new and highly competitive fields where, presumably, every little bit of differentiation helps.

Uber is engaged in a heated rivalry with Lyft, in which the companies have accused each other of underhanded tactics such as ordering then canceling rides and making off with confidential documents. And smaller ride-sharing service Sidecar announced in September that it had raised $15 million to help fuel its Shared Rides carpool feature and a bigger expansion throughout the US.

Spotify's crowded field includes Pandora and Apple's Beats Music, as well as Rdio, Rhapsody and Soundcloud. There's also Amazon Prime Music, announced in June, and the just-unveiled YouTube Music Key, which rolled out a test version earlier this month.

Update, 11:56 a.m. PT: TechCrunch unearthed a video (embedded below) posted to Vimeo 10 months ago by a Paris-based cinematography company called Moonriver. It's labeled as publicity for Uber and Spotify and appears to be an advertisement for a service like the one described above (though it hasn't been confirmed as an official ad). The end of the video shows the Uber and Spotify logos, along with the tagline, in French, of "Your chaffeur Uber. Rythme votre vie au son de Spotify," which could be roughly translated to, "Your driver: Uber. Rhythm to the sound of your life: Spotify." Ten months ago in Paris wouldn't necessarily have been the best time for Spotify to publicize a partnership with Uber. On January 13, resistance to the car-sharing company in the French capital turned ugly when an attack left an Uber car with slashed tires and a broken window. That was amid a strike by cab drivers that was in part a protest of Uber and similar services. Here's the Moonriver video: