Pandora inks deal with Uber for Australia

It’s not just Uber’s drivers who can listen to Pandora during their rides. The music streaming service says it is now fully integrated with the ride-sharing service’s iOS app so that Australian passengers can in a few weeks also have a customised playlist when they head out.

The deal is also offered in New Zealand and the United States, the other two countries where Pandora operates.

According to Pandora, “hundreds of thousands” of drivers in the three countries have played more than 60 million songs (or over 4 million hours of music) on its service since June. Drake, Future, Beyonce, Adele and Bruno Mars are the most played stations.

“Like Uber drivers, Uber riders across the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand are now able to personalize their journey with their favorite tunes,” Pandora blogged. “Riders with a Pandora account can easily create stations, thumb songs, and discover new artists from the backseat of their Uber ride and listen via their driver’s car speakers.”

When Uber customers are matched with a driver who is “music connected”, they can log on to their Pandora account through the Uber app and chose a station or playlist. They can also find out what the driver is listening to if she or he has linked in with a Pandora station.

“Your music will automatically play once the driver starts the trip, seamlessly flowing from your home to your phone to your Uber,” Pandora continued. “With more drivers connected to music via Bluetooth, USB or an auxiliary cord, there’s more opportunity to listen to the songs you love during your ride.

The idea is to create a stronger relationship between riders and drivers. Uber, which is now valued at US$69 billion, has been speaking to both parties for a year to determine which ways the ride’s experience could be bettered.

It initially found that riders and drivers were cautious about treading on each other’s music space.

A report in Fairfax Media this month found that many people in the entertainment business are Uber drivers. These include broadcasters as John Blackman, former Split Enz and Men At Work manager Nathan Brenner and cabaret performer Sexy Galexy, as well as sporting heroes as Ian Roberts and TV personalities.

Uber had in November 2014 signed a deal with Spotify, which is available in 59 territories to provide a similar service in nine cities around the world. These were Sydney, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Nashville, San Francisco, Singapore, Stockholm and Toronto. But the relationship was “paused” for some retooling, although Uber insists that the partnership is still “ongoing.”

Uber operates in five Australian states and territories – NSW, ACT, WA, SA and Queensland, with Victoria and Tasmania also on their way to legalising the service.