#Car thing spotify cost drivers#
#Car thing spotify cost portable#

Although listenership for these formats currently lag industry expectations, Car Thing provides a competitive ingredient that these formats need: time. The Car Thing audience could be a base for audio innovation, mixing a variety of content (podcasts, music, audiobooks) into a commute routine. The audience opportunity for the car hardware is the 20–54-year-old commuter segment, as they listen to Spotify just as much as they listen to podcasts in general (in particular the 45–54-year-olds who over-index in radio consumption, presumably as a pre-streaming habit).Īudio devices have, in recent decades, focused on music, but Spotify’s hardware gives new opportunities for podcasts and audiobooks, which could be a key selling point for potential consumers. And as Spotify’s Joe Rogan partnership shows, talent can always be bought.Ĭar Thing reimagines car radio with a larger variety of content by including podcasts and audiobooks, all with the personalisation and inter-device compatibility offered by streaming. For example, radio personalities have loyal audiences, but such factors will slow the shift rather than halt it.

Of course, things will not change overnight (transformational change rarely does).

#Car thing spotify cost drivers#

If these drivers convert to Spotify’s hardware, it will open up a new front of attack on radio.

In the US, 59% of consumers listen to music in the car while only 22% listen to streaming music in the car, as not every car on the road has the technological capability – which thus presents opportunities for Spotify’s device. Spotify’s debut of its car hardware attempts to compete with Apple’s Car Play by accessing a harder-to-reach audio audience. The future for car audio may not include radio This is an in-theme attempt to replace traditional radio with a more complex combination of audio content by integrating streaming-first habits into the physical environment of the car. However, Spotify’s US release of their Car Thing aims to reposition streaming at the epicentre of not only music but other audio content in that final frontier for streaming: the car. But with the likes of Ye’s recently-released stem player, we are reminded that music consumption is possible without a streaming service. Audiobooks, once the purview of cassette tapes and CDs, have moved to monthly subscriptions, a far cheaper cost than investing in paper copies or even a Kindle.

#Car thing spotify cost portable#

Even radio, once a physical centrepiece of the home, has been forced to compete with podcasts across a variety of apps, all offering mobile-first – and therefore more effortlessly portable – access. The hardware we once relied on has been seamlessly replaced by streaming platforms. Spotify hasn’t said how long it plans to offer support for the device, but given its short-lived release, we wouldn’t bet on it being particularly long.The adoption of streaming into our audio experiences has created an industry-disrupting practice that broke away from physical forms of consumption. Increasing amounts of cars are now fitted with infotainment systems that offer easy built-in access to Spotify - negating the need for a separate device - and there are plenty of existing workarounds to getting your phone’s audio to play out of your car stereo without the need for a pricey accessory tied to a single music streaming service.Īs of this writing, the accessory is still available to buy on Spotify’s website, where it’s currently being sold at a discounted rate of $49.99 (down from its regular sale price of $89.99). When we tried it out for ourselves, we weren’t entirely sold on the promise of the Car Thing. It only went on general sale this February, meaning it’s been widely available for just five months before Spotify publicly announced it’s stopping production. It was initially made available on an invite-only basis in April 2021 before Spotify opened up a public wait list to buy the accessory in October. “We remain focused on the car as an important place for audio.”Ĭar Thing had a bit of a weird release.