Audio: Slacker Radio - Premium or Basic

[ohmman]

Forgive me for being a relative Tesla noob, but how does Slacker and TuneIn work? Do you have to rely on the data connection/signal within the car? Or do you tie it in with your phone? I wouldn't mind being able to forgo the high fidelity sound system if I could listen to decent music on Slacker whenever I want. Is there a subscription service to Slacker?

It relies on the data connection from the vehicle. You'll get a 4 year subscription to data when you purchase the vehicle (at least that's how it currently works). Slacker is also included at a custom Tesla subscription level for that period. You can upgrade it if you desire, some have done so. TuneIn is free but does rely on the data connection.

Some owners will just turn their phone into a wifi hotspot and let the car connect to that; that'll likely be the way I go once my vehicle plan expires.

 

[andrewket]

It relies on the data connection from the vehicle. You'll get a 4 year subscription to data when you purchase the vehicle (at least that's how it currently works). Slacker is also included at a custom Tesla subscription level for that period. You can upgrade it if you desire, some have done so. TuneIn is free but does rely on the data connection.

Some owners will just turn their phone into a wifi hotspot and let the car connect to that; that'll likely be the way I go once my vehicle plan expires.

Upgrade what? There are currently no cellular packages available. All cars currently include unlimited use. You can upgrade slacker directly through them, but there is no benefit on the model S as the radio UI doesn't expose the additional features.

 

[ohmman]

Upgrade what? There are currently no cellular packages available. All cars currently include unlimited use. You can upgrade slacker directly through them, but there is no benefit on the model S as the radio UI doesn't expose the additional features.

Upgrade Slacker. There have been members of this forum who upgraded Slacker to get on-demand songs. I have the more general version, where if I ask to play a particular song, I will get a "station" built around that song instead of the song itself.

The other upside is that you can integrate your personal Slacker account into your in-home streaming (Sonos or whatever, I guess).

Sorry if I wasn't clear.

Edit -- just realized wayner answered about the same thing above.

 

[hingisfan]

Upgrade Slacker. There have been members of this forum who upgraded Slacker to get on-demand songs. I have the more general version, where if I ask to play a particular song, I will get a "station" built around that song instead of the song itself.

The other upside is that you can integrate your personal Slacker account into your in-home streaming (Sonos or whatever, I guess).

Sorry if I wasn't clear.

Edit -- just realized wayner answered about the same thing above.

I get the actual song I request, unless I request several songs in a short time period, then after it plays the song, it creates the custom channel. I find a custom channel of just an artist works better than an individual song though, if the goal is to hear one artist fairly often. (maybe once in 4 or 5 songs.)

 

[ohmman]

I get the actual song I request, unless I request several songs in a short time period, then after it plays the song, it creates the custom channel. I find a custom channel of just an artist works better than an individual song though, if the goal is to hear one artist fairly often. (maybe once in 4 or 5 songs.)

I will on occasion get the song I request, but not usually. It will show me the song I request on the display, but more often than not, it will play other songs by the same artist - or whatever similar songs are in the model.

My son recently asked me to play "Wizards in Winter" by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. I asked for it, got a station, but had to skip through numerous other songs before finally getting the one he wanted.

 

[Max*]

I get the song I request every time (unless I requested it within 4 hours of the exact same song being requested). When I got my car, I was told the Slacker is Tesla's version of somewhere between Basic and Plus. After one year (not 4, 4 years is for the car data, 1 year is the slacker membership), it becomes basic where you lose the option to request songs and get commercials into it.

At the one year mark, I'll likely start paying for slacker. My kids love the "request a song" feature.

[maybe I was told wrong, but from what I read here, what I was told seems to match up with what you guys are experiencing]


EDIT: Just noticed this got moved from the Model X forum, nevermind then....

 

[green1]

I get the song I request every time (unless I requested it within 4 hours of the exact same song being requested). When I got my car, I was told the Slacker is Tesla's version of somewhere between Basic and Plus. After one year (not 4, 4 years is for the car data, 1 year is the slacker membership), it becomes basic where you lose the option to request songs and get commercials into it.

If that were the case I wouldn't mind, but the manual says that the car isn't compatible with slacker basic and requires plus or premium to use slacker at all. So in that case it's pay or stop using it.

 

[andrewket]

Upgrade Slacker. There have been members of this forum who upgraded Slacker to get on-demand songs. I have the more general version, where if I ask to play a particular song, I will get a "station" built around that song instead of the song itself.

The other upside is that you can integrate your personal Slacker account into your in-home streaming (Sonos or whatever, I guess).

Sorry if I wasn't clear.

Edit -- just realized wayner answered about the same thing above.

I use my tesla slacker account at home on sonos. You don't need premium. I've also tried premium and wasn't able to select individual songs from the Tesla UI.

 

[hingisfan]

I've never heard of any owners being required to pay to use it, or having to listen to commercials after a year.

 

[green1]

I've never heard of any owners being required to pay to use it, or having to listen to commercials after a year.

Well that's good news!

- - - Updated - - -

I use my tesla slacker account at home on sonos. You don't need premium. I've also tried premium and wasn't able to select individual songs from the Tesla UI.

Can you notice ANY difference in the car between plus and premium?

 

[BroadRippleSun]

Anyone notice between the free Tesla, slacker plus, or slacker premium? Doesn’t look like anyone has updated info to this thread in a while thought I would ask

 

[BroadRippleSun]

I notice Groupon has a half off special on the “plus” slacker, any takers here?

 

[DMack]

I upgraded to premium, and don’t really notice a pronounced difference in audio quality.

I also dislike everything else about the service, from functionality, to user interface, to how the application manages your media.

It’s an overall terrible service.

Please give my Spotify :-(

 

[SeaDoc]

New subscribers only...

The Fine Print
Promotional value expires 60 days after purchase. Amount paid never expires. Limit 1 per person, may buy 1 additional as gift. Valid for new subscribers only. Merchant is solely responsible to purchasers for the care and quality of the advertised goods and services.

 

[BroadRippleSun]

I noticed today it’s down to $11. New email address

 

[cookie99]

please give me spotify. I really dont know how the other genres are performing, but as an EDM listener, slacker is terrible because it categorizes all the subgenres as one genre. Spotify would never allow this

 

[milleron]

I upgraded to premium, and don’t really notice a pronounced difference in audio quality.

I also dislike everything else about the service, from functionality, to user interface, to how the application manages your media.

It’s an overall terrible service.

Please give my Spotify :-(

Near as I can make out, the Tesla subscription is what Slacker calls "Plus." Plus already includes "maximum audio quality" per slacker.com, so I'm not surprised that there was not an appreciable difference in audio quality with Premium.

I usually use Apple Music via BT, instead of Slacker, so I agree with your last statement, "Please give me Spotify." I'd add "or Apple Music or Pandora unlimited or anything but Slacker Plus." I'd try Slacker Premium to at least get "Play on Demand," but I'm not giving up Apple Music, and I'm not paying for two services. Now, If Tesla allowed Spotify, which is not a reach because they already do in Europe, I'd cancel Apple Music, get Spotify Premium, and gladly go with the one service.