Elon confirms Spotify is coming to US

[Knightshade]

I have a Model S and I have played around with this extensively. The bitrate on the Model S is 128 kbps no matter what you select on your Slacker account on a PC or whatever - however I am not sure if that is the case if you buy a premium Slacker account..

It is.

Bitrate is set for slacker by each client. Changing it on your PC (or phone) doesn't change it on your car regardless of type of account.

Since you can't change it on your car you're stuck with the default bitrate of the car.

Which as I said is 64kb/s on a Model 3 (as repeatedly confirmed by slacker support as well in previous threads)

It's possible it's 128 for the Model S certainly, I don't own one to say.... (it's also possible it's only 128 for the S for those cars that used to have the option for higher quality streaming- an option they removed, but maybe if you set it back when it existed the setting stuck around despite no longer being able to check the box)

 

[RickW]

I'm not quite certain why Elon persists in using these fringe streaming solutions. The majority of new ICE cars are literally fighting to get Android and Apple Car Play integration. People are paying for Apple Music and it's the fastest growing streaming solution. I am not happy that neither Android nor Apple is fully integrated into the system. As for XM, I pay for that too, but I'm not too concerned about losing that one since Slacker and possibly Spotify will have what I'm looking for. But for just music, I really think Tesla should look into integrating the top two solutions. These are becoming deal breakers for new cars.

 

[woodguyatl]

I'm not quite certain why Elon persists in using these fringe streaming solutions. The majority of new ICE cars are literally fighting to get Android and Apple Car Play integration. People are paying for Apple Music and it's the fastest growing streaming solution. I am not happy that neither Android nor Apple is fully integrated into the system. As for XM, I pay for that too, but I'm not too concerned about losing that one since Slacker and possibly Spotify will have what I'm looking for. But for just music, I really think Tesla should look into integrating the top two solutions. These are becoming deal breakers for new cars.

Spotify is the largest streaming service.

 

[crackers8199]

I would love to have SiriusXM

just install a portable unit, you won't have to worry about cell service dead zones.

 

[Xenoilphobe]

I just want quality. If I’m driving a 100K car I want the music to sound like 100k too, not some compressed audio format after I have invested in better equipment in my car. I use USB high quality files and cant tell the difference when I Bluetooth connect to my phone at 320 bit rate on Spotify and then switch back to Flac USB files I have ripped from CD. I do notice a Slacker quality drop when I switch to the streamed over Tesla system but I have never checked my slacker premium on my phone (since I rarely use it anymore). Guess my enthusiastic response should be tempered.

 

[crackers8199]

Not only are the bitrates poor on XM but they don't have a big enough buffer to keep it from dropping out when you pass under a two lane bridge. Like the buffer is only 2 seconds and it takes more time to reacquire than it does to fill the buffer.

this is 100% false, unless there's something wrong with your install. of course the signal drops if you're sitting under an overpass, but it absolutely does not drop out when you simply pass under one on the freeway.

 

[PoitNarf]

just install a portable unit, you won't have to worry about cell service dead zones.

I’d rather have an integrated streaming solution than deal with a separate unit. Even streaming from the SiriusXM app on my phone is not the ideal solution. I want to be able to control everything from the screen in the car and steering wheel controls.

 

[crackers8199]

I’d rather have an integrated streaming solution than deal with a separate unit. Even streaming from the SiriusXM app on my phone is not the ideal solution. I want to be able to control everything from the screen in the car and steering wheel controls.

so would i, but that's not possible (and even if it were possible via the touch screen, there are still too many times where the cell service isn't good enough and the music buffers / drops). i have the onyx plus inside the center console and use the small remote that comes with the home kit, plus i can reach the buttons if i really want to...i set the car's audio system on one FM frequency and leave it alone unless i'm changing the audio input to stream from my phone or to use slacker/tune in (which i rarely do since i installed satellite TBH). everything else is controlled by the SXM remote. i rarely even bring up the audio / radio window on the screen...

 

[RickW]

Spotify is the largest streaming service.

Perhaps hyperbole on the fringe, but Spotify is not growing as fast as Apple and it's only a matter of time before Apple is #1.
I like what Tidal is doing in terms of quality, but their library remains lacking.
I'm in the camp that deplores 128 bitrate let alone 64. At the very least Apple is 256 (even that is somewhat poor, but better than a lot of the others). XM audio is probably one of the most compressed and I only use it for news and sports.
As for Spotify, I had the chance to do Spotify, but chose Apple instead because of the vast library.

 

[CCIE]

Not only are the bitrates poor on XM but they don't have a big enough buffer to keep it from dropping out when you pass under a two lane bridge. Like the buffer is only 2 seconds and it takes more time to reacquire than it does to fill the buffer.

I'd pay for XM but it'd have to be super cheap and be for the "houshold" like for both my cars.

XM has decent content, it's just an outdated technology that doesn't meet my quality standards.

Sirius/XM can’t resend data since the service is unidirectional (you can’t send data back via the satellite). So, they use Forward Error Correction. There is some buffering involved in that process, but not in the way you think. And increasing the buffer size wouldn’t really help. They already “waste” a lot of their bandwidth on the FEC, so there isn’t much more than can do to improve dropouts.

 

[dhanson865]

this is 100% false, unless there's something wrong with your install. of course the signal drops if you're sitting under an overpass, but it absolutely does not drop out when you simply pass under one on the freeway.

It might not happen in the middle of Kansas or on the coast of California where satellite reception is perfect. But here in the hills of Tennessee it absolutely does drop out just passing under a two lane bridge at 50 mph or less.

The faster you go the shorter the drop out but not every road I drive on has a high speed limit.

Inside Knoxville the top limit is 55 on the interstate. 40 on most major roads. Sure it jumps up to 65 outside of the metro area but I almost never travel outside the metro area.

And FWIW I'm talking about a factory stock unit built in at the factory in a Nissan (on multiple cars of the same model built in different months) so I doubt it's an installation issue.

But thanks for the Disagree just because it doesn't happen in California.

 

[Knightshade]

I'm in the camp that deplores 128 bitrate let alone 64. At the very least Apple is 256

Which is a good reason Tesla wouldn't be interested in offering it- they're the ones paying for the data after all.

Maybe once they figure out how to bill their own existing customers for existing services they're already providing them they can move on to figuring out how to offer higher-bandwidth data plans for more money, but I wouldn't hold your breath on that.

 

[Funkmobile]

I just want quality. If I’m driving a 100K car I want the music to sound like 100k too, not some compressed audio format after I have invested in better equipment in my car. I use USB high quality files and cant tell the difference when I Bluetooth connect to my phone at 320 bit rate on Spotify and then switch back to Flac USB files I have ripped from CD. I do notice a Slacker quality drop when I switch to the streamed over Tesla system but I have never checked my slacker premium on my phone (since I rarely use it anymore). Guess my enthusiastic response should be tempered.

That's interesting that you can't tell the difference between FLAC and Bluetooth as A2DP Bluetooth audio gets down sampled. Slacker streams at a variable bit rate between 128kbps and 160kpbs what I imagine is using the MP3 codec (tested by pulling router data while streaming Slacker).

 

[crackers8199]

It might not happen in the middle of Kansas or on the coast of California where satellite reception is perfect.

i drive through canyons in southern california every single day without issue that i'm sure are similar to if not more height differential than your "hills of Tennessee," but thanks for the lecture.

if your satellite reception is dropping out just from going under an overpass (even at 40 mph), there is something wrong with your car or install. that should not happen.

 

[PrGrPa]

Anyone know if European Teslas have voice search for Spotify?

On my Model S you press the voice button and say, for example, ‘play she makes war’ and the MCU searches Spotify and TuneIn for that. Then you can tap on songs, albums, artists, podcasts and then tap on the result you favour. It is pretty good.

Taking delivery of a RWD Model 3 in a few weeks, so won’t be able to see if it’s similar.

 

[hydro 481]

On my Model S you press the voice button and say, for example, ‘play she makes war’ and the MCU searches Spotify and TuneIn for that. Then you can tap on songs, albums, artists, podcasts and then tap on the result you favour. It is pretty good.

Taking delivery of a RWD Model 3 in a few weeks, so won’t be able to see if it’s similar.

Thanks. Can you tell it to play a certain playlist on Spotify?

 

[MikeInNTx]

Come on Spotify!!!

 

[voip-ninja]

Come on Spotify!!!

It will be interesting to see how Tesla delivers it. Will it be included gratis like the current Slacker? Probably not. Probably will run with commercials unless you have a premium Spotify account.

I imagine the main thing holding it up at this time is that Slacker likely has a contract with Tesla that has not yet run its course.

 

[Dan203]

It might not happen in the middle of Kansas or on the coast of California where satellite reception is perfect. But here in the hills of Tennessee it absolutely does drop out just passing under a two lane bridge at 50 mph or less.

The faster you go the shorter the drop out but not every road I drive on has a high speed limit.

Inside Knoxville the top limit is 55 on the interstate. 40 on most major roads. Sure it jumps up to 65 outside of the metro area but I almost never travel outside the metro area.

And FWIW I'm talking about a factory stock unit built in at the factory in a Nissan (on multiple cars of the same model built in different months) so I doubt it's an installation issue.

But thanks for the Disagree just because it doesn't happen in California.

It's based on line of sight to the satellite. In your neck of the woods the satellite is basically straight up, so every bridge you go under is going to block the signal. If it's fast enough then the FEC can prevent a break in the music, if it takes too long or there are repeated breaks in the signal, then it's going to drop. On the coasts the signal is at more of an angle so it's more affected by mountains and tall buildings than overhead bridges.

 

[malou]

Spotify and Hulu included in 2019.32.10