Uber CEO Travis Kalanick believes in magic. With the "magic" of driverless cars, he recently said on stage, the cost of his car service will become cheaper because riders don't have to pay for "the other dude in the car," i.e. the human driver. Now with Uber's new Spotify partnership, you don't even have to listen to him!

This beautiful bit of brand synergy will be welcome news for the contingent of e-hailing customers who use anonymous apps to bitch about chatty smartphone chauffeurs.

In an email announcing the feature, the company explained that Uber passengers with a premium Spotify subscription will soon be able to control "soundtracking" during their ride:

  • Request a ride as usual in the Uber app. If you get matched with a music-enabled Uber, the music bar will appear at the bottom of the Uber app.
  • Tap the music bar and choose a song from any of your Spotify playlists while you wait for your Uber to arrive.

Feel free to put your phone away; your playlist will start when your ride begins. Sit back and enjoy, or be the backseat DJ and wirelessly control the music from either the Uber or Spotify apps until you arrive at your destination. You can even discover new music through Uber's featured playlists, specially curated to celebrate the city you ride in.

According to The Verge, the program will be launched in 10 cities and drivers are not required to participate:

The process involves linking your Spotify and Uber accounts. (A premium Spotify subscription is required.) Once you do that and choose a playlist from within the Uber app, a driver can have your favorite tracks playing before you even get into the car. Or maybe you don't mind letting your driver listen to his own jams. Just remember: Uber passengers get rated too, so don't abuse your newfound Spotify privileges. And if drivers have zero interest in hearing your favorite playlists, they're not required to participate. If they haven't opted in, you simply won't see the option to play music.

Considering how quick Uber is with the deactivate button, it's probably as much of a choice as the new $10/week fee to use Uber's phone or the jump to 25 percent commission. But if Uber loosens the reins on what drivers are allowed to say in public, we'd love to hear their reviews of passenger playlists. Just think of all the different ways one can spell oontz oontz.

To contact the author of this post, please email nitasha@gawker.com.

[Image via Uber]