Uber launches free Pandora personalised music for its Kiwi, Australian and US drivers

Ridesharing service Uber has today launched a new partnership with Pandora in New Zealand, Australia and the US that allows drivers to create a personalised station that plays the music they like.

The service is free and will be ad-free until the end of the year. Those riding in the cars can also log in through the Uber app to create their own Pandora account.

Pandora is a music streaming and automated music recommendation service powered by the Music Genome Project which started over 10 years ago to capture the complex musical DNA of songs using a team of musicians. Users simply enter a favourite artist or track and Pandora creates a personalised station where they can rate the songs played by giving a thumbs up or down feedback.

There's no charge for the basic service but Pandora sells additional features from $US4.99 a month.

Uber says the partnership is launching in three countries and will be expanded to other cities in the next few months.

The company's drivers have been incurring the wrath of regulators after it dropped requirements in April for drivers to have a passenger (P) endorsement for their licence or a certificate of fitness for their car even through the NZTA says it is illegal.

Last week the company told Parliament's transport and industrial relations  committee it would encourage Kiwi drivers facing enforcement action on the issue by the NZ Transport Agency to challenge that in court rather than being prepared to cover any fines imposed.

A government review of new rules for passenger services such as taxis, shuttles, and ridesharing apps has proposed treating them all alike but required drivers to still hold a P endorsement, which includes a police check.

In a crackdown on illegal Uber drivers, the NZTA has forced seven off the road, issued 11 infringement notices, and given 34 formal warnings.

"We know that NZTA has sent cautionary letters to some of them, mostly concerning the Passenger Service Licence and logbooks, and failing to have a logbook. But again, our position has always been that the regulations don't envisage or accommodate something like ridesharing and that it does operate in a grey space," said Uber public policy associate Ben Brooks.

Select committee member and Labour MP Iain Lees-Galloway asked Mr Brooks and NZ operations manager Richard Menzies whether Uber was comfortable operating a business that encourages people to operate illegally.

"We would contest that we are encouraging them to operate illegally, we would contest that it is illegal. But as I said, NZTA's position is obviously different," Mr Brooks said.

Mr Lees-Galloway also asked whether Uber would cover the drivers' fines of the cost of any court action.

"We stand by our partners 100%," Mr Menzies said.

When asked again if Uber's driver partners were fined for breaking the regulations whether it would make sure they weren't penalised financially for breaking the law, Menzies said: "No, we would encourage them to challenge it and we would stand by them if they challenge it in court."

The ridesharing service has operated in New Zealand since 2014 and now says it has 2000 active driver partners and 150,000 active riders.

(BusinessDesk)