LISTEN UP: Do you know who’s controlling your car radio?

By Marcus Amick June 25, 2013

Pandora Radio Considering how far technology has come, the fact that you never need to worry about being caught without any good music in your car shouldn’t come as a surprise.

In fact, it’s hard to go a week now without hearing about some new music service or device you can take on the road.

Still, what might surprise most is the company that’s now driving most of that rock, country and rap into those car speakers.

Since starting in 2000, Pandora has reportedly seen more than 2.5 million unique activations through vehicle integrations from 23 automotive brands, according to an official company press release.

The company also now has partnerships with a total of eight aftermarket manufacturers.

Pandora Chief Marketing Officer Simon Fleming-Wood said the growth has been driven by an undaunted love for the car radio, which many, like myself, thought would fall the way of cassette tapes in the new digital era.

“The vehicle is the traditional home of radio and thanks to our deep roster of forward-thinking automotive partners, Pandora has been seamlessly incorporated into the dash of more than 100 different vehicle models made available by our partners,’ said Fleming-Wood, in an official Pandora press release.

Today, approximately half of all radio listening takes place in the car, which Pandora caters to by allowing users to create up to 100 custom stations featuring their favorite kind of music, which can be played using a variety of devices.

Pandora now estimates that nearly one-third of all new vehicles sold in 2013 in the US will have Pandora installed, including over 100 vehicle models made available from Acura, BMW, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Ford, GMC, Honda, Hyundai, Lexus, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, MINI, Nissan, Scion, Suzuki and Toyota.

Pandora will be featured in Dodge, Infiniti, Jeep, Kia and Ram vehicles in the near future.

Through its 8 aftermarket partners, there are now more than 200 devices that feature Pandora from Alpine Electronics, Audiovox, Clarion, Dual Electronics, JVC, Kenwood, Pioneer and Sony.

So, who’s really got the power when it comes to music?

Do you listen to Pandora in your vehicle? What’s the good and bad? Comment below.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Marcus Amick has been writing about the world of cars for more than ten years and has covered everything from new automobiles…

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