Apple wants to bring Apple Music to as many places as possible, and to help reach that goal, the company has buddied up with Indian ride-hailing service Ola, which will now offer music to passengers as part of the ridesharing experience.
Under the new partnership, Apple Music will be available to passengers through a new service called Ola Play, according to a report from the Los Angeles Times.
Apple isn’t the only new partner for Ola — the company also partnered with the likes of Sony, Qualcomm, Fynd, and Audio Compass to help beef up its in-car audio offerings.
So how will the system work? According to Ola, passengers will have access to a tablet that will offer a range of infotainment systems, including Apple Music. Alternatively, users can download the Ola Play app and control the infotainment straight from their smartphone.
“Cars were initially built for the driver,” said Ola CEO Bhavish Agarwal at a news conference, according to the Los Angeles Times report. “But with ridesharing, the control needs to be there for the passenger, and Ola Play works along that.”
Not only is Ola making other partnerships but this is also Apple’s second deal with a ridesharing service. Apple CEO Tim Cook announced a hefty $1 billion investment in Didi Chuxing, a Chinese company. According to Cook, the partnership will Apple get some insight into the Chinese market.
It’s largely thought that Apple itself is hoping to make inroads into the automotive industry. While most rumors indicate that the company has ditched plans to release a car of its own, the company may still be working on the underlying self-driving technology that could help cars drive on their own.
