Uconnect's partnership with Pandora

In Greek mythology, Pandora was given a box that she was forbidden to open. She disobeyed out of curiosity and released from it all the ills that beset man, leaving only hope within. For Pandora Internet Radio, today, that hope translates into a musical goal: Connect people to music they love.

The man behind Pandora Internet Radio, Tim Westergren, made a visit to Chrysler Group headquarters to share his story with our employees. Pandora is just one of the Internet radio apps offered as part of our Uconnect Access via Mobile service. The service brings an easy-to-use Internet radio listening experience to many Chrysler, Jeep®, Dodge and Ram vehicles. Uconnect Access via Mobile allows our customers to put their smartphones away and control their personal Pandora, iHeart Radio, Slacker or Aha accounts using their 8.4-inch touchscreen display and steering wheel controls.

Westergren created the popular Internet radio service in 2000 as Savage Beast Technologies, which launched on the web as the Pandora we know today in 2005. As an accomplished musician and composer, Westergren developed a collection of nearly 450 attributes to help describe a song with a template that could help capture a song's identity. It was used as a way to link songs together. It is called the Music Genome Project and it's the secret sauce behind how Pandora works. If you like a song on Pandora, the system works to find songs with similar traits. Today, Pandora has more than 250 million registered users.

Chrysler Group understands that the availability of apps, such as Pandora, is a "why buy" for a number of younger customers, also known as "Digital Natives." They grew up with the technology at their fingertips and are heavily influenced by the availability of in-vehicle entertainment and connectivity in their automobile.

Westergren joined Head of Global Uconnect Alan Amici for a townhall meeting at Chrysler Group's headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The two discussed music, technology and why Uconnect and Pandora are such a great match.

Pandora is simple and convenient to use in Chrysler Group vehicles equipped with an 8.4-inch touchscreen. Uconnect team member Lucas Wilson demonstrates how easy the service is to navigate.

If you already use Pandora, you can download the Uconnect Access App to your smartphone and follow a simple set-up process to connect your existing Pandora account to your Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge or Ram vehicle's 8.4-inch touchscreen.

As read on: http://blog.chryslerllc.com/blog.do?p=entry&id=2285