Analyst: Spotify Will "Boost Ford's In-Car Profile"

Ford

has announced that Spotify will join the ranks of Pandora

and other services that are playable through SYNC AppLink.

According to

, paying Spotify subscribers will be able to use the new feature to control the Spotify smartphone app while driving. Spotify does not plan to charge an additional fee for this option, but users will still be subject to the same data charges accrued through their wireless carrier. Ovum analyst Jeremy Green said that he thinks that Spotify's inclusion will "undoubtedly boost Ford's in-car profile." "The music giant's 20 million users will no doubt appreciate the announcements, although how many of its users will be able to afford a SUV (or even influence its purchase) will limit adoption," Green wrote an e-mail this morning. "The other partners announced (Kaliki, Glympse, and Aha) look to be interesting content add-ons, but again are unlikely to sway the purchasing decision." Overall, Green was not too impressed with Ford's offering at the 2013 Mobile World Congress. "The company made three announcements this year: a new SUV for Europe – the EcoSport; a global partnership with Spotify to integrate its services with Ford's SYNC AppLink voice-control platform; and three new infotainment content partners," he said. "Ford led with its EcoSport compact SUV, heralding it as one of its first European cars to use the SYNC AppLink system. Its developer program for the voice-control solution was launched at CES 2013 and boasted 2,500 developers after four weeks. Not a bad start, but the ecosystem will need further support before in-car applications become mass market." Ford is trading down more than one percent this afternoon. The company rose more than 16 percent in 2012 but is down more than five percent year-to-date. Pandora, which was previously added to the SYNC AppLink, is down more than two percent.