Tesla Music Streaming Services and Apps (Spotify, TIDAL, Slacker, TuneIn and more)

Tesla supports various music services

Not a Tesla App

While Teslas are filled with a plethora of industry-leading features, new owners are often surprised by the incredible quality of the Tesla audio system and its audio features.

In fact, it is believed that Tesla’s sound systems are on-par with premium Bang and Olufsen systems ($12,000 optional sound system in vehicles like the Audi A8). Elon Musk even admitted in a tweet that they used former Bang and Olufsen engineers to design the audio systems found in the Model 3 and Model Y.

Tesla continues to refine the audio experience for Tesla owners, as indicated by the release of the new subwoofer equalizer settings as of update 2021.44.25.

With this incredible audio experience standard across all models, it should come as no surprise that music streaming is a priority for Tesla.

Premium Connectivity

Part of the selling points of Tesla’s Premium Connectivity is the seamless music streaming abilities offered by Tesla.

With a Premium Connectivity plan, drivers can easily stream audio without the use of cellphone pairing solutions or Bluetooth streaming.

Bluetooth Audio

If a Tesla driver chooses not to purchase the Tesla Premium Connectivity Plan, they can stream audio via Bluetooth from their cellphone.

Audiophiles would point out that the act of streaming via Bluetooth degrades the quality of the music to compress the data stream for wireless transmission. A physical connection with a USB cable connected to a cellphone is not currently supported by Tesla.

Hotspot

In addition, drivers can use their cellphone as a hotspot, allowing the vehicle to stream audio such as Spotify using their device's data connection.

When using your device as a hotspot, you'll have access to almost all of Tesla's features included in Premium Connectivity. These include audio and video streaming services like Spotify and Netflix (accounts with these services are still required), Caraoke and more.

The only options it doesn't include are live traffic visualizations and satellite-view maps.

Available Tesla Music Streaming Services

Like many modern vehicle manufacturers, Tesla has focused on developing an infotainment ecosystem that relies on streaming services to deliver music and podcast streams to the driver via Wi-Fi and cellular connections.

Many of these services are premium services not routinely found in standard car software. Currently, Tesla offers a direct stream from Apple Music, Spotify, Slacker, TIDAL, and TuneIn. This is in addition to FM radio and SiriusXM for the Model S and Model X.

Tesla Streaming (Slacker Radio)

While branded as a Tesla streaming service, Tesla has partnered with Slacker Radio to provide a free Slacker Plus account (ad-free) to Tesla Premium Connectivity customers. In the US, this music service shows up in the vehicle simply as "Streaming."

This account mirrors the features of a Slacker Premium account, enabling drivers to search for songs using voice commands, create and stream playlists, and enjoy curated streaming stations for their enjoyment.

Spotify

Arguably the most well-known of the streaming options, Spotify has built a reputation for exclusive high-quality podcasts and playlist management that makes them one of the most popular streaming services in the world (current market share of 31% of the global streaming market). While not known for its audio playback quality, Spotify’s streaming service offers an industry-leading catalog of material that is popular with Tesla drivers.

Although Spotify offers the ability to stream songs with a higher bit rate (HQ), it is currently not available in Teslas.

Apple Music

Apple Music is the second most popular music streaming service in the U.S. It was notably absent from Tesla's software until recently. However, with the 2022 holiday update, Tesla finally added support for the popular music service.

Apple Music is offered on all Teslas, spanning all the way back to 2012 with the first Model S. It's also included in the Model 3, Model Y and Model X, however, availability does vary by country. It's available in most countries around the globe, but there are a few exceptions.

Although Tesla offers access to Apple Music in their vehicles, not all Apple Music features are available. Notably missing is support for Dolby Atmos and Apple Music Sing. You will be able to stream any song on Apple Music and access your own playlists as well as Apple's featured music and playlists. Apple Music, like every any other Tesla music service, is integrated into Tesla's voice commands, letting you play any song through the use of your voice.

TIDAL

Tidal’s ad-free music streaming service is billed as a premium lossless music stream (indicating a higher quality audio experience when compared to other Tesla streaming partners).

Tesla users with a TIDAL HiFi subscription can stream audio files at 1411 Kbps using a lossless codec that doesn’t sacrifice quality for streaming bandwidth speeds.

However, users have noted that streaming these lossless files over an LTE connection can cause frequent buffering issues due to the large file sizes.

TIDAL does offer the ability to download songs via Wi-Fi to prevent buffering issues.

TuneIn

A lesser-known subscription-based streaming product, TuneIn offers Tesla drivers ad-free streaming of music, news networks (CNBC, CNN, FOX News Radio, and MSNBC), and live play-by-play sports with no blackouts from the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL.

There is a free tier for TuneIn users interested in listening to their curated playlists and sports radio products.

You can simply navigate to TuneIn and start listening; no need to create an account.

SiriusXM

Popular for its large selection of curated music stations, talk radio catalog, and sports streaming, SiriusXM is a leading subscription and semi-ad-supported streaming solution for the U.S. and Canadian markets.

SiriusXM is only available in the Model S and Model X using a satellite receiver which is not available in the Model 3 or Model Y.

While there have been rumors of an internet-based SiriusXM streaming solution for other models, that solution has yet to appear in the Model 3 and Model Y.

Caraoke

Tesla Caraoke is Tesla’s version of the popular karaoke format. The free service (requires Premium Connectivity or Wi-Fi) allows drivers to play and sing popular karaoke songs directly from their car's infotainment system.

USB Drive (Downloaded MP3s)

For owners who prefer to play their own downloaded music collection, Tesla also allows you to plug in a USB drive and play MP3s directly from your device.

This feature can be useful if you don't subscribe to Tesla's Premium Connectivity or sometimes drive in areas with poor reception.

Your USB drive will need to be formatted using exFAT for this to work. Once the drive is plugged in you'll be able to access your music via a new USB icon available in the launcher.

Tesla will then let you view your music by artist, album, song title, or even search for your favorite songs.

Hide Music Apps / Sources

You can hide any music apps that you don't use

Not a Tesla App

If there are certain music sources that you don't use, you can prevent them from showing up in the vehicle's Apps menu in the launcher. Simply open your music player, select the right-hand most button for options, choose Sources and then unselect any sources you'd like to hide.

You can navigate back to this menu to re-enable sources at any time.

Missing Streaming Services

Amazon Music, the third most popular music streaming service in the U.S. remains absent from Tesla’s streaming options. Pandora is also not yet available from Tesla’s infotainment system.

While a YouTube video app is available in the Theater section of the Tesla infotainment system (while parked), YouTube’s music streaming service, YouTube Music, is currently not supported.

It should be noted that workarounds exist for playing content from excluded streaming services like Pandora, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Youtube Music, etc. through the use of Bluetooth streaming.

FM & AM Radio

Tesla's also offer traditional FM radio. The Tesla interface will automatically show you all the available stations around you so that you quickly start listening to a station without having to use a dial.

Although older Model S and Model X vehicles had the ability to listen to AM radio, that capability is no longer available in newer cars. However, TuneIn has many stations available for streaming, so your favorite AM station may also be available to stream for free on TuneIn.

Apple AirPlay & CarPlay Rumors

Recently, Elon Musk indicated in a tweet that Tesla was considering the addition of AirPlay connectivity. While short of an Apple CarPlay integration, Apple Airplay would allow for improved audio streaming from iPhones when compared to current Bluetooth solutions.

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Tesla Teases FSD Unsupervised, Hits 50,000 Autonomous Miles

Not a Tesla App

We’ve known for a while now that Tesla has been using a custom build of FSD to allow its newly produced vehicles at Giga Texas and Fremont to autonomously navigate themselves from the production line to the outbound delivery lot. 

While we knew they were using a custom build of what was likely FSD Unsupervised, thanks to a recent post from Tesla AI on X, this has now been confirmed. Tesla has also confirmed it has accrued over 50,000 driverless miles, totalled from vehicles autonomously driving themselves to delivery lots.

Giga Texas production now uses FSD Unsupervised to deliver cars from end of line to the outbound logistics lot.

Over 50,000 driverless miles have been accrued between California and Texas factories so far pic.twitter.com/79zKY0U6Ox

— Tesla AI (@Tesla_AI) April 13, 2025

Autonomous Driving to Loading Areas

For most of Tesla’s vehicles - that’s a 1.4-mile trip that is shared with pedestrians, cars, trucks, and construction equipment. You can see in the video that the Teslas are navigating public roadways and encountering real human drivers.

That’s great news, because many were wondering whether Tesla would receive approvals to operate autonomously like this once their first Robotaxi network launched in the town right outside - Giga Texas - in Austin.

That’s great news, especially since many were wondering whether Tesla would secure the necessary approvals in time to launch their Robotaxi network in June.

Increased Confidence

Following Tesla’s post to X, Musk followed up by saying that when Tesla launches FSD Unsupervised soon, it will be the first time there will be a generalized, pure AI solution to autonomy. Tesla and several executives continue to post more content about autonomy and the Robotaxi network, leading us to believe they’re feeling confident in the June launch.

Model Ys autonomously navigate a 1.4 mile trip on a road shared with pedestrians, cars, semi trucks, construction equipment & more pic.twitter.com/iPx2fs78v2

— Tesla AI (@Tesla_AI) April 13, 2025

Cybertruck Too

Back when Tesla initially announced the autonomous travel of its vehicles from production to loading lots, they mentioned that the Cybertruck was the only vehicle at Giga Texas not receiving that same treatment.

Now, that’s changed - Cybertruck is now also navigating through the Cybertunnel to make its way from the factory directly to the loading docks, all on Unsupervised FSD. And that’s making us even more excited, especially because Tesla was supposed to launch an FSD Update for the Cybertruck a little while ago - but it hasn’t made it to production yet. This update is set to bring Start FSD from Park, as well as Actually Smart Summon - bringing the Cybertruck to feature parity with Tesla’s other AI4 vehicles.

Cybertrucks autonomously navigate a 0.6 mile route traversing beneath one of America's fastest highways, emerging through a steep 17% grade to reach their destination pic.twitter.com/3ZMYCRPhIj

— Tesla AI (@Tesla_AI) April 13, 2025

Now that Tesla is confidently using a build of Unsupervised FSD to navigate the tight confines of the tunnel and park, we’re pretty sure that Tesla will likely launch the expected FSD update in the near future.

FSD Update Soon?

It’s been a while since any FSD hardware variant has received an FSD update. It appears that Tesla has been focused on Unsupervised FSD and launching FSD outside of North America.

It seems like we may get a new FSD update soon, and we don’t believe it’ll be just for the Cybertruck. Those who have the opportunity to sign up for Tesla’s new Early Access program will likely be some of the first recipients to receive the FSD update, so stay tuned.

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Tesla Opened the Floor — These Are the Features Drivers Want Most

Not a Tesla App

Lars Moravvy, Tesla's Vice President of Vehicle Engineering, recently took to X to pose a question to the community: “Let's make Teslas better… what do you all want for 2026?”

The question absolutely took off, and there were tons of fantastic suggestions about what Tesla owners would love to see from their vehicles in the future.

There were more than 12k suggestions, so let's take a look at some of the most popular feature requests.

Top Suggestions

• CyberSUV - A classically styled SUV with a stainless steel exterior.

• Faster Charging & Better Charge Curves - Tesla vehicles start off with fast charging speeds, but usually taper off quickly in comparison to other brands. This is especially true when compared to some Chinese brands, which sustain 500 kW charging at up to 70% state of charge. Let's get improved charging speeds on Teslas as well, especially with the 500 kW Superchargers coming in Q3.

• 450mi / 500mi range vehicles - Lots of customers want longer range vehicles, even though Tesla's analysis says the 300-mile range is ideal for 90% of its customer base. Range really does matter - especially for customers in more rural locations or those who choose to tow or haul with their vehicles.

• Ambient Lighting Reacts to Music - This one is pretty straightforward, and it's surprising we don't already have this feature. Having basic integration with the currently playing audio is a neat feature, and really helps to make the entire experience even more seamless and premium.

• Refresh Model 3 Signal Stalk Retrofit - Some people really love their signal stalks. While there aren't retrofits available just yet, we do recommend the Enhauto Stalks. For those who want an official retrofit, there is now some hope - Lars responded and said he'll try.

• Lumbar Support in the Profile - Right now, lumbar support is the only seat item not saved to the Tesla Profile. This may change soon, as Lars followed up and mentioned that there are a few technical issues preventing it, but Tesla could make it work with some of their magic.

• Model 3 Track Pack - The Model S has an exclusive Track Pack as a post-factory retrofit offered by Tesla, including premium brakes, tires, and wheels. The Refreshed Model 3 Performance is a killer track vehicle - but getting real track support from Tesla would be a game-changer for those who love to race.

Some of Our Favorites

• Sentry Mode Improvements - Several users suggested adding B-pillar recording to Sentry Mode. And it looks like Tesla has already been working on this, and it'll be available in the upcoming 2025 Spring Update, which will be update 2025.14. Unfortunately, it'll be limited to what appears to be HW4 vehicles due to the additional processing.

• Massaging Seats - A touch of luxury for Tesla's most premium models would be nice. Tesla actually used to offer it as a feature in the past, so we'd love to see it come back, as many other luxury brands already offer it.

• Powershare for More Vehicles - Powershare is a fantastic feature, and bringing it to every Tesla is a must, especially as many other brands, including Ford, Kia, and Hyundai, offer either Vehicle to Load or Vehicle to Home capabilities as an option on their EVs. Tesla recently introduced the Mobile Connector with Powershare capabilities and an Outlet Adapter, but it's still exclusive to the Cybertruck for now.

• Starlink Integration - Tesla currently uses cell networks for connectivity, which can sometimes be spotty. Starlink is a clear, high-tech solution that could provide data to vehicles when they have a clear line of sight to the sky.

• Grok in Vehicles - Musk has already confirmed that Tesla will be integrating Grok into Tesla vehicles. We expected it to be included in Tesla's Spring Update, but it looks like they'll need a little bit longer. One of the lead xAI/Grok developers mentioned the request with a wink emoji, so it's clear it’s a feature that Tesla and xAI are actively working on. The way users will be able to naturally talk to AI will be game-changing for many users who are used to driving alone.

There was a lot of positivity in the comments, as well as a ton of interesting requests that could eventually be implemented in Tesla vehicles. Lars also responded to quite a few of the comments, which was nice to see.

While nothing is certain, some of these popular requests may come in a future update, while others may need hardware changes if Tesla wants to implement them.

2026 may seem far away, but there's already plenty of coming this year with a cheaper vehicle and the launch of the Robotaxi network.

If you love reading about feature suggestions, we also recently covered the top feature requests for Tesla, based on the many requests we hear about.

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