Tesla drivers are getting plenty of mileage from their stereos, one Montreal company has found—especially when they’re singing along. 

Stingray is a music-rights licensing and streaming company that provides music to Amazon Prime customers as well as Dollarama, Metro and Jean Coutu. But Mathieu Péloquin, the company’s senior vice-president of marketing and communications, said the company is pivoting to new technologies. Namely: karaoke in smart cars. 

The company runs karaoke apps in Teslas, whose big-screen consoles and direct-to-consumer software updates have allowed it to install a wide variety of entertainment options, like Mario Kart, to be played while the car is parked and charging. Karaoke apps have become so popular in countries like China that when Tesla launched a branded mic there in 2022 it sold out in less than an hour. 

All told, Péloquin estimates the company’s car apps can get 500,000 plays within a weekend and close to 10 million plays in a month in the car. (Disney songs are among the most popular.) 

Stingray’s recent quest to put its karaoke app into more car consoles comes as automakers anticipate three converging trends: the rollout of 5G lets vehicles run and update software more quickly; people are spending time parked in EVs while they charge; and someday far down the line, autonomous driving may let drivers interact more with passengers in the car. 

Stingray has had numerous discussions with manufacturers about entertainment systems, but EVs are where the conversation “gets interesting,” Péloquin said.

Entertainment and software companies like Stingray and BlackBerry are betting that automakers will want to get in on the action by building their own apps, instead of relying on tech companies. General Motors recently said its EVs will use its own proprietary software instead of Apple’s CarPlay or Google’s Android Auto.

It may not be a smooth road. Research suggests that infotainment systems are distracting drivers. J.D. Power found that infotainment consoles are the most problematic systems that ding vehicles’ quality, while Consumer Reports found that drivers complained most about built-in infotainment software as well as those that used newer technologies. 

Deloitte Canada automotive research lead Ryan Robinson said building vehicle software that can be monetized is “the hottest topic at the moment,” as automakers seek steadier revenue streams after years of unpredictable sales. But the consultancy’s research shows that, even if they had a fully autonomous vehicle, Canadian consumers would favour activities like eating, resting and talking on the phone over gaming or entertainment.

“To essentially force consumers to move from their smartphone interface to a separate interface when they get into their vehicle …. that’s a big open question,” he said. Automakers’ decisions to move away from tech giants, he added, is “an incredibly interesting and nuanced story because it sets up a battleground, if you will, for the consumers’ attention.”

Stingray is willing to ride that wave. The company had its software in about 1.2 million cars as of the end of 2022, and was adding 30,000 each month, saying in its annual report the Tesla partnership has led to “strong interest” from other automakers. It began working with the Vietnamese EV brand VinFast last year, and last month announced a deal to build a karaoke service for Volkswagen’s software company that will roll out in some Audis in July. In January, it signed a deal with a karaoke-machine company that’s building an in-car product. 

Building all the safety features makes auto apps more complex, while securing music rights in different countries is a challenge, said Péloquin. Helping make that easier for automakers, he hopes, will let Stingray “go spread our wings out to other brands.”

“For us, the automotive industry is a huge opportunity,” said Peloquin.

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