Tel Aviv's traffic is supposed to be pretty dreadful. It's probably no coincidence that Waze, the user-generated traffic route planner, was developed here. (I saw it used in almost every taxi, and even when given a lift by one of the folk from IDC Radio).
I was on my way back from a late lunch, after seeing a bit of the old Jaffa port, walking back through the city centre, and even jumping on Tel Aviv's version of the Boris Bike.
The taxi driver was finishing his lunch. A happy chap in his late twenties, wearing fashionable sunglasses and a white t-shirt, started the journey by arguing with his control room about how much the journey should have been - arguing in my favour. "It shouldn't have been that much," he said to me. And then started talking.
After expressing some disappointment that I didn't particularly support any football team, discussion went to music. "Which bit of the UK are you from?", he asked. "London", I said. "Ah! Elton John! He is from London!", beamed the taxi driver.
"I love Elton John!", he added.
Oh, good.
He wasn't finished. In order to demonstrate his love for Reginald Kenneth Dwight's crooning, and ignoring the speed he was doing, he reached for his iPhone, which was connected via Bluetooth to his car stereo. Opening up YouTube, he did a search for Elton John, selected one of the tracks, and put his iPhone back down. I was then treated to a low-quality bootleg recording of one of Elton John's later oeuvres with "Elt" sounding like a dreadful pub singer. The taxi driver beamed, happy to share Pinner's most famous son through the speakers of his taxi at relatively high volume.
And then we heard another track.
And another one.
And then, thank heavens, the journey finished.
As I repeat in my keynotes: forget Spotify and Pandora - YouTube is the (free) service that most people use for music. If almost every song is available on YouTube - even ones prohibited from any on-demand use, is it any wonder that 83% of radio executives in the US think that radio's next big challenge is internet access in cars?
Radio's future in-car: from a Tel Aviv taxi driver
Follow @jamescridland
Did I unwittingly see the future of in-car entertainment from the back seat of an Israeli taxi?
James Cridland is the Managing Director of Media UK, and a radio futurologist: a consultant, writer and public speaker who concentrates on the effect that new platforms and technology are having on the radio business.
E-mail James Cridland | Visit James Cridland's website
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Following on from James’ experience in Israel I have come across an article reporting on US car companies saying that they are not going to be installing AM/FM radios in some new cars – www.radioink.com/Article.asp?id=2626719&spid=24698 – and I am wondering what maybe the impact on the European divisions of these same car manufacturers. As I understand it all new cars in many European markets, including the UK, have to have radios that can receive DAB/DAB as well as FM/LW/MW from this year, 2013, onwards. Any thoughts from anyone?