Automakers are trying to figure out how to monetize the “connected car”, and General Motors has an idea: sell your radio presets to the highest bidder.




GM was issued a patent for a “System and method for auctioning geoboxed flexible, semi-locked or locked radio presets” earlier this month, which would allow the automaker to sell the individual buttons on your stereo to third parties.

The patent explains that it could sell off the rights to those presets to multiple parties on different cars, so if your significant other’s Malibu had one sold preset it might be different in your Silverado.


What’s more interesting is that each of these presets would be geo-fenced, so depending on which state or country you’re in, or even where you’re driving – say on a day trip to the coast – the pre-sold preset could change based on your location. A button to one news station could change to another or even a navigation preset could adjust from your nearest KFC could to a Chick-fil-A.

It’s either a brilliant new revenue source or something destined to piss people off. Probably both.



Thanks for the tip Reilly.