Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Ultimate Passenger Princess Antoni Bumba Shares Her Top Tips for Listening in the Car

20/11/2023

Drivers in the U.S. spend an average of 60 minutes per day behind the wheel. So whether you're slogging through the daily commute, ripping through errands, or gearing up for a road trip with friends, you're going to want the best music, podcasts, and audiobooks to make that time count.

With 100+ million songs, 5+ million podcasts, and over 150,000 audiobooks, Spotify is the ultimate listening companion when you're on the go. Plus, you can listen to Spotify in the car and effortlessly bring the world's music along for the ride with our new features like DJ, Jam, and daylist.

Picking precisely what to listen to is a special role, one that often falls to the person in the passenger seat. And our listeners know it: This past year, users have taken to social media to proudly announce their status as a passenger princess -the person who, while being chauffeured, also ensures fellow passengers are fed, hydrated, and musically satiated.

They also claimed this title on Spotify. This year, we saw a 300% rise in the number of user-generated passenger princess playlists created each month. Snooze by SZA and Paint The Town Red by Doja Cat were two of the tracks that popped up most frequently.

For the Record talked to Antoni Bumba, creator and self-identified passenger princess, on what it takes to be the best copilot for any road trip.

Why's it so important to have good music playing in the car? It does two things. One, it helps us curate the vibe for the location that we're on the way to or for what type of day we want to have. But it also fills up the empty space. Unless you just want to be listening to your tires run against the road, which is really boring.

Tell us about the role of the passenger princess. Okay so, I know it's called the passenger princess, but once the role umbrellas itself into being the DJ, it becomes really hardcore. This is one where the pressure is on you at all times. You have to have what's gonna play next figured out, because if everyone in the car gets mad at you and wants to take the aux from you, they're never gonna trust you again.

If the person driving the car is getting us from point A to point B, then the passenger princess is making sure we're all having a good time. That we're not all hating this car ride. It seems simple, but you really have to read anyone's energy. They're not going to say what they're in the mood for. You just have to read it on their face, read it in their vibe, and play something that's gonna be fire.

But the role can also be really chic and cute and fun if you make it that way.

You're the passenger princess on an epic road trip. What's on your playlist? The first thing I'm gonna play is something right in the middle. Something that feels good, maybe some Motown. Then you want to transition quickly into something that's going to sustain people, someone people are going to want to sing along to. Rihanna is great to put in this category, Megan Thee Stallion, or Doja Cat. We need to get feelings riled up with songs with really enjoyable beats and voices and lyrics that aren't too demanding.

And then after you've done a few songs, screaming lyrics, videotaping your road trip, then you're going to start talking. And someone is gonna be hungry. Someone is going to want to stop to pee. So you need to have a good filler. This is when all the randoms can be played. If you have a weird demo in your library and it starts playing at this time, good. After you eat your food, you're driving, you have four hours left. And this space is less about getting excited, and this is where you can start playing lyrical stuff. Not anything necessarily too emotional, but with lyrics that are fun and kitschy.

Then I also have music without lyrics. So good. This is the time when everybody wants to dissociate, wants to forget that we're all in the car together, look out the window, scroll on their phones. I have a bunch of cool, psychedelic rock, funky music playing. People get sick of that and then we move to things that are a bit more Fantasia.

Then finally, we're gonna want music that's going to hype you up for pulling into whatever place you're about to pull up to.

Do you ever choose a theme? Location matters. When you're driving from LA to San Francisco or something-like when I was driving with my friend Victoria and we were going skydiving-you drive past all this scenery. So we had all this chill music playlist that was very reminiscent of California rock 'n' roll. But then once we got closer to where our location was, it was Nicki Minaj. Full. Blast.

Now on our way back, there is a different vibe. You don't want to go too hard on the melodies, because you don't want people to fall asleep, but once you get closer to home, play that new Lana Del Rey. Play Crystal by Fleetwood Mac. Songs that make you feel good about pulling in.

What song are you always belting out from the passenger seat? We were driving through Vancouver and we were singing C line Dion and Whitney Houston. The first song we were singing by Celine Dion was It's All Coming Back to Me Now and then Whitney's The Greatest Love of All. Just big '80s ballads. Also, Heart. Very '80s, love, power-hour ballad.

On your channel, you talk about beauty from the passenger seat. Do you have any recs for staying hydrated and comfortable on long trips? I definitely think that you want to wear something that's going to be super comfy. Shoes, very comfy. Hair, done up in a way where you don't have to worry about it. I usually go for a headband to tie my hair back, because if I put my hair in a pony or in a bun and I want to go to sleep, it's just going to be knocking into the seat. And I always keep a moisturizer with me,
LINK: https://newsroom.spotify.com/2023-11-20/passenger-princess-antoni-bumb...
See more stories from spotify

Most recent headlines

09/11/2025

Dalet Unveils Agentic AI Media Workflows at IBC2025

Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...

06/10/2025

France Tlvisions Wins Prestigious 2025 EBU Technology & Innovation Award in Groundbreaking Collaboration with Dalet

France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...

13/09/2025

Cox Media Group's Misti Turnbull Inducted into the NATAS Silver Circle

ATLANTA Cox Media Group has announced that the company's vice president of news, Misty Turnbull has been inducted into the National Academy of Television Ar...

13/09/2025

Shotoku Debuts Swoop Cranes for Studio Robotics at IBC2025

AMSTERDAM Shotoku Broadcast Systems, a major developer of robotic systems, has announced plans to take studio robotics to the next level at IBC2025 by debuting ...

13/09/2025

Riedel Unveils Ultra-Light Bolero Mini Wireless Intercom...

At IBC2025 in Amsterdam, Riedel Communications unveiled Bolero Mini, the company's lightest and flattest wireless intercom beltpack to date. Designed to del...

13/09/2025

Shotoku Takes Studio Robotics to New Heights with IBC Deb...

Shotoku Broadcast Systems, the international developer of dependable, userfriendly robotic systems, is taking studio robotics to the next level at IBC 2025 with...

13/09/2025

The Bitmovin Video Developer Report 2025-26 Reveals Cost...

Bitmovin, a leading provider of video streaming solutions, today released the 9th annual Video Developer Report 2025/26, offering an in-depth look at the evolvi...

13/09/2025

Bitmovin and StreamShark Partner to Deliver High Quality...

Bitmovin, the leading provider of video streaming solutions, today announced a strategic partnership with StreamShark, the trusted video platform for enterprise...

13/09/2025

Ikegami Announces VFE-P711AD 7-inch OLED Multiformat On-C...

Ikegami has chosen IBC 2025 in Amsterdam as the launch venue for a major addition to its range of viewfinders. The new VFE-P711AD is a 7-inch high resolution OL...

13/09/2025

KitBash3D and Greyscalegorilla Announce Merger

Founder-led Merger to Fast Track R&D, Asset Library Upgrades, Tools and More; No Disruption to Pricing or Support for Users Today, KitBash3D, a pioneer in 3D a...

13/09/2025

Mavis Puts Itself at the Heart of Mobile Production

With NDI certification, Atomos integration, Grass Valley collaboration, and a new Monitor app, at this year's IBC, Mavis is showcasing a series of powerful...

13/09/2025

Creamsource Expands Vortex Family with Vortex24 Soft

Creamsource, maker of artisan LED lighting for film and television, has unveiled the Vortex24 Soft (V24S), a 1950W native soft light and the largest soft source...

13/09/2025

DAZN streams 2025 FIFA Club World Cup to billions of fans...

When international sports streaming service DAZN secured the global rights to the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup football tournament, it set out to deliver an unmatch...

13/09/2025

Riedel Communications Acquires hi human interface

Riedel Communications today announced the acquisition of hi human interface from Broadcast Solutions, bringing a powerful, vendor-agnostic control system to it...

13/09/2025

RTW chooses Calrec as technology partner for its AI ready...

Building on its long-term relationship with audio metering specialist RTW, Calrec has integrated the company's brand new TMxCore metering platform across it...

13/09/2025

Calrec unveils 48 fader Argo M at IBC2025 and demonstrate...

Calrec is expanding its family of future-ready self-contained Argo M control surfaces at IBC2025, with the addition of a brand new powerful 48-fader console. Co...

13/09/2025

September 11, 2025

Researchers find brain region that fuels compulsive drinking Study by Scripps Research scientists shows how the brain learns to seek alcohol for relief, not jus...

12/09/2025

College Football Kickoff 2025: Fox Sports Ups Look as Canon, Sony Power Shallow Focus Coverage

College Football Kickoff 2025: Fox Sports Ups Look as Canon, Sony Power Shallow ...

12/09/2025

ABC/ESPN Excited For WNBA Postseason Coverage In Revamped Format

ABC/ESPN Excited For WNBA Postseason Coverage In Revamped FormatThe Finals moves to a best-of-seven series in 2025By Mark J Burns, SVG Contributor Friday, Sep...

12/09/2025

Rabbit Trap Pulsates With Folklore Dread

(L-R) Jade Croot, Rosy McEwen, and Bryn Chainey attend the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Rabbit Trap at Eccles Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park ...

12/09/2025

Spotify's The Drop Weekly' Brings You the Week in New Releases, Straight From Our Editors

For fans, we know how important it is to stay plugged into music culture and dis...

12/09/2025

Agama and Consult Red announce RDK Accelerator integration

Link ping, Sweden and Shipley, United Kingdom, September 12, 2025 - Agama, the expert in video observability and analytics for service quality and customer expe...

12/09/2025

IBC2025 Opens for Business

IBC2025 began on Sept. 12, with exhibits and conferences running through Sept. 15 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Center. Explore the full TV Tech coverage of t...

12/09/2025

The Best Fictional Bands (and the Artists Who Make Them Great)

The Best Fictional Bands (and the Artists Who Make Them Great) With Spinal Tap II: The End Continues hitting theaters and songs from KPop Demon Hunters ruling...

12/09/2025

Tom Baldassare Joins Advanced Systems Group

Industry veteran Tom Baldassare has joined Advanced Systems Group, LLC (ASG), a technology and services provider for media creatives and content owners, as a Se...

12/09/2025

Maxon Unveils a Brand New Look for its Growing Family of...

Maxon, maker of powerful, approachable software solutions for creators working in 2D and 3D design, motion graphics, visual effects, and more, today announced a...

12/09/2025

PlayBox Neo US Partners with AI-Media to Deliver Scalable...

PlayBox Neo, a leading provider of media playout solutions, has partnered with AI-Media, pioneering developers of AI-powered captioning technology, to integrate...

12/09/2025

Dalet Unveils Agentic AI Media Workflows at IBC2025

Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...

12/09/2025

Keepit and Ingram Micro launch strategic sales agreement...

New alliance strengthens the IT channel in Germany and Switzerland in protecting business-critical SaaS data. Keepit, the world s only independent, cloud-nativ...

12/09/2025

Mediaset selects Fincons Group AllRights to evolve rights...

Fincons Group, an international IT business consultancy and systems integrator company with more than 40 years of experience in the market, is proud to announce...

12/09/2025

EVS Acquires XD motion

Following its acquisition of Telemetrics, EVS continues its push into robotics with an announcement at IBC2025 that it is acquiring XD motion....

12/09/2025

Televisa Executive Joins NABA Board

TORONTO The North American Broadcasters Association (NABA) has announced the appointment of Eduardo Ruiz Sanchez, deputy director, broadcast operations at Telev...

12/09/2025

Ed Miller, Former SBE President, Has Died

Ed Miller, a longtime broadcast engineer in Ohio and a former national president of the Society of Broadcast Engineers, has died....

12/09/2025

IBC2025: Dynamic HDR Gains Traction

AMSTERDAM At this year's IBC2025, the Advanced HDR by Technicolor initiative will be pushing broadcasters to adopt a more dynamic, frame-by-frame conversion...

12/09/2025

Granville opens up one last time for U&GOLD in Open All Hours: Inside Out

Feature-length retrospective from Studio Crook to air in 2026 Sir David Jason returns to the nation's favourite comedy channel, U&GOLD, for Open All Hours:...

12/09/2025

Bob Geldof to receive Lifetime Achievement Award at the Sky Arts Awards 2025

Friday 12 September 2025 The Boomtown Rats, Nyah Grace, Soweto Kinch, Royal Ballet and Madness also announced to perform at the ceremony on Tuesday Sky today ...

12/09/2025

Riedel Unveils Ultra-Light Bolero Mini Wireless Intercom Beltpack

Wuppertal September 12, 2025 Riedel Unveils Ultra-Light Bolero Mini Wireless Intercom BeltpackAt IBC2025 in Amsterdam, Riedel Communications unveiled Bolero M...

12/09/2025

Riedel Communications Acquires hi human interface

Wuppertal September 12, 2025 Riedel Communications Acquires hi human interfaceRiedel Communications today announced the acquisition of hi human interface fro...

12/09/2025

New International Crime Series Road (WT)' Explores Twisted Murders Across Borders

Back to All News New International Crime Series Road (WT)' Explores Twiste...

12/09/2025

First Look: Thai Crime Drama Everybody Loves Me When I'm Dead' Premieres October 14

Back to All News First Look: Thai Crime Drama Everybody Loves Me When I'm ...

12/09/2025

Netflix Marks 10 Years in Japan, Announces Three New Series That Will Keep You Hitting The Next Episode

Back to All News Netflix Marks 10 Years in Japan, Announces Three New Series Th...

12/09/2025

What Is CORE+ Technologyand How Does It Elevate Church Sound?

CORE+ virtually removes distortion, setting a new standard for church sound and giving worship teams the clarity and confidence they need. Read the full artic...

12/09/2025

Margot Robbie, Colin Farrell, Mary Robinson and Conor Murray amongst guests on Late Late Show season opener

The Late Late Show is back with a bang after the summer break, and Patrick Kielt...

12/09/2025

Another jam-packed weekend of live, free-to-air Sport across RT

The World Athletics Championships, Ireland v France in the Women's Rugby World Cup quarter-final, the Irish Champions Festival, and two Sports Direct Men...

12/09/2025

Katie Hannon explores the shelves of Ireland's National Archives in new series

The Records Show starts Sunday at 6.30pm on RT One and RT Player. Katie Hanno...

11/09/2025

Report: Busy Live Sports Streaming Execs Have Low-hanging Fruit' in Front of Them

Report: Busy Live Sports Streaming Execs Have Low-hanging Fruit' in Front o...

11/09/2025

Inside Game Creek Video's Big Week as Ovation, Flagship Make NFL Debuts

Inside Game Creek Video's Big Week as Ovation, Flagship Make NFL DebutsBy Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director Thursday, September 11, 2025 - 7:00 am Pr...

11/09/2025

NFL Kickoff 2025: Prime Sports Starts New Season at Lambeau Field; Sets Sights on Holiday Matchups, Second-Ever Playoff Game

NFL Kickoff 2025: Prime Sports Starts New Season at Lambeau Field; Sets Sights o...

11/09/2025

College Football Kickoff 2025: NBC Sports Pushes HDR Image Quality, Aerial Drones for Big Ten Saturday Night' and Notre Dame on NBC'

College Football Kickoff 2025: NBC Sports Pushes HDR Image Quality, Aerial Drone...