When most people think of Elon Musk (pictured), they might think electric cars, spaceships, trains that run in tubes, solar panels and even telepathy. But in an unexpected twist, you can now add Spotify AB competitor to that list with news Thursday that Tesla Inc. is in talks with record labels to provide a music streaming service.

According to Recode, Tesla is discussing licensing deals with the music industry that would allow it to establish its own streaming music service. It’s not clear at this time whether it would be a Spotify rival that allows users to play music on demand, or a Pandora Media Inc.-type service that provides customized music streams based on a user’s likes but doesn’t provide music on demand.

The new, as yet unnamed service (Tesla Music, perhaps?) will be bundled with Tesla’s electric vehicles, according to the report. The cars already come equipped with a high-tech dashboard and Internet connectivity, so adding a music service would be easy to do.

Despite having an existing relationship with Spotify outside of the U.S., Tesla is pitching the potential service as delivering an enhanced experience for its buyers, implying that Spotify, despite being the market leader for a reason, doesn’t cut it. “We believe it’s important to have an exceptional in-car experience so our customers can listen to the music they want from whatever source they choose,” a Tesla spokesperson told Recode. “Our goal is to simply achieve maximum happiness for our customers.”

It’s not clear how advanced Tesla’s talks with the music industry are or even when a music service may be launched. But given Musk’s chrysopoeia-like knack of turning most things to gold, the service may yet well become a major player in the streaming music market, especially if it gets offered outside Tesla’s vehicles as well.

Photo: oninnovation/Flickr