Sirius XM chatter

[Patrick]

They wouldn't work with me when I activated a new car radio on my account. They gave the new radio the deal but wouldn't even talk about my current radio.

Then I got an email that the "royalty" fee is going to 19%. I'm probably going to shut down after both radios are up for renewal.

Google Music doesn't charge a royalty fee and it costs $9 a month. Fees are the new hot thing to avoid having to call it a "price increase" just look at what Altice is doing in North Jersey to the cable TV subscribers.

Time to trim the fat...

i'd recommend you let it expire and see what they offer. I would have given @cfrone1 the same advice, but the agent pulled a major gaff by re-upping the streaming service against his will. (as an aside, isn't it cheaper to have one radio all-access which includes streaming? the credentials can be used on multiple devices, just not at the same time)

they should offer the same $60 plan after a few weeks.

I haven't played with google music. Does it require a network connection? Or do they cache music to the phone? The google/apple/amazon/pandora royalty models are different, and terrestrial radio is exempt from most royalty fees - i'm confused on how they present it as a percentage, but that is marketing. spotify is a different model all-together.

Cable providers are on a 10 year contract - blame your politicians if they haven't created competition in the space, or limited price changes.

 

[rick81721]

Cable providers are on a 10 year contract - blame your politicians if they haven't created competition in the space, or limited price changes.

Our cable system had Sirius music channels, they just upgraded and now it's all stingray music - never heard of it.

 

[Patrick]

Our cable system had Sirius music channels, they just upgraded and now it's all stingray music - never heard of it.

aggressive player in the field. i haven't listened, but they have apps, and lots of cool stuff.

Sirius is majority owned by Liberty Media Group. depending on the cable company, they may choose to stay away from sirus, because that would be supporting the competition.

 

[Mr.Moto]

i'd recommend you let it expire and see what they offer. I would have given @cfrone1 the same advice, but the agent pulled a major gaff by re-upping the streaming service against his will. (as an aside, isn't it cheaper to have one radio all-access which includes streaming? the credentials can be used on multiple devices, just not at the same time)

they should offer the same $60 plan after a few weeks.

I think the play is to do what @fidodie said or call just before the subscription is due to auto renew and say you want to cancel. I have done this every six months for our one car and have been able to get essentially the same six month price to renew for the past few years. When they try to offer other options I just say no thanks, I want to cancel. Then I finally say I'll keep the subscription if they give me the same price and it has worked. In December I did the same cancel call, but then said I will re-up if they give me the $60 / year price advertised on their website and they gave it to me. I asked to have that deal put on a new car as well. With this deal, I only have to call once a year.

 

[SCOTTscale]

Google music caches when you stream a song or you can download them to your device before you get onto a plane or something. It lets you download the complete playlists also.

Here is the email they sent me about royalties. 5% increase is a lot. I think they charge state tax also so thats a 26% tax on music... it's really out of control. They need to renegotiate this fee. I'm tired of fees. All my bills are full of them. It's more than VAT taxes in Europe when you add it all together.

 

[KenS]

Renewed today for a year of all access, took 3 different account reps to get the special deal, 25 mins on the phone. Way more difficult than in the past. Subscriber since 2000 or so.

 

[Bike N Gear]

Renewed today for a year of all access, took 3 different account reps to get the special deal, 25 mins on the phone. Way more difficult than in the past. Subscriber since 2000 or so.

What was the deal? I've put off calling.

 

[KenS]

What was the deal? I've put off calling.

50% off all access for a year. 126+ taxes.

 

[SCOTTscale]

I have to try and renew before the taxes go up. If they give me trouble I'll just cancel it. Within 2 weeks they'll be begging me to come back with letters and emails. The only channel I listen to now is PopRocks. But honestly after just a month or two being on the air I've kinda lost interest since they playlist is very very repetitive.

 

[shrpshtr325]

... I've kinda lost interest since they playlist is very very repetitive.

this is kind of where i am at with it on the stations i listen to as well, i got a free year with my new truck and iv been using it, but idk if its worth paying for since i only listen to 2 or 3 channels, and i only change them when i get sick of the playlist on the channel im currently listening to :/ even at $5 a month idk if it would be worth it

 

[cfrone1]

this is kind of where i am at with it on the stations i listen to as well, i got a free year with my new truck and iv been using it, but idk if its worth paying for since i only listen to 2 or 3 channels, and i only change them when i get sick of the playlist on the channel im currently listening to :/ even at $5 a month idk if it would be worth it

I can understand where some of you guys are coming from. I have a bunch of radios on my account (6 total), and I really enjoy the ones in my personal cars. I have the old Starmate radios where you can have a bunch of preset favorite songs and artists. To be honest, the factory radios in my wife and sons cars, which do not have the same features, drive me crazy. In my car, I jump around a lot more between channels because I know that I am switching over from one type of music/artist right to another that I enjoy. I go from listening to hair metal over to country, then to alternative, etc., and they are all things I want to listen to. With my wifes' car, it is channel roulette trying to find something I like. I would think that with such a larger factory radio, it would have more power/memory/features than the old separate units, but not so. I just keep picking up old Starmates on ebay, and when 1 dies, I switch over to a different one. I also agree with KenS, it is getting way harder to get the decent pricing without jumping through hoops. If it weren't for @fidodie this past go around, they were going to lose me (over 15 years and 6 radios) as a subscriber because of the horrible customer service aspect of renewing. Mrs. Fidodie was a godsend, and pointed me in the right direction to get it taken care of. (Thanks to her again!)

 

[Patrick]

I can understand where some of you guys are coming from. I have a bunch of radios on my account (6 total), and I really enjoy the ones in my personal cars. I have the old Starmate radios where you can have a bunch of preset favorite songs and artists. To be honest, the factory radios in my wife and sons cars, which do not have the same features, drive me crazy. In my car, I jump around a lot more between channels because I know that I am switching over from one type of music/artist right to another that I enjoy. I go from listening to hair metal over to country, then to alternative, etc., and they are all things I want to listen to. With my wifes' car, it is channel roulette trying to find something I like. I would think that with such a larger factory radio, it would have more power/memory/features than the old separate units, but not so. I just keep picking up old Starmates on ebay, and when 1 dies, I switch over to a different one. I also agree with KenS, it is getting way harder to get the decent pricing without jumping through hoops. If it weren't for @fidodie this past go around, they were going to lose me (over 15 years and 6 radios) as a subscriber because of the horrible customer service aspect of renewing. Mrs. Fidodie was a godsend, and pointed me in the right direction to get it taken care of. (Thanks to her again!)

My GM radio has a setting for how many pre-set stations i want - think i have it set to 15 right now. - so it is just clicking a button like any other memory preset.
i get my 80s new wave, and 90s metal, and grunge...then over to sports talk. they are not band specific either. so my 101.9 button is right next to mad dog radio.

i think they will look more like the app in the future, where you'll be able to see what song is playing on a scrollable list.

Glad we could help!
---
Other than commercials, we have some decent radio stations in NY. Not if you want old school rap, but in general, it is out there.
SXM really shines for travelers going through more than one ADI or DMA. And canada - if you live in canada, you have it....

 

[Bike N Gear]

My GM radio has a setting for how many pre-set stations i want - think i have it set to 15 right now. - so it is just clicking a button like any other memory preset.
i get my 80s new wave, and 90s metal, and grunge...then over to sports talk. they are not band specific either. so my 101.9 button is right next to mad dog radio.

i think they will look more like the app in the future, where you'll be able to see what song is playing on a scrollable list.

Glad we could help!
---
Other than commercials, we have some decent radio stations in NY. Not if you want old school rap, but in general, it is out there.
SXM really shines for travelers going through more than one ADI or DMA. And canada - if you live in canada, you have it....

I must have missed it, but what is your connection to XM? If I post my account number could you just change the pricing? I hate calling customer service for anything.

 

[Patrick]

I must have missed it, but what is your connection to XM? If I post my account number could you just change the pricing? I hate calling customer service for anything.

My w1f3 is in charge of billing operations, revenue assurance, and fraud. Helped out @cfrone1 because they need to investigate the claim that a rep did not complete what he wanted. They are awarded monetarily on extending plans....hence fraud.

The only thing i can tell you is that if you work hard enough on the phone, and commit to a year, you'll come in around $140. then do it again next year.
This is what I pay. we get one radio free. wish it was that easy - i've lobbied for a 'friends' of employees list, to make it easier. no dice.

 

[SCOTTscale]

My radio has 10 presets and it buffers them. So I can rewind to previous songs as long as the car was turned on. Not sure how long the buffer saves. It's pretty neat. I can also program it to let me know when a specific artist or song is playing on other channels.

 

[cfrone1]

My radio has 10 presets and it buffers them. So I can rewind to previous songs as long as the car was turned on. Not sure how long the buffer saves. It's pretty neat. I can also program it to let me know when a specific artist or song is playing on other channels.

Same here. My Starmates have the 10 presets on each band (A,B, and C) for a total of 30 stations. What I really like, which my wife and sons cars won't do, is the ability to save favorite artists and songs, also up to 30. In their Nissans, they can preset the stations, but not artists and/or song favorites. That was what I was referring to not liking about their radios. I like being able to be listening to, for example, Ozzys Boneyard, and be alerted that a Johhny Cash song is playing on one of the country stations I don't normally listen to. Can't do that in her Nissan...drives her nuts as well when she happens to switch a station, just to catch the end of one of her favorite songs. She wishes there was a way to be alerted that it was on so she could have switched to it, like she used to when she had a simple old school Starmate in the old car.

 

[shrpshtr325]

im pretty sure my challenger has the option to set the alerts, you can set favorite artists/songs and get alerted to them being played as long as you are listening to XM, however i havent seen the same feature in my (4 year newer) truck :/, but then i also dont intend to pay for it once the free year is up so im not going to worry about it too much.

 

[ekuhn]

Stumbled on the Carlin channel today and it is pure gold. He was the definition of a comic genius.

 

[Mr.Moto]

Been seeing this deal pop up on banners lately. 5 months for $25 plus streaming.

http://www.siriusxm.com/5for25PlusS...ce=2018-Q1_NA_CaptifyWaves&utm_medium=Display

 

[littlev21]

My w1f3 is in charge of billing operations, revenue assurance, and fraud. Helped out @cfrone1 because they need to investigate the claim that a rep did not complete what he wanted. They are awarded monetarily on extending plans....hence fraud.

The only thing i can tell you is that if you work hard enough on the phone, and commit to a year, you'll come in around $140. then do it again next year.
This is what I pay. we get one radio free. wish it was that easy - i've lobbied for a 'friends' of employees list, to make it easier. no dice.

Thanks for your experience. I have to renew again, do you think 140 is still the reasonable goal?