Is XM/Sirius a threat to internet radio?

[VAXman(Admin)]

Originally Posted by Cozy

I'm sure the initial reaction would be 'no', but I was just curious to get a few comments on this.

I worry a bit that the more XM/Sirius provide progressive rock programming, that more people will shift from listening to internet radio (which is in need for higher listenership) to these satellite stations, pretty much leaving internet radio in the dust do to lack of interest.

I reading a discussion recently in which a few people were very motivated to make this Sirius thing happen, occasionally siting how great it will be to hear music that they were unable to hear otherwise. That just kinda got under my sin a little.

Anyway, I was curious what you people here think of the subject.



- Cozy

Cozy,

I was one of the initial subscribers to XMSR and I sang praises for it. There were 2 channels I listened to: The Music Lab (Prog and an eclectic mix) and Fine Tuning (many XM Studios live performances... I was even a party to one of the live performances Fine Tuning aired). I mostly listened to the Music Lab channel. When XMSR pulled the Music Lab, I pulled my subscription.

With the advent of Sirius (with assholes like Howard Stern), XMSR tried to become more Sirius like to the point where there was a blur as to whether or not they were each different. It doesn't matter anymore as they want to merge. They only need the FCC to condone the merger to move forward into one.

XMSR originally cost $10/month. When I denounced it, it was up to $15/month. I have no idea what the fee is now. However, back then, that was close to $200/yr. We can't get people to cough up $50/year for the 128K stream. Do you think people will want to pay for radio? Especially, if it is little more than the same shit they can hear on commercial FM? ...and HDFM is making its way too. Will FM radio move back to playing real music to showcase the new HDFM capabilities? Who knows? I'd doubt it.

Personally, I now pay $60/month for a Sprint EVDO card. I can listen to streaming radio (guess which one ) when I'm driving in my car. More and more mobile phones are now incorporating music players and internet access. I'm not a phone person but it may be that my newest phone already provides for this. If this is the case, people can use their mobile phones to listen to streaming radio. With a little extra hardware, they can even listen to it through their car stereos. Also, many more cars are coming equipped with iPod adapters. If music is the driver's passion, I'd wager that a system with an iPod adapter will be far more appealing than a satellite radio.