Decker

More money I guess. It's annoying. I (and likely most others) just assumed that once the merger took place that everyone would have access to all the content. Instead, they merged the music (for better or worse) and kept the other exclusive seperate. I'll be damned if I have to pay $4 a month for Stern, Playboy Radio, Nascar and the NFL. I wonder how Martha Stewart feels about being thrown in with those.

What do the Sirius folks have to pay for besides MLB?

Giles

I figured out why I'm angry over the dance music channels, XM is labeling 'Area' as trance/progressive - two subgenre's of dance music I don't particularily care for [shit, if they had thrown in Euro-house, I would have thrown in the towel completely]. As I noted originally, none of the three dance channels, now, cover house or underground dance music as The Move had... I've sent my angry email over to XM about this, but I think Sirius had more say in these changes than XM did, and as a result, the music suffered.

Giles

yes, it will, channel 81 (January 1st)

Adam Tyner

Guessin' everything here:

http://www.sirius.com/bestofxm

I've only had Sirius (free 6 mos. subscription with a car I just bought on Friday) for a very short time, but I'm not all that won over yet.

DamingR

Me three. How can they be so stupid that they don't realize that Ethel/Lucy were vastly superior products? I am close to cancellation.

Maxflier

As a Sirius subcriber it doesn't bother me much since there is absolutely nothing on XM that I would want, but I can certainly see why people would be upset about having to pay extra for the other services content. That is total bullshit. Either the 2 companies have merged and become one or not. What a scam.

Superman07

I have a feeling the talk and entertainment contracts are setup differently than the music. For instance, I think it was mentioned somewhere contracts were the reason why MLB wasn't (at first?) included in the Best of XM package.

Giles

really I hope ALL who are upset with the music changes, emails XM with their complaints -not like they are going to rectify and change their decisions, but it's very important that all subscribers who think the changes were not the best route express their displeasure.

Decker

I totally agree. What's the email we should send our complaints to?

huh?

I'm pissed that they got rid of the old school rap channel (65). It was great. When I emailed to complain, they told me that Sirius 66 and 67 were equivalent. Those channels aren't even close. 65 played De La Soul, Tribe Called Quest and others. 66 and 67 play crappy new rap.

I actually already cancelled because in addition to 65, I listened to Lucy and Ethel as well, and their equivalents are crap. They repeat the same songs too much and for some reason they think we want DJs making bad jokes during our music.

I'll go back to my ipod.

Cardiff Giant11

Good question, we have to pay for the "Best of Sirius" package that includes Stern, NFL, Nascar, Playboy radio and like one other. Sirius subscribers can do the "best of XM" that includes Opie and Anthony/Ron Fez, Baseball, I believe NHL and a couple of other stations for the same 5 bucks a month. Why they charge 5 bucks a month instead of giving XM people the Best of Sirius and vice versa is beyond me other than it being a cheap way to make an extra 5 bucks a month off people.

Before they butchered the music channels I was considering getting the Best of Sirius package but now there's no way I will, I'm not even sure I'll keep my subscription (two radios) at all.

tommy28

One could say the same thing about deep tracks, it blows compared to the vault.

Giles

here's the XM's website link, since there's no real direct email address per se,

if you tick if you're a subscriber, it will ask for info pertaining to your account. I would assume you don't have to tick it, but I don't know if they'll read it or not.

http://www.xmradio.com/help/emailus.xmc

Canis Firebrand

I am disappointed by many of the changes.

The XM channels like Lucy, Ethel, etc replaced by the Sirius stations are just bad in comparison. XM played a wide variety and not just the typical radio songs of many bands. Sirius appears to play a "greatest hits" format.

I was happy to see that BPM stayed. I am sad at the loss of the System, but at least I can listen to it online. The Area is an ok replacement for the system.

I didn't like the format of their Raw Dog comedy station either. 90% of the stuff I listened to on my XM was XM Comedy 150.

Having said that, the Hair Nation station is awesome. So many bands I listened to growing up. It has become my new favorite station.

Adboy151

Still lamenting what has become of poor Fred, however I am LOVING Underground Garage.

wendersfan

Have they given a reason why they've made such boneheaded changes?

DamingR

Thanks. I bitched them out about Ethel/Lucy. If anyone else is complaining and would mention those two channels, I would appreciate it. I really would like to have my channels back.

Canis Firebrand

My running theories are:

• They put up channel lists from both Sirius and XM and threw darts at the line-ups to see what stations they kept.
  
• They randomly drew stations out of a hat.
  
• The Sirius stations were kept over most XM counterparts because of slight increased listener audience because Sirius has Stern and is a bigger draw.

With the depth that the XM stations had in their catalog of channels replaced by Sirius, it is like Sirius is the beginners guide to satellite radio in comparison to XM.

DamingR

I think that's it, Canis. Basically, Sirius had a larger install base, so if the XM equivalent didn't offer a substantially better/unique product in the minds of the corporate drones, they kept the Sirius product because it would alienate fewer people.

And at the end of the day, the Sirius stations do a much better job of pandering to the lowest common denominator/j6p than XM ever did.

SoSpacey

I was really hoping that the merger would actually help each company but it hasn't (musically).

Fred/Lucy - top 6 in my presets but I turned away from them too much because they went way too deep.

1st Wave is way too shallow. Repeat after repeat. And this isnt just my first impression after a week. I have been using a friends online sub for quite a while.

But the same could be said for the companies, in general, as well.

XM had to be too cool for the room and go way too deep on most stations.
Sirius was like FM radio without commercials.

Why couldnt they meet somewhere in the middle?

Can't they split the music into heavy/medium/light rotation? it's a computer program anyway isnt it?

The Move was a waste to me as well. It was all over the place.

XM was missing a dance station that played relevant progressive house music. A lot of genres/sub-genres fit into this category but they were really missing a lot of current artists. I never hears any Angello, Prydz, or Deadmau5 type of stuff on there. Never anything new.

BPM has turned into a cheese fest. For those in the NYC area, it is basically KTU with mixes and no commercials.

Area has been great so far. Porterhouse (Steve Porter's weekly show), Carl Cox, Markus Shultz and Van Dyk. All relevant shows. But then they throw in Jonathan Peters, Oakenfold, and Ferry...eh. But to each his own. I can accept the trade off.

Also, can they replay these DJ sets more than they do? Every day they replay Van Dyk. Come on. You have so much programming you can use.

I like Areas normal rotation way better than the Move though so I will take the trade off.

basically the merger traded off some good and so bad. It didnt make each one better.

milo bloom

I'm really disappointed in the change to The Chill, it's not bad music, but it's like a bizarro-world interpretation of the concept. Also, the changes to Lucy/Ethel/Fred are pretty bad. The idea of an all Elvis or Led Zeppelin channel is neat at first, but it gets old quick.

I'm really considering cancelling unless they do that reduced channel/reduced price thing that was kicked around a while back.

SubZeri

Honestly, as far as the dance music channels are concerned, let's just be honest. None of the channels have ever been that good anyways. I've been a pretty hardcore follower of just about every genre of beats except DnB for about 18 years now. Let's use Boombox for an example. It's painfully obvious to the educated breaks fan that this station was programmed by someone who wouldn't know a broken beat if SOTEG and the Lawgiverz showed up and drummed Amen breaks on their forehead. Outdated, stagnant playlists full of tunes that no current breaks DJ would spin. Boombox catered to the listener who doesn't realize that the Crystal Method are the electronic equivalent of Hootie & The Blowfish, and to those who use the word "electronica" without realizing how out of touch they look.

CRM114

Sirius subscriber here.

-My favorite channel - Sirius Disorder - is apparently gone. Lame.
-1st Wave sucks unless your idea of 80's music is strictly Depeche Mode-type synth pop.
-We do get The Loft from XM which is WAY better than Sirius' Coffee House.

CRM114

Fred was 80's or "classic alternative" or something? I guess Sirius' "1st Wave" is the replacement.

Cardiff Giant11

Fred was self described as "an audio history of alternative music". It played some stuff from the 70's (even late 60's with the occasional Velvet Underground track), 80's, and 90's up until about 1994 or so. Played hits but a whole lot of deeper tracks and b sides, etc. It was a really cool mix of all the different types of alternative music (everything from power pop, new wave, punk, post punk, synth pop, goth, etc). The beauty of it was even though it was playing a lot of different types of music, it felt cohesive. It also had a ton of depth unlike First Wave.