The Sirius app along with Pocket Tunes make it a lot easier for me to listen to Sirius around the house with iPod Touch just hook it to various radios with dock or mini jack even works with all the Sirius boomboxes I have laying around. Don't have to worry about antennas and it is only 2.99 cheaper then 2nd radio.
Sirius XM iPhone app doing quite well...
- Thread starter Kryptonite
- Start date
The Base rate is going up by two dollars because of this royalty fee. You can say they have always paid and now it's passed to us but the bottom line is the price is going up.
So 12.99 to 14.97 if I add internet its 17.95 and if I have another radio its 25.95, plus .90 cents for royalty fees which is almost the same price as a dual sub, with out getting both services and if I want BOS its $4.00 more so now its $30.90 which is more then having dual subs pre merger and we are getting far far less of a service.
And all of this is after Mel said to congress we won't raise rates, and he raised every rate.
and I have mellowed in my old age I guess.
Last edited:
The truth is I have no problem with them charging $2.99 for premium. You either pay it or you don't. I choose not to because the 32k is fine with me.
After really thinking about it I have to agree with you Fergz99. I know this will probably piss off DAB and some others,but I really think we were lied too. You can say the base rate never went up and thats true, but the bottom line is people are paying more. I understand the company needs money. Hell I want them to stick around too. I have two lifetimed radios.Mel said it will benefit the subscribers in the end with lower prices. The truth is they knew what they were going to do the whole time. Instead of being honest(and having decent principles) they said no increases for 3 years. We all were happy with that. Instead they have used every loophole to raise rates. Why not be honest and say yes for our company to survive we will have to make some changes and yes some rates will go up and some privleges(Internet) will have to change. They didn't do that because the FCC would never aprove a merger where people will be getting less and paying more before a merger in under a year. Thats just fact.
I work in the IT department for the attorney general for the state of Ohio. I was told by many people( a lot with Sirius) that if the FCC knew what they were really going to do the merger never would have went through. Truth be told if enough complaints come in to the FCC or our attorney generals office somethng might be done about it. DAB is right when he says the base rate did not go up and you can bet your ass in 3 years it will. I'm not trying to piss anyone off or say anything bad about SiriusXM. I'm a fan too and I love it. I just feel lied to and when a company lies to its people or uses loopholes to lie it's just wrong. You can suger coat it with all the base price not going up talk you want,but we are still paying way more. Please tell me how two increases and losing free Internet has benefited the subscriber? Please tell me how XM people paying more losing free Internet and their music channels has benefited the subscriber? I really want to know. We were all told the merger would benefit the subscriber along with the companies. All I see is the company benefiting. Yes I know they need to benefit to survive and I want them to, but thats not what the whole merger was about.
The bottom line is if you don't like it cancel. Nothing speaks louder than millions of people canceling. I ended up canceling my second radio on Sirius. I'm just tired of all the back and fourth on the board. We all have our opinions and I expressed mine. I finally feel better now. :headbang:
I watched all that talking Mel did and really all they said is that would not raise their base rate and regardless of what you think, your bill will still show $12.95, then it will show royalty fee of $2.00 and so the base rate has not changed. Now you can call that semantics and I would agree it was just a way to raise rates without changing the base rate. None the less I do understand (and this is the difference between you and I) that the cost of them doing business has gone up, while their rates have not. The fact is it was dumb for them to agree not to raise rates, but I have a feeling even if they never had agreed, folks would still be complaining. None the less we all know they did this because they wanted this merger to be approved. Just like the a la carte stuff, what a joke! But the FCC sure liked it!
Based on the way this is being passed along legally they have NOT raised the base rate, so I am sorry, but you are wrong Fergz! LOL
There is no doubt they will likely raise rates when their 3 years are up, but that would be in line with everything else that has gone up. By the way no one is going to get pissed off because you have an opinion! I can see why people would feel they were lied too, but legally you were not lied too, you just were not told everything. But the fact is they need the money and so each of us have to decide "am I willing to pay more for the same service and in some cases in less service?" because the bottom line is not only did they need to generate more income, they needed to cut cost, so internet streaming is no longer available for free. I assume this has helped cut their cost. In reviewing everything you've said. Where did you get or why would you think that anything that Sirius has done from the merger to the price increase was to benefit the customer? It was never about that it was to benefit their bottom line and that is the ONLY thing it was for. Now where do I agree with you fully, when you say you either pay it or you cancel! I mean that is your only option. Even with paying $2.00 more for a royalty fee and $2.99 for premium internet for my iPhone Sirius XM app the value of the service is still incredible to me. I get more entertainment and enjoyment from this service than just about anything else that I spend entertainment dollars on. If I didn't feel that way, hell I'd just cancel and go on about my business! I've got many options from iPhone music apps to my Slacker G2. But none of those in totality have the value or enjoyment that sat radio does for me.
With any Merger they have to show benefits to the consumer. Thats why concessions are made(Price freeze, a la cart). Mel said time and time again that this merger will benefit the consumer. He mentioned the price freeze numerous times. Your right though they legally(until proven illegal) did stick to the book. The fact is they lied about rates going up by exploiting loopholes. If they would have been honest about that there would have been no merger. I don't mind them rasing rates. I know they need to do that. I just want honesty. I do believe a company should be honest and have principles especially when they have access to my credit card. I'm not just talking legally be honest. I'm talking real honesty. Be open and say hey.... we will be doing this when we merge so we survive. I would be cool with it. I know steps have to be taken to survive I get that. I just hate the loophole lies.
If your inusurance company told you your rates will not go up in 3 years and then they add say a $20 fee here and there you would be pissed. Hell you might even look for a new insurance company. After the meger we have only 1 Sirius XM. Granted we have old fashioned shit radio,but it's not the same. My whole thing is BE HONEST. They knew if they were honest the FCC would not approve the merger.
Well I can't speak for you, but I did benefit big time. I had a subscription to both services, once all this came down, I was able to drop one and just keep the other, so I benefited and it saved me money. I know a lot of people that benefited in this way. I also have many options that I never had via the a la carte or even being able to pick reduced plans like music only, news and sports etc. So there have been and are benefits.
The bottom line is that price is only one part of the equation and I maintain that thus far they have not violated anything they've said they would or wouldn't do. If they had the FCC would have every right to come after them and even fine them.
Now all these changes that have taken place to cutting cost, to collecting royalty fees those things aren't to benefit subs, those are the benefit the bottom line. But in a way if they are able to stay in business, then I benefit too because my equipment wouldn't become garbage and I get to enjoy the service. Though I'll tell you for $2.99 a month for better sound quality and the free app that allows me to make use of it on my $300 iPhone is a benefit to me as well. There is good and bad in every situation.
You take the iPhone I really like it, but it isn't perfect. You take AT&T, I am paying a hell of alot more for phone service now, but the iPhone is a huge benefit, there are those that don't think so and so they don't buy an iPhone. Everyone has their own way of looking at things.
I also think many made a lot of assumptions about the merger and just because Mel said something doesn't mean it is the gospel! The bottom line is as long as they don't violate their FCC merger decree then it is up to the customer to say okay or hell no and cancel.
I have had my insurance company, credit card company, cell company, utility company all add little BS fees here and there over the years. But once again this is where you guys will give all them a pass, but not Sirius! OH HELL NO!
Actually my car insurance has went down the last 3 years. As long as I don't get in an accident or get a ticket it stays the same. My power bill did go up because they replaced just about all the lines they couold in old neighborhoods. It kept our power from going out because of their old lines. They spent millions and millions to do that and charged everyone a whole $1. They made everyones service better with that fee. My credit card company tried to raise my rates and added a new service charge fee of $2 if you have a paper bill. I called them up went green and asked them to lower my rate back down. Guess what they did. Time Warner is the king of nickel and diming people. They raised my rates with an extra $3 fee for DVR service per box and an extra $2 per box for a box rental. Not to mention an extra $3 for the package I had. Guess what..... I didn't give them a pass. I got DirecTV and pay $25 less because they charge a flat $5 DVR fee for as many DVR's as you want. Yea my family likes TV. Plus they don't charge for your for your first box.
I don't give anyone a pass. If I can find a better deal I go with that. I bitch at anything that takes money out of my pocket. I'm more pissed at Sirus because I feel they lied to me. You say not to take what Mel says as serious on some things ,but he's the voice of the company. If you can't take his word then who can you? I'm glad you benefited from it and I know a lot have. My problem has never been with the increases. It's the loophole lies. Thats all.
Your still the man DAB
I don't give anyone a pass. If I can find a better deal I go with that. I bitch at anything that takes money out of my pocket. I'm more pissed at Sirus because I feel they lied to me. You say not to take what Mel says as serious on some things ,but he's the voice of the company. If you can't take his word then who can you? I'm glad you benefited from it and I know a lot have. My problem has never been with the increases. It's the loophole lies. Thats all.
Your still the man DAB
There is no way you can avoid all those little add on fees. I know you say you don't give anyone a pass, but sometimes you simply have no choice. In this case I don't think Sirius really has a choice, but to pass along these cost now. They can simply no longer absorb these cost.
This isn't a personal deal where Sirius lied to anyone... they said what they had to say to get this merger deal done. Sirius management has always been sort of on the edge in terms of their business practices, so this doesn't surprise me. If it surprises you then you've not been paying attention.
I think many have benefited and others have not. I don't think in every merger everyone benefits nor is that usual necessary. The reality is that in most cases mergers are about benefiting the bottom line in some way. Lets face it this merger has done that for sure because there is no direct competition now. It is my belief, merger or no merger that we'd still be seeing these rate increases and in fact it may actually have been more than this. So to some degree that in and of itself is a benefit.
Like I said everyone looks at stuff different. I am paying about $53.76 every quarter for XM that includes the new royalty fee and premum internet. If the service no longer offers me value, I'll cancel in a heartbeat. That is the decision everyone is facing. I am not canceling for $2.00, the princple of doing that is like cutting your nose off to spite your face. You either want the service and are willing to pay for it, or you aren't!
I try to avoid fees as much as I can. You would be suprised what a phone call to a business can do to offset certain fees. I knew I wanted a new radio and Sirius is dragging their feet on new ones so I bought the XpressRC. I did not want to pay the royalty fee so I lifetimed it. That was a way for me to avoid that fee. I thought we were always paying it and it was included in our base package price. If not then I would love to see a breakdown of what the base fee covers and how much goes where.
I never thought Sirius lied to us about the royalty fee. They seem to be upfront with that. To me they lied when they raised the 2nd radio prices and took away the Internet steaming. I understand why they did,but I like a company to be upfront with me. Thats just me. Some people could care less what a company says and then does. Like you said if you don't want it cancel. I agree with you on that. I also would not cancel over $2,but a lot of people don't see it that way. They see $2 in July and then $2 4 monthes ago. Plus another $2.99 for Internet. Thats why people are so pissed. It's not just the $2 this time. Anyway we can go round and round about this. I do everything in my power to make sure I don't get screwed by certain fees. You can't stop everyone,but again you woud be suprised what a simple call can do. Plus no royalty fees for me. I've had the same Sirius radio since 05 and it's lifetimed and going strong. Same with my XpressRC. If in 5 or 6 years I have to get a new radio thats fine I still have all my swaps for both radios and my XpressRC still has an extended warranty. I know not everyone can do that,but I did it just to avoid the fees.
Apple is now running a Sirius XM ad on iTunes:
Holy crap! An ad for Sirius XM!
WHOOOP!!!
I'd still be cool with them putting ads on the websites, though.
They seem to be ramping up their promotions budget...saw a leaderboard banner on the top of FoxNews.com, too.
I wonder how many people are actually subscribing after their 7 day trial is done?
Lots of people are downloading the app, but how many are still using it? And more importantly how many people are subscribing.
10 million people can download it, but if none are subscribing after the 7 day trial it makes it all kind of pointless.
Lots of people are downloading the app, but how many are still using it? And more importantly how many people are subscribing.
10 million people can download it, but if none are subscribing after the 7 day trial it makes it all kind of pointless.
IdRatherBeSkiing
Sherbet is NOT and NEVER WILL BE ice cream.
Statistically 0% would be kind of unlikely. Even 1% of 10 million is statistically unlikely but still represents 100,000 subscribers.
That is exactly right and we know there are a lot of folks that already have the premium service, so this just give them a big benefit in that they can now listen beyond their computers and go mobile with their iPhone or iPod Touch. That is the whole point which folks like Scott just don't seem to get!
I get it, but unfortunately a lot of people don't. I have seen some folks say that Sirius XM has picked up 1 million new users with the iPhone app.
The real proof in the pudding will be when the numbers come out, and hopefully it does give them a boost. They are going to need it to pay off Mel's new raise.
The real proof in the pudding will be when the numbers come out, and hopefully it does give them a boost. They are going to need it to pay off Mel's new raise.