SIRIUS Satellite Radio / US Music Royalty Fee Letter and my reply.

[gsbrockman]

Did any other SIRIUS subscribers receive or open their letter yet???? Here's my reply... ... ... ... .



I have been a loyal subscriber since June 2005.



I just recently opened my letter from Sirius entitled "US Music Royalty Fee Important Information".



What a friggin' joke !



With my initial account in June 2005, I was permitted one free online account. I used it periodically, especially at work during the holidays (everyone loved the Christmas music). Ultimately, that one neat little perk was taken away.



Now I am required to pay an additional $1. 98/month primary radio and $0. 97/month per secondary radio. For me, that's an additional $3. 92 per month or $47. 04 per year for "Music Royalty Fees". This, too, is a crock of crap given the amount I'm already paying for the one primary and two secondary subscriptions.



I can really tell the merger between Sirius and XM really benefited everyone..... supposedly the merger would result in a minimization of costs due the the duplication of some duties; all I see is an increase in shareholder's accounts and a good ol' fashion screwin' to the subscribers that pay the bills!!!!!!!!!



I primarily listen to Howard Stern in the mornings on my way to work and then Bubba The Love Sponge in the evenings on my way home; other times it's FOX News or Road Dog Trucking. My wife listens to Enlighten nearly all the time. I also forgot to mention... . I have Sirius in three vehicles, but there's only two drivers in this household. My 2007. 5 Dodge RAM 3500 MegaCab has Sirius Radio OEM and is a pleasure vehicle that is used only on the weekends. Generally it's parked from Sunday evening to Friday morning.



I'm sure this email may or may not be read by anyone that genuinely gives a crap about a subscriber in southeastern KY with three accounts, but I really felt the need to vent this entire matter. In the future I see an increased use of the disc changers in all my vehicles. The additional $47 per year (each and every year) increase coupled with the removal of the once free online account now makes Sirius Radio a poor value in my opinion. Who would ever thought an I-Pod would wind up being competition for satellite radio ????



Expect my cancellation notification really soon on all three accounts.....



Gregory Brockman

 

[JApol]

Serius/XM has the monopoly on the satellite radio market. If someone wants satellite radio bad enough they will pay what they ask for it.

$47 a year isn't a whole lot of money in my opinion but I can spend $47 dollars a year on something else than someone elses wallet.

 

[Motorhead]

I haven't seen any letter yet.....

 

[HBarlow]

I had a very unpleasant experience a few months ago when the free first year subscription expired on my truck. The lowlife telemarketer lied and deceived me about the subscription cost and I told them to shove it and cancelled. My wife later took pity on me and added my truck to her car and a home boom box subscription.

I do not like Sirius, their corporate values, or their sleazy telemarketer operation. I also despise DirectTV and DishTV. Same scumbag telemarketers (professional liars).

If I get anything whatsoever in the mail from SIRIUS that annoys me I'll be gone.

My wife understands all the high-tech crap that only annoys me and she has two or three IPODS loaded with thousands of the songs I enjoy. I'll use one of her IPODS and forget SIRIUS.

I like having satellite radio in the truck but I quit listening to talk radio on November 5th, 2008 so I can do without.

 

[InfernoB]

No letter yet.

Went for the life time purchase after free year was up, and so far so good. "Free" online.

I'll keep an eye out.....

 

[FOXY005]

I have not received a letter yet.



I have Sirius Radios in 2 vehicles and listen to the internet broadcast in work.

I also have a BoomBox that I use at the cabin with the plug & play unit from my truck,

but if they continue to increase the cost with these little added charges it may not be worth the cost to have satelite radio.

I wondered I think in was in February of this year they had the "extend your subscription and continue to get internet radio for free" for the duration of your subscription if that was signaling an additional charge for internet radio reception.



If the internet broadcast goes south I don't listen enough to justify the cost, and will have to make a decision.

 

[Adventure Bob]

Why are you *****in about Sirius/XM? Radio isnt free, even what you get on AM/FM. The free version, you must spend 20 minutes of every hour listening to commercials to "pay" for it. Sirius/XM they just make you pay for it up front and you get to hear content without the annoying commercials. Take what you make an hour, multiply it by the number of minutes of your time "free" radio wastes and Ill bet its more than $50 a year. Your decision, but Id rather pay not to listen to the commercials.

 

[raksasa]

Cancelled after the content became too commercial laden. Pay for commercials on the radio??? There's a valuable "privilege". Get the ipod and listen to what you want... I have the radio that plays MP3 CD's, so I have hours of music at my fingertips.

As for those with Direct TV/Dish... Comcast is no walk in the park to deal with either.

 

[Simplysmn]

A year ago I payed 379. 00 for life time and have never been contacted sense and had Great Service with them when I called to renew . and have never even seen a letter .

 

[Rams-n-Hogs]

I got my letter early last month. I had 2 XM and 2 sirius radios, all of which I had before they merged. Just my opinion, but once they merged, they should have no longer been charging me for 2 primary radios, (one XM and one sirius). The letter did it for me. Now I'm not paying for any.

 

[gsbrockman]

Why are you *****in about Sirius/XM?

Obviously you never excelled in Math Class... ... ..... I have three units I pay for ($12. 95+$6. 95+$6. 95) = $26. 85/month * 12 months = $322. 20 (this amount excludes tax, by the way). Now Sirius wants me to ante up another $1. 98+$0. 97+$0. 97 per month ($3. 92) * 12 months = $47. 04



Simply going from $322. 20 per year to $369. 24 per year plus tax makes it much less attractive, especially since they chopped the online perk... ... ... Option B would be to purchase some units off eBay that are still activated and roll the dice on how long they'll remain activated... ... ... .



$47. 04 is not a lot of money..... it's the principle of the whole matter; especially when you look at the merger aspects and how it should have reduced expenses. It's all about the shareholder's accounts as I stated before..... just at the subscriber's expense.

 

[2Rowdy]

I have been a sirius subscriber since Feb. 05 I have never recieved a letter, phone call or anything but the internet monthly email. I don't think there is anyway I could go back to regular radio. Although I get ****** and act quickly sometimes.

 

[walmor]

I purchased the Lifetime membership for $325. 00 when I had it installed through Circuit City. I get free on line service and have never heard from them again.

Walt

 

[JBloom]

In 2007 when my 1 free year was up I renewed for the lifetime plan. $300ish. Never seen a letter from sirrus. My wife as XM and pays $45ish for three months. I dont like the XM stuff. Their stations are annoying.

 

[RideSlow2004]

interesting. one account. prolly not worth sending out a letter.



truth about the telemarketers, they called to offer me 3 months free, and then 9 months at whatever the regular price was. I happened to have my renewal letter letter handy, and a calc. , the renewal cost for a yr was less than the total of the 9 months on the phone offer. duh... .

 

[Badunit]

I don't have satellite radio but you all are barking up the wrong tree regarding who is doing what to whom.

The recording industry and commercial (terrestrial) radio station owners are the true enemies here. Terrestrial radio stations pay no royalty fees for playing songs. Webcasters and satellite radio are required to pay "licensing fees" each time they play a song. The Copyright Royalty Board sets the fees and they go up every year. It is a killer to small webcasters, many of whom were making little or no money prior to the fees. Sirius is passing the fee increase to their customers just as transportation services tack on "fuel surcharges". Expect the fees to go up next year and the year after and the year after...

Copyright Royalty Board - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Matt400]

As for those with Direct TV/Dish... Comcast is no walk in the park to deal with either.

Wife has that covered, just TIVO and record everything of interest. We don't watch live TV anymore, only recorded content and then hit the FF button on commercials. Its great- pause for a potty break or snack, rewind if you missed what they said.



As for Sirius. . I have been with them since 2002 and my gripe is the talk segments on channel 60. It has wrecked my favorite channel and I have come close to canceling over it. iPOD is looking better.

 

[scootergmc]

As for Sirius. . I have been with them since 2002 and my gripe is the talk segments on channel 60. It has wrecked my favorite channel and I have come close to canceling over it. iPOD is looking better.

After the merger, I noticed the same thing, Sirius dumped their country station and went with the XM lineup. If it wasn't for Hair Nation, Classic Rewind, Lithium, and the 80's station, I would've canceled already. I'm paid up through December and I don't think I'm going to renew.

 

[HBarlow]

My wife cancelled our Sirius subscriptions last week. She had one in her car, one in my Dodge, and an XM boom box in the farmhouse she had bought several years ago. We cancelled the small XM Roady II adapter that was in our travel trailer several months ago. I think we'll be able to continue life without Sirius.

As Matt400 said above, IPOD looks good. My wife has loaded two IPODS with all the music we listen to.

I remain a fan of Willie Nelson's music but since he bought Hank's Place and changed the format he lost me. Sirius/XM needs to hurt a little so they can figure out who once paid their salaries and profits. Maybe they have so many young or younger subscribers of different tastes they don't want or need old guys like me. That's fine with me.

 

[JohnsonJim]

I don't have satellite radio but you all are barking up the wrong tree regarding who is doing what to whom.



The recording industry and commercial (terrestrial) radio station owners are the true enemies here. Terrestrial radio stations pay no royalty fees for playing songs. Webcasters and satellite radio are required to pay "licensing fees" each time they play a song. The Copyright Royalty Board sets the fees and they go up every year. It is a killer to small webcasters, many of whom were making little or no money prior to the fees. Sirius is passing the fee increase to their customers just as transportation services tack on "fuel surcharges". Expect the fees to go up next year and the year after and the year after...



Copyright Royalty Board - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Not entirely true. Raido pays royalties to BMI, ASCAP, and SEASAC. They are based on revenue. Those monies go to the song WRITER not to the performer. That is the talk of the "royalty debate". The performers want $$ now too. Well... if you wrote it... you'll get paid for it. The performers are not getting the $$ (neither are the record companies) they used to get since people are no longer buying cd's like they used to.



Don't even get me started on the xm/sirius debate... the amount of $$ they paid out to Stern and others is crazy. Neither service has made a dime... they are bleeding cash... and are now in a "hurt" now that new car sales have taken a dive. When they talk about "new subscribers" they are using data that comes from the amount of new car sales... not the average joe going to best buy and signing up. How many keep the subscription service after the initial year is up?? Not a lot...