heyholetsgogrant Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 Ok I just got this letter in the mail today, it reads; "Thank you for being an SIRIUS subscriber. We are dedicated to providing our subscribers with the best programming and listener experience available on radio today. As part of this commitment, we have an important update regarding your SIRIUS subscription. Music royalty rights were established by the U.S. Congress as part of the Copyright Act. This Act requires payment of copyright music royalties to recording artists, musicians and recording companies who hold copyrights in sound recordings. These royalties have recently increased dramatically, principally as a result of a decision made by the Copyright Royalty Board, which is designated by the Library of Congress to set royalty rates for sound recordings. Beginning on July 29, 2009, a “U.S. Music Royalty Fee” of $1.98/month* for primary subscriptions and $.97/month* for multi-receiver subscriptions will be effective upon your next renewal. This fee will be used directly to offset increased payments from SIRIUS XM to the recording industry. Unfortunately, we cannot control the Copyright Royalty Board's rate increase, but we can offer you ways to save on your subscription. The longer your subscription, the more you save! Sign up for a year or more today and save! 1 YEAR = 1 FREE MONTH 2 YEARS = 5 FREE MONTHS 3 YEARS = 9 FREE MONTHS Thank you for being a loyal SIRIUS listener and we hope you continue to enjoy the unparalleled listening experience XM provides. Joe Zarella Chief Service Officer SIRIUS XM Radio P.S. Questions about the U.S. Music Royalty Fee? Please visit sirius.com/usmusicroyalty [sirius.com] for additional information." This absolutely ridiculous. First they get rid of free internet radio, which I have because my house is surrounded by trees and it's darn near impossible to get reception. Second, they thrown in some bogus RIAA fee hike of $2 per radio. So my bill goes from roughly $15 a month to $20 in less than 6 months???? OUTRAGEOUS! If I recall correctly there was only one rate hike in 4-5 years on Sirius. They said they would promise not to raise rates for 5 years to allow the merger to go through (the merger did allow for fee hikes due to teh recording industry, but it should not be this high). Sirius XM is clearly disguising this so called "Fee" hike as a rate increase. :doh: I have been a loyal Sirius subscriber since 2005...I am SIRIUSLY considering canceling my subscription. Any thoughts ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heisenberg Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 Yeah, it's absurd. They're fortunate I really enjoy the service or else I would cancel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUSkinsFan Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 I'm soooooo glad I cancelled my subscription Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLongshot Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 Yeah, I heard about it coming a few months ago. Can't blame SiriusXM too much for this since it is indeed out of their control and they really can't afford to eat too many costs, especially when it is one of the few ways they can raise rates due to the stipulations of the merger. (The other way was to raise the price of additional radios, which they already have done) Course, I canceled my radio because there isn't much worth listening to since the merger. Most of the music stations I listened to (at least the ones that survived the merger) went to hell after the merger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Braxford Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 Pandora. You can get an audio system that links to it so you don't need your computer or just hook up good speakers to your computer.They let you listen for 40 hours for free a month and after that then you have to pay 99 cents to listen unlimited for the rest of the month. Or you can just pay 36 bucks for a whole year and listen without interruption from ads ( which there is very little of anyways). Plus you can program your stations to play the bands you want to hear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander PK Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 Yeah, it's absurd.They're fortunate I really enjoy the service or else I would cancel. They are probably counting on this...trying to see how far they can go before people start dropping like flies. I'd be willing to pay more for sirius, but not much more. If the fees get too much out of control, I'll just go back to listening to the local rock stations. (Which generally suck) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aszumilo Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 How does this affect people who bought the lifetime subscription? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heyholetsgogrant Posted July 24, 2009 Author Share Posted July 24, 2009 How does this affect people who bought the lifetime subscription? It does not. You wont pay a dime, only yearly and monthly subscriptions will be hit. -Grant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USS Redskins Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 After Stern retires in 2010 I and probably 60% of the customers will be leaving. I get it only for Stern and never have time to listen to anything else anyway. I did call a few months back about the first rate hike and they gave me about $25 in credit to the account to make up for it. By mid 2011, if Stern does indeed retire like he has been saying, then i would suspect Sirius will no more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoony Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 I bought the lifetime subscription a few years back. Glad I did. IIRC it was $299 or 399, can't remember. I absolutely love my sirius radio though, wouldn't trade it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoony Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 After Stern retires in 2010 I and probably 60% of the customers will be leaving. I get it only for Stern and never have time to listen to anything else anyway. I did call a few months back about the first rate hike and they gave me about $25 in credit to the account to make up for it. By mid 2011, if Stern does indeed retire like he has been saying, then i would suspect Sirius will no more. Did you hear the latest tradio call this week? :rotflmao: golden shower bath fixtures, lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattFancy Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 I have Sirius free for another month (got 6 months free when I bought my new car). But I can't decide if I want to keep it or not. I haven't really listened to anything else since I bought the car in the end of February. I have an iPod so it wouldn't be a huge issue with music. But I do like listening to ESPN since all I hear about up here are the Ravens. This price increase doesn't help though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stugein Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 Once I stopped listening to O&A, I really only used my XM for sports talk radio. Then when Philly got an ESPN radio affiliate, I didn't even need it for that anymore. My music is set because I have an AUX jack that I can just plug my iPod into. *shrug* I think you just need to evaluate what you really really listen to on it, and see if you can't get the same on regular radio or some other method. If you can..dump it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zguy28 Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 I just listen to FM. I can do without satellite and won't ever pay for radio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsBry Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 I think you just need to evaluate what you really really listen to on it, and see if you can't get the same on regular radio or some other method. If you can..dump it. I really miss NASCAR radio on Sirius but I can live without it. Plus my favorite personality on NASCAR radio passed away earlier in the year. I wonder if Satellite TV fees will go up since they carry XM Sirius stations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USS Redskins Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 Did you hear the latest tradio call this week? :rotflmao:golden shower bath fixtures, lol that was freaking hilarious... I am still laughing over Curley Pubes wishing his brother Eaton Beaver a happy birthday.... I hope Stern doesnt retire - or if he does they do something to keep that gang together. Maybe an Artie, Gary show with richard and sal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heisenberg Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 My favorite is the "Blumpkin Pie" - to which the lady says "blueberry and pumpkin" and the other lady gets all excited and says "I would have guessed that!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnhay Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 After Stern retires in 2010 I and probably 60% of the customers will be leaving. I get it only for Stern and never have time to listen to anything else anyway. I did call a few months back about the first rate hike and they gave me about $25 in credit to the account to make up for it. By mid 2011, if Stern does indeed retire like he has been saying, then i would suspect Sirius will no more. He's been saying he's going to retire for 20 years. Did you hear the latest tradio call this week? :rotflmao:golden shower bath fixtures, lol Was it tradio that Richard called and "God blessed" everything he could think of for about five minutes? All I could think of is how that must be the worst radio show ever if the host never cuts his callers off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ixcuincle Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 Once I stopped listening to O&A, I really only used my XM for sports talk radio. Then when Philly got an ESPN radio affiliate, I didn't even need it for that anymore. My music is set because I have an AUX jack that I can just plug my iPod into. *shrug*I think you just need to evaluate what you really really listen to on it, and see if you can't get the same on regular radio or some other method. If you can..dump it. Why stop listening to quality programming like O&A? I wish I had SiriusXM just to listen to those two comics and the friends they bring on for good humor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deejaydana Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 part of this rationale is that Sirius/XM has not yet made one thin dime of profit. They are trying to stay alive. Really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetSkins Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 I don't understand why people pay for radio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandman69 Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 I don't understand why people pay for radio. Because of the variety, because you can listen to the stations wherever you are. I hate being in a town that has **** for FM radio. I love my Sirius. You expect them to cover the expense the Music Industry is putting on them? That isn't very realistic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovetoaster Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 Because of the variety, because you can listen to the stations wherever you are. I hate being in a town that has **** for FM radio. Almost every town has **** FM radio these days IMO. I had XM for a few years and miss having it, but I had to cut back on expenses. Regular radio is not the same after having satellite. I plan on getting it again at some point, if they make it long enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
81artmonk Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 I just got two radios and service in the last 2 months. Hope it doesn't go up for me as I will cancel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chamelio Salamander Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 I just canceled my subscription today. Sirius even offerred me a new radio to stay. I hadnt turned on my unit in over a year. I was wasting money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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