My wife cancelled my XM subscription when I went to Iraq last time, and now I’m itching to get it back. It doesn’t look like my favorite stations are going anywhere, although the name/format might have changed.
So, those with XM now, what should I know? Is the price the same? Similar diversity of music and quality of programming? I was really happy when XM was $9.99 a month. At $12.99, they almost extracted every ounce of consumer surplus from me. So while I still want XM, and it has the added benefit of decreasing my CD spending, I wouldn’t want it if the price increased substantially or the programming took a noticeable hit.
In other words, is XM good, better, or worse than it was a year and a half ago?
I called a friend last night to commiserate and she’s actually e-mailed back & forth w/ one of the LOC DJs a couple times. It seems it’s mostly different in name only—they’ve kept a lot of the LOC personnel and have put some of the “feature programs” on hold indefinitely, but for the most part, I understand the music is the same. <sigh of relief>:D
Well, after listening to about 8 hours of the new Sirius XM U, I’m pretty disappointed. It’s not a bad station, but I could count on tuning into XMU and hearing about 80% bands that were new to me. I’d say 90% of what I’ve heard today is already on my iPod.
Seems to me that what was a station about playing mostly undiscovered or under-appreciated music is now just a basic mainstream indie rock station. Too bad. There’s nothing wrong with having a decent commercial free indie station, but XMU was a jewel and I don’t know where to find a good substitute.
See, I live in Florida. I have one FM Latino station here, the market 90 miles away has 2 FMs, and then Miami has many more than that. I tend to forget that the Latino radio market is not as large as mine is locally. Moreover, not just first-generation immigrants listen to Latino music – a lot of what I hear locally is aimed at the kids born here.
What about BPM? It’s on channel 36, where Boombox used to be. Sounds similar to me, but it’s not my genre so I can’t speak with authority on that.
And I spoke too soon on the Pulse and Pop2K. The Blend (used to be Starlite) is softer and older than Starlite used to be, so now the Pulse has softened from what it was slightly to accommodate that audience a little more. 90s on 9 is pretty much all of the 90s – I heard the Stone Temple Pilots followed by Aaliyah yesterday, so it’s broader than the Pulse. And Pop2K is more urban than the Pulse, so it’s actually quite different. Pop2K is so far one of my favorite stations, because it’s younger than the Pulse and therefore more for me. The Pulse is still good, but it’s different than the 90s and Pop2K.
I still miss Rumbón, though. Caliente plays every genre of Latino music, and a lot of pop-rock latino and balada is terrible.
XM used to have an “Unsigned” channel. Is that still around? Is that what you’re looking for?
So, I’m sensing that LoC isn’t a political channel? (I was going to suggest looking for XM’s “America Left” and “America Right”, but then I kept reading.)
When I was in Orlando, Stern was on in the mornings, and The Monsters were on after him. I thought that Howard sucked, but I bought XM just to listen to The Monsters.
Now I mostly listen to Ron & Fez and replays of O&A because the Monsters’ timeslot doesn’t allow me to listen to much of them (unless I get up early, and that ain’t happening because I often have to stay up late to hear the replay of R&F.)
As for the music channels, it seems that most have changed names, but I don’t listen enough to notice a real difference.
Not a substitute, I’m afraid. BPM seems to be pop dance mixes, with lots of vocals and simple trance beats. Fine for the club floor, not so much for rocking out in the car.
(Also, Boombox was on 39, which is now Pop2k. 36 was The Beat.)
You’re right. I got The Beat and Boombox mixed up. BPM is basically the same as The Beat, and Boombox is gone. If it makes you feel any better, I really like Pop2K
