For the cheap, “introductory” price I think it’s worth it. Their “normal” monthly fee is way overpriced.
I’ve heard threatening to cancel will always result in getting prompted to continue service at the cheap price. But I’m still on my first dance; I haven’t tried it yet myself.
Midnight In Harlem?
Shit, I can’t remember. I liked the song, but was surprised and a bit dismayed to hear it 3 days in a row on a station that surely has a catalog of a gazillion songs.
I’m with ya. I’ve never heard (but really enjoyed) the Jeff Beck/Eric Clapton duo of Moon River. The first, second and third time. The next two times by the third day were a bit much. C’mon, man! How many songs are there that you need to play the same stuff???
Just reading the thread reminds me of why I got rid of satellite radio.
I do completely understand that there are many people who are casual music fans. They like what they like and aren’t interested in expanding that. So, SiriusXM has to cater to them and that means narrow playlists playing familiar songs over and over.
What I don’t understand is why that philosophy has to apply across the board to all their stations. It’s fine to have both a 1960s station where they play only songs that made the top 40 and also a station right next to it playing deep tracks, unreleased stuff and live recordings.
If someone wants Satisfaction or She Loves You, great, enjoy the 1960s station. But, if you want to dig deeper, put on the Beatles station and expect to hear the Beatles Decca audition tapes or some deep cut from Paul McCartney’s Ram album
Good point about two sorts of customers. And two sorts of catalogs.
I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest SXM is mostly interested in what they can get for cheap. Plus some amount of what’s so hot it becomes “must-have” even though it’s expensive. The hot stuff I’m talking about can be current acts or vintage acts like the Beatles.
But once they get past the hot stuff they gotta buy no matter what it costs, them, their main concern is a) cheap and b) available w appropriate licensing and pedigree. Which may not include much of the more esoteric fare.
Outlaw Country is really hit or miss for me. Sometimes they play all these cool songs I would have never heard otherwise, other times they play a bunch of slow mundane stuff that isn’t really special to my ears. Or Dylan, love his writing, hate his singing on most songs.
My husband loves SiriusXM - he’s got it in the car and on his phone. I used to have it, but apart from not driving very much any longer, I find the stations I listen to play the same stuff over and over and over again. He wants to get an XM receiver for our boat but I can’t see spending whatever it will cost for a second subscription when we don’t spend that much time on the water. At least not recently. It’s going to be a battle.
But I do find their subscription games inane. Every year I get an email saying it’s going to go up to some ridiculous amount and every year I call and tell them if they can’t keep it at what we’re paying, then we’ll drop it, and every year, they keep us at the old rate - maybe a few cents more. But we’ve never been offered a rate lower than around $10/month - how do I get the $4.99 deal?? I’ll have to ask when we come due again.
There is no need for a second receiver or second subscription.
If you have cellphone reception on the waters you normally sail, just connect his phone’s audio out to the boat’s audio system via Bluetooth. Or get one of those powered portable Bluetooth speakers. They’re conveniently small and much louder than folks our age will probably want.
We were just discussing this. Alternatively, we might just load a thumb drive with our preferred music and go that route.
I bought a new car in April and it came with 3 months free. I wouldn’t pay the full monthly price which was over $20 but they sent me an offer for 2 years for $5 a month. Sold. There are enough stations to keep me entertained on my 10 mile drive. I don’t listen to music at home so I can’t be bothered to download the app. Maybe for Christmas music.
I might get it were I someplace often where I can’t get a cell phone signal. When we had the trial, I listened to it, especially the comedy stations. But once it lapsed, I saw no point in another subscription service as I already have one for my music and it offers me almost anything under the sun. Oddly, what I end up listening to the most is BBC Radio 6 Music, which I don’t think I even need a subscription service to stream. But I like the ability to call out songs or albums at a whim. It truly is wondrous the days we live in.
When you talk to them, tell them you really just don’t use it enough to justify spending more than $5/month. And then name-drop Spotify or Apple Music.
I’ve got 10,000 songs on a thumb drive but still listen to SiriusXM primarily. But I too hate the annual negotiation to get $5/month, which should be $60 per year but is more like $75 by the time they add all the taxes and fees. I don’t like it but I’m hanging on so far.
I have never bothered to do this. I assume you’re on hold forever and it’s an annual dance that seems demeaning to both parties. But I have three accounts I pay for, (my car, my wife’s car, and one of our id’s) so maybe I should do it.
In years past it was a pain in the ass and you had to escalate to a manager. Now you just tell them, “I want the $60 deal or cancel my service” and they say “ok”. I’ve never had to wait on hold. You can do it in a chat box on the webpage as well. Three years ago they actually did cancel my account much to my surprise. Ten minutes later I clicked on a link on the front of the webpage and got it restored for $60. The only very slight hassle is that you need to set a reminder to do it before your subscription runs out or they will auto bill you.
Yeah, it’s always a barrel of laughs talking to “Cheryl” in Belarus, pretending to be on the verge of canceling my subscription so Sirius will give me a lower monthly rate.
It seems like the quality of selections on “Underground Garage” is going downhill. What’s “underground” about old Temptations songs?
This is what I do - Outlook reminds me about a week before my contract is up. And last time, I just told them I want my rate to stay the same, and they found a “promotion” to do just that. Whatever…
I got it in my new car and the free preview will soon run out. I think I will renew it because we take the Highlander up to the mountains so OTA radio won’t cut it and we can listen to spotify playlists only so long.
Let it ride for as long as you can. Sometimes it takes a few months for them to cut you off.