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SiriusXM Platinum VIP Tier Now Includes 12 Months of Free Apple Music

uptownnyc said:
Seems expensive. You can generally get Sirius for $5/month per vehicle if you call and say you want to cancel.
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I'm guessing you call them and haggle for a minute or 3?

For those that want to just "get it done" with minimal talking, they'll usually offer $100 per year to start off (which will typically come out to $120 after adding fees and taxes and other stuff). Or, if you try to call them when there's nobody around (call late, or check what time the agents are done for the day), choose the menu option on the automated audio line to cancel, and they'll try to keep you on with the same $100 a year price to renew right then and there.

It's $10 a month instead of $5 a month. I guess I could stand to bring it down lower, but sometimes, it's nice to just "do it and have it done". $35/month is a "hell no" though.
 
I've never called SXM. I always use the chat. More convenient than talking with an agent, and I get a transcript in case I need proof of pricing or something else.

My only gripe with SXM is the highly compressed audio on the niche channels. For example, I love CBC Country, but it's almost unlistenable. By comparison, more mainstream channels such as Siriusly Sinatra, Sound 42, Hits 1 and Hallmark all sound great, almost on par with a well-engineered FM station running HD, like KSHE.
 
I don't get this either. The only reason I keep Sirius, at the "charge me $5 a month or I'm quitting" rate, is because my wife seems to like having it in her car and refuses to learn how to use CarPlay to stream AppleMusic. I find the collection of stations and music they have to offer completely unenjoyable.
 
mrz_V1 said:
Just canceled my Sirius radio last week, I cant justify something that cost as much as 2-3 video streaming services combined. The service should be $6.99 at most. The mid-tier plan which lacks a lot of the channels is $17.99.. I get that they have good content but so does Netflix.
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Nobody pays the actual full prices. Always around $70/year including taxes and fees. Set a reminder on your phone to "cancel", call in just before your year is up, say you wanna cancel, and get service for another year for pretty much exactly what you're asking for. Little bit less, actually.
 
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HiVolt said:
I just can't believe that people put up with the crappy quality of satellite radio and still pay for it.

I never paid for it, I had it free for 1 year with the car purchase a number of years ago, and occasionally will catch the free preview twice a year. I still think it sounds horrible, traditional FM radio sounds way better.
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Regular FM sounds better, but all you're hearing is crap. Mostly commercials, and babbling.
 
ackmondual said:
I'm guessing you call them and haggle for a minute or 3?

For those that want to just "get it done" with minimal talking, they'll usually offer $100 per year to start off (which will typically come out to $120 after adding fees and taxes and other stuff). Or, if you try to call them when there's nobody around (call late, or check what time the agents are done for the day), choose the menu option on the automated audio line to cancel, and they'll try to keep you on with the same $100 a year price to renew right then and there.

It's $10 a month instead of $5 a month. I guess I could stand to bring it down lower, but sometimes, it's nice to just "do it and have it done". $35/month is a "hell no" though.
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Sirius loves customers like you….
 
Sirius solved a problem that no longer exists and they've got to be struggling today. Yes, in the "olden days" you had limited FM stereo channels (and usually listened to a small subset of those) in your home town and had to keep searching for something you liked on road trips more than ~50 miles. The only alternatives were mix-tapes, burning a CD, or having a car with a multi-disc changer. Their market certainly began dropping with the advent of MP3 players only to really start declining when MP3 graduated up to an "iPod with over 1000 songs!"

Their cost was always high but it's even harder to justify today with all the superior options in terms of quality and selection and customization. Top that with their censoring of music on at least some of the channels, talking through the beginning and/or end of songs, and ads for programming on other channels (all that Sirius originally sold us as things they didn't do compared to FM radio), their market is now a niche for some of the specific cases people here have claimed as necessary (eg, long drives through barren wastelands).
 
Their satellite sound quality is crap. Streaming is much better. I just use their app through CarPlay.
 
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randyhudson said:
This is like the Cheesecake Factory offering you a complimentary Arby's roast beef sandwich.
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I'd argue at the very least it's the other way around. SXM has been total garbage for a lot of years now. Got a year of it when I bought my car and only realized it ended because they kept on calling me trying to get me to renew.
 
GIZBUG said:
Unwillingness to heckle, and lower the price. Willing to pay sticker price….
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I've been paying $120 per year. That's still far cry from the $420 (before fees). If you were talking about $80 a year (at the $5 a month rate), then that'll have to wait until my year is up.
 
So a word about sound quality… I know a bit about this one.

The satellites they've used for quite some time (named 'rock' and 'roll') sit over North America in geosynchronous orbit, and they rebroadcast audio over mp2. Yes 2; that's not a typo. They only have so much bandwidth, and the codec is, by today's standards, poop.

So if you're listening in a car, or with any criticality, use the app. The app is going over mp4; their first app used mp3, but the mp4 codec is far superior. If you put it through your phone through a cabled CarPlay, it sounds pretty darn good. It's somewhere around 128AAC if memory serves. That's FAR better than the mp2 crud coming in over the air...

However, if you don't want to use data, or you're not too bothered by the quality, it's OTA. No data. Works everywhere, literally, in the continental US. To that end, it's still a pretty cool service.

I'd opine that they really are missing the marketing boat when it comes to urban/rural. They'd be wise to advertise more to middle-America, where their infrastructure is still far superior than other setups outside the burbs.

I also think they should have 3-4 channels that are always free, even if the radio is expired, etc., and run ads like free Spotify.
 
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Every vehicle I’ve ever bought, and received a three month free trial for, I’ve never subscribed to. It’s always sounded really low quality.
 
www.msn.com

SpaceX launches latest SiriusXM satellite from Florida, sticks drone ship landing

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket soared from Cape Canaveral on Sunday, generating its signature low-frequency rumble that reverberated across the Space Coast.
www.msn.com www.msn.com

They have upgraded their satellites, but I'm pretty sure that as long as all those receivers are mp2, it's not going to sound a lot better. Hopefully they do start putting multimode into their hardware.
 
Bryan Bowler said:
I am not sure why some people hang on to Sirius XM, but I left them years ago for their crappy practices and poor sound quality, and ever since Apple Music, I couldn’t imagine going back for any reason whatsoever.
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Because live DJ's without commercials and now XM Radio has everything and podcast and Pandora. That's why.
 
ackmondual said:
I've been paying $120 per year. That's still far cry from the $420 (before fees). If you were talking about $80 a year (at the $5 a month rate), then that'll have to wait until my year is up.
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I paid about $200 but I get traffic and weather and some other stuff.
bobenhaus said:
You can always use the app as well or Pandora.
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Can't really interact with the app through carplay.
 
One potential drawback to using a live stream from the SXM app to your vehicle infotainment system is the cost of data. I just don't use a whole lot of mobile data, so upgrading my plan to an unlimited bucket would be at least three times what I pay for SXM.

Another potential drawback is insurance. Apps such as Allstate Drivewise now monitor when and how you use your phone. Do it enough, and eventually it will affect your premium. The only way to avoid that is to stick with the same SXM station the whole trip.
 
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I canceled $5/mo SXM because of AM. Why would I want to pay $35/mo for both? SXM doesn't know what they're doing.
 
$34.99 per month is crazy high. That's $420/yr before taxes/fees.
You can negotiate for another package at a better price.

For example...
Renegotiated at term's end and renewed and got the Sirius All Access package including sports, talk radio and streaming access for $99/yr so including fees/taxes ~$130/yr.
I'll take that savings and do something else with it.

It's better than the local radio stations in my area.
 
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