[ironmark]

It seems that every year my Sirius XM bill goes up.
I had Sirius before they merged with XM to become Sirius XM, when I first got my Sirius Satellite radio I paid $112 for a year (I always pay a year at a time) now my Sirius bill is $179.88 for the base price and $25.00 for music royalty fees for a total of $204.88. Plus they want to charge me a invoice fee if I don't pay with a credit card which is bulls**t IMO because I always pay with a USPS Money Order which is as close to cash as I can get.
I am only paying for 1 receiver too.
What is everyone else paying and have you been able to get the prices lowered any??

 

[sfcusaret2004]

I have never paid more that $25.00 for a "6 month trial". on my autos. Whenever they run a Special, I subscribe for the trial period and at the end of the trial I contact them and tell them I like the service but am NOT going to pay that much for the service. They have always given me a much cheaper rate. when the trial period runs out, I let it. ALWAYS get a new flyer in the mail, and do the whole thing over again. I absolutely refuse to pay retail for a service I can get cheaper. If I'm not using satellite, I run either my android based phone or music from my Garmin.

 

[websterdan]

XM

That's one of the reasons I called and cancelled.
Price way too high, Kept getting my subscription and another mixed up.
Then the auto renew thing ....

 

[ron66]

To get the best price you need to cancel. When they call (and they will call) you will get a better price.

 

[AzHogRider]

They just had a free 2 weeks followed by a $5.99 a month special. They do it about twice a year.

 

[FLTRI]

I canceled my subscription a couple of weeks ago. That, was a project. Over an hour on the phone with three different agents, all of which English is a second language. I never give them a credit card, if you do they'll never let go of it.

There are a lot of other places I can get music, for free or way cheaper. Pandora, my own MP3's, IHeart Radio, Slacker, or even good old FM. Their time has come and gone, it's old technology that has past it's prime. The music loops after a few days, so you end up listening to the same old stuff.

I'm done with them, their questionable business practices, and their constantly inflating prices. They're gone from my world, and won't be missed...

 

[e.nigma]

I hate the cost. love the selection on XM. FM absolulely blows chunks, internet based music is spotty, and not cheap either if you use your phones data plan. I don't want to go through all the trouble to add MP3 players to both my cars, neither of which have audio inputs,my home stereo and 2 bikes.I look at it this way, I blow more than 50bucks a month on sh!t I don't need so 15 a month for music I want, when I want it isn't really such a bad deal.
Ed

 

[Johndeere]

Years ago I paid for a lifetime membership that can be transferred up three times. Still on the original potable receiver. Always let my free scripts run out on my vehicles then install this.

 

[lowlife]

I always call them and tell them it is way too much. They will offer me a price of about $75.00 for the year.

 

[dnschmpn]

When they raised my annual rate from $77 to $100 for the year, I cancelled. They want to do the 5 month trial for $20.00 but you waste way too much time on the phone when time to renew. I have so many other options for music, that it was no longer worth the hassle.

 

[dbell66253]

Mine is somewhere around $100, I'm already thinking about canceling because I listen to my ipod more anyway, if it goes up, I'm out.

 

[Wharf Rat]

What a bunch of cheapskates... pay 25 large for a motorcycle and then quibble about 30-some odd cents a day for a couple hundred channels of sat radio. ;-)

I spend a lot of time in the car for work and wouldn't be without it. Absolutely detest FM radio. I do have a huge music collection but it can't compare to the variety that SXM brings to my ears.

As to those who are looking for 'free' music... guess ya'll aren't musicians, or you would understand what's wrong with that picture.

 

[Ohiobellboy]

I've never used it. I get a 3 month free trial with the new bike. I'll activate it at the beginning of riding season. Nice thing about the 6.5 boom is also the weather maps that I'll use when traveling. I might extend it for another six months but then I'll let it lapse until the following spring and buy 6 months at a time. No sense in paying for it if the bike's in the garage for the winter. I want it more for the sports. Listening to a ball game or a race while traveling makes the miles go by a lot faster.

 

[Q-Hog]

I got it free with my new car and just extended with a year offer for $89. But, like dBell, I listen to my phone more than anything.

 

[sfcusaret2004]

What a bunch of cheapskates... pay 25 large for a motorcycle and then quibble about 30-some odd cents a day for a couple hundred channels of sat radio. ;-)

I spend a lot of time in the car for work and wouldn't be without it. Absolutely detest FM radio. I do have a huge music collection but it can't compare to the variety that SXM brings to my ears.

As to those who are looking for 'free' music... guess ya'll aren't musicians, or you would understand what's wrong with that picture.

Sorry pargenz, I think your a little out of line here. Why pay retail for something you can get cheaper. Every single one of us worked our butts off to get the best deal we could on our bikes, and paying for music when you can listen for free is stupid. I'm not talking about pirating music but listening to it on the radio or iPad, iTunes, sd cards, or any other media you like. I bought the music I like and can listen to it all I want and don't have to pay anyone anything after the initial purchase.

And no, I'm not a musician, nor are the overwhelming majority of people. If musicians feel they are getting short changed, they need to take it up with the industry, not the public. Rant over. Happy listening folks.

 

[Wharf Rat]

Sorry pargenz, I think your a little out of line here. Why pay retail for something you can get cheaper. Every single one of us worked our butts off to get the best deal we could on our bikes, and paying for music when you can listen for free is stupid. I'm not talking about pirating music but listening to it on the radio or iPad, iTunes, sd cards, or any other media you like. I bought the music I like and can listen to it all I want and don't have to pay anyone anything after the initial purchase.

And no, I'm not a musician, nor are the overwhelming majority of people. If musicians feel they are getting short changed, they need to take it up with the industry, not the public. Rant over. Happy listening folks.

Out of line for expressing my opinion? OK. The 'cheapskate' comment was a joke... lighten up.

What one is paying for with sat radio is beyond the music itself. It's the freedom from constant commercials. It's myriad choice beyond a station manager's rotation list. It's live music you won't hear anywhere else. Feel like listening to a particular decade? There's a station dedicated to each.
Classic Rewind, Classic Vinyl, Deep Tracks, and on and on... so many choices.
Right now I am listening to Half Step Mississippi Uptown from a Grateful Dead concert on 9-10-74 from London. Even in my collection (91 Dead albums) I don't have this one.
To me there is value in being able to drive from San Diego to Vancouver and never have to search for a different radio station. Channel 23, coast to coast baby!

Listening from media (iTunes, iPad, phone, SD card, etc.) is cool - I do that too. And I, like you, also paid for the music up front. But even with a huge collection (about 985 albums) I can always hear something new off the satellite, stuff I don't have.

Blaming the "industry" is a copout.

It's all good. We all have our opinions.

 

[RoadGlideRider]

I always call them and tell them it is way too much. They will offer me a price of about $75.00 for the year.

I also hate to pay retail. What I do is keep track of the renewal date. On that day I call to cancel the subscription. When they ask why, I keep notes on the DJs that talk for 2 to 5 minutes between songs. I say I pay for the music, not the talking. They say that I have been a subscriber for many years and they don't want to loose me. They offer 1/2 price. Along with the "Royalty Fee" and taxes, it ends up just over $100. I agree and have it for another year. I have been doing this for over 10, or is it 20 years?

Why Pay Retail??

 

[lp_]

No offense to anyone who loves XM but just wow... 200 bucks, seriously?

You can literally listen to Pandora for free with a better music selection (and it's customizable) on your phone all day everyday for less than like 1Gig per month.
My Cell is good for 4Gig. And that's just Pandora. There are like 10 more apps that do the same thing.

I'm not paying 200 or even 75 bucks a year to listen to "Radio on repeat"... You can't even fast forward to another song on the same station.
It's literally like FM radio. You're listening to someone else's collection on repeat. Not even set to Random.
So doing anything other than XM is not being cheap; it's simply stupid to not do otherwise in this day and age. XM radio is like geocities in a Facebook/Twitter era.

Whoops, bridge or large tree, there goes my music... really?
In all this time no one has even figured out how to buffer 30 seconds of music? For reals?

Live sports though... Yeah, XM does ok with that. Still, there are like 5 free apps that do that too.

 

[Turk05]

My Pandora is 4.00 per month and plays the customized stations I have set up, no commercials. I would not listen to XM for free. They keep giving my wife free weeks in her van, but we always end up listening to my Pandora on my android... Always Pandora on the bike. Don't understand why you all pay 100.00 or 200.00 for Sirius/XM, but to each his own I guess.

 

[skratch]

As to those who are looking for 'free' music... guess ya'll aren't musicians, or you would understand what's wrong with that picture.

pandora, amazon prime, spotify, et al. may be free to me, but it isn't truly 'free' music. everytime a song is played, the artist gets a royalty. it may be from the advertisers on the service, but as long as it isn't me, i don't care. now, don't get me wrong, the artist deserves to get his share, but i'm just as happy to let the other guy (advertiser) pay it.