No, I was asking about the $40 "artist fee"

I've been tempted to go with satellite radio in the past, because terrestrial radio sucks donkey balls. After reading threads like these I have 2nd and 3rd thoughts.

if all you want is music, use pandora, assuming you have a way to stream it wherever you want

i do miss howard stern alot but im learning that i can live without him and his whining about not collecting his zillions of dollars when im practically starving to death

As much as i hate the price, I lovre my Sirius. Just way too many choices compared to regular radio.

I'd say that in our 3 rigs combined, Cindy & I just don't spend enough time in our cars to make it worthwile. In 2011, we may have racked up 7,000 miles...total!

If I were on the road a lot, like some are...then maybe satellite radio would be worth it.

SiriusXM is awesome! Recently did an audio upgrade on the 993 and included.

Sirius.............
 

This happened to a friend of mine. So, when we got my wife a car with the Sirius radio option we used it for the 6 months and when I got "the notice" to renew I called their office and told them to send me a bill. When the bill arrived, I paid with a check. Did the same thing this year. Now, when we decide to cancel, they don't have a card number to abuse!

I finally got on XM two years ago and like it. Got the portable unit and it now goes in any of the cars and in the house. Even works in the airplane so for me its easy and cheap...

I let mine lapse a little over a year ago. Howard just wasn't as entertaining as he once was, plus I was spending less time in the car. It also seemed like the music variety was less than it was when I started.

I used to listen to the hard rock channels, and toward the end, it always seemed like the same songs were on. Oh, and slight tangent, but Nickleback sucks.

I intended to cancel the year before, but I had the end date wrong, and they autorenewed, the day before I called. They did offer to cancel, with a cancellation fee equal to 6 months service. :mad:

The next year I verified the date, and this is how the call went:

Me: "I would like to disable auto renew on my account, so it will lapse when my subscription ends tomorrow."
Sirius dude: "OK Sir, I will put your account on Seasonal hold"
Me: "No, just don't have it renew."
Sirius dude: "How long would you like that hold?"
Me: "..........How about until I die?"
Sirius dude: "Oh, so you want to cancel?"
Me: "Whatever you want to call it, just don't charge my card tomorrow."
Sirius dude: "OK, I can waive the early cancellation fee, and credit the remainder of your subscription to your account. That works out to......40¢"
Me: "Fine, can you mail me a check?"
Sirius dude: "Sure, Is this your current address?"
Me: "Come on man, you are going to spend 40¢ to send me a check for 40¢, plus I have the pain in the ass of depositing a 40¢ check. How about you do what I asked for and just not set my account to renew, so it ends when my subscription is up?"
Sirius dude: "Uh.....oh, I can do that, it will just end tomorrow"
Me: "Well, let's do that then......"

He could have been screwing with me, because when he finally answered the phone, I said:

"I initially called to cancel, but after listening to your automated on hold sales pitch repeat about 60 times over the last (Look at timer on phone) 28 minutes and 14 seconds, I have seen the light and would like a lifetime subscription. You guys do that?"
Sirius dude: "Sure, we do that, you want to set up a lifetime subscription?
Me: "Hmm......Nah, I think I'll just cancel"

They make it as difficult as possible.

I have several magazine subscriptions and all of them keep bugging me to renew via credit card. It ain;t gonna happen. I will continue to do electronic payment on the day I decide the bill should be paid. Not 6 months early and not with a credit card.

They tried to tell me the "artist fee" was to pay royalties...I call BS on that one.

Maybe a "fee" to listen to the effing deejays???? The fat ladies on the XXX channel? Howard Stern?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/suppo...leys/pukey.gif

the last email. the subject was: WELCOME BACK!

$5 per month for the next six months!! hahaah..getting better!

I know I am one of those lazy folks that never change once they have a good. easy thing that they like. I agree it's getting pricey, but I just like the Greatful Dead Channel and Pearl Jam is right next door, so we keep it. We don't drive this car much, but it is nice to not listen to the commercial FM that is so annoying with the car dealers, etc blasting at you after every song. Plus, it has a safety thing going, that is I am not punching buttons to get to some FM channel that has a song I can tolerate. Lazy, I know it. Too lazy to plug into new technology(although we have that stuff) or embrace it, and Sirius probably knows that.

Got this email today:

Dear Valued Subscriber,

I would like to thank you for being a subscriber and for your continued support. As the Chief Executive Officer of SiriusXM, I spend much of my time focused on satellites, programming and employees, which are all very important, but nothing is more important to me than our subscribers. I understand that the primary reason you subscribe to SiriusXM is the unparalleled choice we offer, and since launching over a decade ago, we have continuously expanded the variety and quality of the programming we provide.

And the best is yet to come. We are building an exciting future that includes even more channels, greater diversity, exclusive subscriber benefits and more flexibility in the ways you can listen to SiriusXM.

I hope you understand that to continue bringing this unbeatable listening experience to our subscribers, SiriusXM recently implemented a modest rate increase of $1.00 to $1.54 per month — about 5 cents a day or less — on most SiriusXM audio packages. This increase will take effect on your next renewal date.

Because we know this increase comes during challenging economic times, we have provided some options below that you may want to consider:

— Keep what you have now, and your SiriusXM package will continue to offer you incredible value, with channels and channels of commercial-free music, plus sports, news, talk, entertainment and more — all in one place.

— If you're paying invoice fees, save $2.00 per billing cycle simply by changing to credit or debit card billing. It's far more convenient and a great way to save.

— If you currently have any monthly, quarterly or semi-annual plans on your account, take advantage of our Annual Plan discounts, which are available on most SiriusXM packages and offer you a better value because they include a month free (you pay for 11, you get 12). Installment billing is available for most Annual Plans.

— Consider upgrading to our All Access package, which gives you all the channels available for your radio, plus access to SiriusXM programming on your computer, smartphone or other mobile device, for a great bundled price. It is our best value.

As we continue to add exciting new content and find more ways for you to enjoy our programming, we will work hard to control costs and create efficiencies to ensure SiriusXM continues to be the best value for your entertainment dollar.

On behalf of everyone at SiriusXM, thank you for your support.

Sincerely,


Mel Karmazin

Some Sirius radios may not be compatible with the All Access package. Lifetime plans are not affected by this price increase. Please see below for more information about the new monthly rates effective January 1, 2012.



*Rate shown is the effective monthly rate, before applicable taxes and fees.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

— The price of the All Access annual package for primary radios was $199 per year and was not affected by the price increase. The All Access annual package rate for additional radios was increased by the equivalent of less than 44¢ per month, to $159 per year.

— The rate for SiriusXM Internet Radio, when purchased without a linked subscription was increased by $1.54 per paid month to $14.49 for the first subscription, and by $1.00 per month, to $9.99, for additional SiriusXM Internet Radio subscriptions on the same account.

— The rates for Traffic, Weather, Travel Link™ and Backseat TV were not affected by the price increase.

— The rates for Mostly Music and News, Sports & Talk did not change.

— The price increase did not affect any Lifetime subscriptions you may have on your account.

" If you're paying invoice fees, save $2.00 per billing cycle simply by changing to credit or debit card billing. It's far more convenient and a great way to save."

This had me laughing...how to "save" even more? Tell 'em adios!

"Cramer Interviews Sirius XM CEO - Mad Money - CNBC"

News Headlines

I get it "free" as part of my dish tv package... should I want to listen to it in the car, I simply capture a few hours to computer and burn to cd or save as mp3.

p911dad - I like the dead channel as well, but did you know there is a TON of dead shows free for the downloading at Internet Archive: Digital Library of Free Books, Movies, Music & Wayback Machine ?