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SiriusXM Is Acquiring Pandora in $3.5 Billion Deal To Create the 'World's Largest Audio-Entertainment Company' (variety.com)

Posted by msmash on from the big-bets dept.

Sirius XM has agreed to buy online-music service Pandora for $3.5 billion, as the satellite-radio company looks to add streaming services in the increasingly competitive fight for listeners. From a report: According to the announcement, the deal will create "the world's largest audio-entertainment company," with more than $7 billion in projected revenue in 2018 and more than 100 million monthly listeners, combining SiriusXM's 36 million subscribers and Pandora's 70 million-plus monthly active users. It also moves SiriusXM and its parent company, Liberty Media, aggressively into the streaming market. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2019 and is subject to approval by Pandora stockholders; expiration or termination of any applicable waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act and certain competition laws of foreign jurisdictions; and other customary closing conditions. On a call with analysts, Jim Meyer, Sirius XM's chief executive, said that the acquisition would enable Sirius to try to keep listeners who did not want to pay for music by diverting them toward Pandora's free ads-based model.

104 comments

  1. Ugh... by I+kan+Spl · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I guess it's time to cancel my Pandora subscription.

    Who else is around that is better?

    --
    My UID is prime and so is this number: 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0.
    1. Re:Ugh... by olsmeister · · Score: 2

      Probably a good idea. I know with SiriusXM, every 6 months I have to call and ask to cancel my subscription (you cannot do it over the internet or any other way) in order for them to offer me a 1/2 price deal for the next 6 months. It's ridiculous.

    2. Re:Ugh... by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      When I bought my last new vehicle, I got that deal twice and they never offered it again. On current new vehicle I got it once. I can't bring myself to pay $15/month for a radio that only works in my vehicle, especially since there is advertising on almost every channel.

      I do like Pandora at $5 a month because it works on all kinds of devices. I have a friend that had been working on her playlist for months.... I entered her favorite band into Pandora and had it make a playlist, and it had anticipated so many songs that she liked and had in her playlist she kept looking at her phone to confirm it wasn't playing from hers. So, let's hope SiriusXM doesn't destroy Pandora.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    3. Re:Ugh... by omnichad · · Score: 1

      If you pay $5 more per month you can stream the same channels online. That just makes it even more overpriced at that price point, though. They are saddled with the legacy of satellite launch costs in a world where people are now willing to stream over cellular. This is actually more expensive, but the cost of unlimited throttled bandwidth is somewhat hidden. If you have metered cellular, then you will not want to stream music while driving.

    4. Re:Ugh... by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      Pandora has an app, a website, and also links through surprising things such as Kodi and Squeezebox. I don't remember seeing SiriusXM though squeezebox or seeing a Kodi plugin.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    5. Re:Ugh... by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      I do like Pandora at $5 a month because it works on all kinds of devices. I have a friend that had been working on her playlist for months.... I entered her favorite band into Pandora and had it make a playlist, and it had anticipated so many songs that she liked and had in her playlist she kept looking at her phone to confirm it wasn't playing from hers. So, let's hope SiriusXM doesn't destroy Pandora.

      Of all the streaming services, Pandora seems to handle multi-genre playlists better than the others.

      I'm still kind of surprised that Google and Spotify, with all they know about me and my listening habits, can't seem to figure out that I don't just listen to one genre of music, and why it's possible to like Bauhaus or New Order without liking Flock of Seagulls, or why I might want to hear guitarist Bill Frisell, but not Pat Methany. Or Muddy Waters but not B.B. King. What happened to those services from a decade ago that were going to be able to predict your taste from listening habits?

      Also, one problem all the streaming services have is that if I want to shuffle-play my 10,000 song playlist, I don't want to just hear the same 50 songs over and over. There's a reason I have a 10,000 song playlist.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    6. Re:Ugh... by edwdig · · Score: 0

      If you're using it in a car, it's going to be cheaper to get a satellite radio subscription than to get a streaming radio service and a larger data plan. Especially if you take advantage of discounted satellite rates.

    7. Re:Ugh... by omnichad · · Score: 1

      Someone would have to develop those, and I'm sure it wasn't Pandora for the others. Low demand is certainly the cause here.

    8. Re:Ugh... by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      If you pay $5 more per month you can stream the same channels online. That just makes it even more overpriced at that price point, though. They are saddled with the legacy of satellite launch costs in a world where people are now willing to stream over cellular. This is actually more expensive, but the cost of unlimited throttled bandwidth is somewhat hidden. If you have metered cellular, then you will not want to stream music while driving.

      Pandora uses surprisingly little data streaming. I have a 5 gig plan with my cellphone and play Pandora in my car (I switched from Sirius three or four months ago) I never come close to running out of data. If you're only on a gig or 2 a month or less... yeah, Pandora streaming might not be for you.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    9. Re:Ugh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Depends on your service. T-Mobile doesn't count music streaming against your data cap... I have a 2 GB plan and stream all the time as I drive from client to client - it never hits it.

    10. Re:Ugh... by omnichad · · Score: 1

      And that's why I said:

      This is actually more expensive, but the cost of unlimited throttled bandwidth is somewhat hidden

    11. Re:Ugh... by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      I'm not a Pandora shill.. But Pandora is the only one that considers the quality of a song. If you're listening to southern rock you might get a one-off cover of a song by a country artist. Other services seem to break it down in terms of genres, which i find really brutal because I might want to hear one country song because of the way it is, not because I like country. My favorite playlist on Pandora right now is one it made from all my thumbs-ups ever.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    12. Re:Ugh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I listen to Slacker. Like them a lot. They have a free level then two premium tiers. The free tier is like free pandora except built around stations rather than naming a specific artist or track to start with. The free tier is ad supported. The plus tier works similarly except you have unlimited skips and better audio quality. At $4/mo or $25/yr it's a great deal. The top-tier is $10/mo and adds on-demand streaming of anything in their catalog, playlists, off-line playback and no ads.

      I personally like the curated stations much better than Pandora's "music DNA" thing. There is less of a tendency to drive you into a musical corner like seems to happen with Pandora at times. I also like that they let you tweak your station based on a combination of song age, favorites, and new music. You can also turn on/off DJs (which are usually pretty good and don't interrupt the stream too often), and sports, entertainment, or headline news to suite your tastes. It's much more like having a personal radio station than Pandora is while not forcing you to create/manage playlists like Spotify does.

    13. Re:Ugh... by omnichad · · Score: 1

      Right. And I just paid my cell phone bill. $40.59 for two phones, mostly on WiFi (and VoIP at home) and that's after taxes. The hidden cost of streaming is right on your phone bill.

    14. Re:Ugh... by omnichad · · Score: 1

      Pandora has actually gotten worse at this over the years. I get a lot more repeats than new music. I prefer a wide variety.

    15. Re:Ugh... by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      I do like Pandora at $5 a month because it works on all kinds of devices. I have a friend that had been working on her playlist for months.... I entered her favorite band into Pandora and had it make a playlist, and it had anticipated so many songs that she liked and had in her playlist she kept looking at her phone to confirm it wasn't playing from hers. So, let's hope SiriusXM doesn't destroy Pandora.

      Of all the streaming services, Pandora seems to handle multi-genre playlists better than the others.

      I'm still kind of surprised that Google and Spotify, with all they know about me and my listening habits, can't seem to figure out that I don't just listen to one genre of music, and why it's possible to like Bauhaus or New Order without liking Flock of Seagulls, or why I might want to hear guitarist Bill Frisell, but not Pat Methany. Or Muddy Waters but not B.B. King. What happened to those services from a decade ago that were going to be able to predict your taste from listening habits?

      Also, one problem all the streaming services have is that if I want to shuffle-play my 10,000 song playlist, I don't want to just hear the same 50 songs over and over. There's a reason I have a 10,000 song playlist.

      I liked LaunchCast circa 2000. It was ahead of its time great formula for finding new songs.

      My main problem with Pandora, if I have one is that it seems to keep picking the same songs for me. Even if start a new station with new seeds- they all always end up playing the same 200 songs or so.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    16. Re:Ugh... by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      Right. And I just paid my cell phone bill. $40.59 for two phones, mostly on WiFi (and VoIP at home) and that's after taxes. The hidden cost of streaming is right on your phone bill.

      Yeah... and it depends on how much data you have and how close you come to using it all.

      I use about 1GB streaming Pandora on my phone each month. That's probably listening to it over 4G for a little over an hour per weekday. (I skip songs A LOT- so probably use up more data than the average user). I have a 5GB plan and usually end the month with half my data left so streaming music doesn't cost me more (in terms of data).

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    17. Re:Ugh... by CohibaVancouver · · Score: 1

      where people are now willing to stream over cellular

      I realize I'm in the minority, but a couple of months I was on a roadtrip all over British Columbia. There were long stretches of the highway where there was no cellular data coverage, but where my SiriusXM worked fine.

    18. Re:Ugh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sirius used to be playable through Squeezebox until about 3-4 years ago. Something changed with the encryption of the Sirius stream and since there is no development on the Squeeze anymore it just died. That was the day I canceled my Sirius subscription. I will go down with the sinking ship that is Squeeze. For as old as their tech is, it is still better than anything out in today's market. FUCK LOGITECH for killing that product.

    19. Re:Ugh... by omnichad · · Score: 1

      it depends on how much data you have and how close you come to using it all.

      Not really. You're still paying for that data. You could always pay for less.

      I rarely reach the 1GB threshold on my plan (which adds a few bucks to my bill) because of planning. I know exactly how much I'm spending.

    20. Re:Ugh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I am confused. Are you saying that that is the only way to cancel, or that is the only way to get them to offer you a 1/2 price deal and it actually is possible to cancel over the internet? If the latter, that makes perfect sense to me. They can't make it part of the online cancellation process, because then it becomes so easy that everyone would threaten to quit every 6 months.

    21. Re:Ugh... by dmomo · · Score: 1

      I have had the same experience. I finally just stopped taking that deal. I told salesperson, if this were not a deal, but were simply the normal price, I would still be on the fence about taking it. I simply don't like the service enough to value it at more than a few bucks a month. And even then, I'm weary of them billing me on a monthly basis.

    22. Re:Ugh... by olsmeister · · Score: 1

      If you click on 'cancel my subscription' online, you just get a phone # to call. That is the only way to cancel. I assume because they want to try to talk you out of it.

    23. Re:Ugh... by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      My main problem with Pandora, if I have one is that it seems to keep picking the same songs for me. Even if start a new station with new seeds- they all always end up playing the same 200 songs or so.

      Yeah, for some reason, that's a problem with all the services. The only way it makes sense is if they have better royalty deals with certain publishers or artists than others, and try to encourage plays of their music over others.

      I cannot figure out why every single streaming service has trouble randomizing a 5,000 song playlist. Or a 500 song playlist, for that matter. I've even tried downloading my entire 5,000 song playlist, and when I hit shuffle, I can predict five of the first 10 songs I'll hear. That's unacceptable.

      I've raised this issue in the support forums, but they'll tell me that it's truly random and I should believe them and not my own ears for the past 10 years of almost daily listening. So now I've taken to try to fool their service into giving me varied music, by creating radio stations from varied playlists but that only works to a certain extent.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    24. Re:Ugh... by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      Well you could always pay $400 per speaker and get Apple devices with "multi-room support" (snicker)

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    25. Re:Ugh... by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      We had bought our vehicle just before we drove from Saskathewan to New Brunswick. I was definitely happy we had the trial for that. If I was traveling all the time, I may consider it.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    26. Re: Ugh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Iâ(TM)ll pass as well. After listening to the degraded sound quality of Sirius for 30s I was over the hype.... I would rather listen to AM radio.

    27. Re:Ugh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just run your own AirSonic server. You're not ever going to find any company's service that is in the same league as DIY, where you get to listen to whatever music that you want to, instead of having to stay within some company's catalog du jour.

      Just the other day, I read that Spotify finally just got access to the mid-1990s Fu Manchu recordings! Gee, only a couple decades late. And then my friend who uses iTunes says he can't find all the Blind Guardian albums? But with AirSonic (or ampache or any of the other DIY ones), you play whatever you want to.

    28. Re:Ugh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      than to get a streaming radio service and a larger data plan.

      Whatever happened to 2.5" discs (or SSDs)? With the music tech of 15 years ago, but with modern storage hardware, and you wouldn't need to stream anything. Just rsync to the car whenever you get a new album.

      It's like the industry is trying to make car music always have to suck, in some way.

    29. Re:Ugh... by reboot246 · · Score: 1

      Also, depending on your service, you may or may not even have a signal when you're driving. There are still vast areas out there with little to no cell service.

      I have SiriusXM, but I practically live in my vehicle. I don't think it would be the right choice if you're not in your vehicle all the time.

    30. Re:Ugh... by Registered+Coward+v2 · · Score: 1

      If you click on 'cancel my subscription' online, you just get a phone # to call. That is the only way to cancel. I assume because they want to try to talk you out of it.

      Yup. Each time I got a trial with a car I had to call and keep saying "No, just cancel my subscription" to some droid that kept upping the ante until I said "what part of cancel is hard to understand?" I feel sorry for their CS reps, they've off shored it and obviously the reps are pressed to avoid cancellation at all costs.

      --
      I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
    31. Re: Ugh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Indeed. Sirius...how unfortunate.

    32. Re:Ugh... by GTRacer · · Score: 1

      This mat sound weird, but one of the few things I personally dislike about Pandora is the lack of human banter. I don't want constant station IDs or "witty" sports coverage. But if I listen to a couple hours of Pandora I start to feel isolated. One thing I'd almost pay for is a way to hear ads, but local ads FROM OTHER CITIES. The few times I bother to stream specific radio stations directly, I love hearing local ads and personalities from time to time.

      --
      Defending IP by destroying access to it? That makes sense, RIAA/MPAA. Go to the corner until you can play nice!
    33. Re: Ugh... by MachineShedFred · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately, my experience with satellite radio is that it sounded like bitcrushed garbage. I had a free year with my car purchase, and I never used it after the first couple weeks because it was terrible.

      At least streaming isn't beholden to limited total bandwidth from a satellite, divided up among an ever-increasing channel count in a race to have more available content than other services.

      --
      Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
    34. Re: Ugh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Somehow my Pandora account still thinks I live in Portland, as I gets ads from there. I've been in Ohio for 8 years now...

    35. Re:Ugh... by whoever57 · · Score: 1

      There were long stretches of the highway where there was no cellular data coverage, but where my SiriusXM worked fine.

      Yet, the SiriusXM (free trial) in my car would cut out going under a bridge over the freeway.

      --
      The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
    36. Re:Ugh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      not defending them to much, but they do offer online streaming. I pay pretty much the standard, a dollar a day, way to much for some here but all things considered I live in the sticks and have a long commute to work, so for me it makes sense. I also use it all day at work.

    37. Re: Ugh... by jtgd · · Score: 1

      Maybe they'll add the same horrible compression to Pandora as they do the satellite so it sounds like complete crap. I canceled my free trial satellite radio in the car because I could not stand the terrible sound quality. FM is better.

      --
      J
    38. Re:Ugh... by CohibaVancouver · · Score: 1

      Yet, the SiriusXM (free trial) in my car would cut out going under a bridge over the freeway.

      I find the physics of satellite reception fascinating. I'm at 49.3 degrees of latitude. Sirius works fine in the underground parking lot at my doctor's office, but outside at an intersection with clear line of sight to the sky it cuts out.

      Still, all through the Canadian rockies it worked - Even up at 53 degrees.

    39. Re:Ugh... by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      My phone carrier doesn't offer less, and it's already the cheapest carrier for my family.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    40. Re: Ugh... by macwhiz · · Score: 1

      Depends on where you live. In New England, with its trees and hilly terrain, SiriusXMâ(TM)s satellite signal is often less reliable than cellular coverage. The problem gets worse if your car manufacturer didnâ(TM)t do a very good job with its satellite antenna. In my car, SiriusXM is basically unlistenable; it drops out once a mile or so as you go around a hill or under dense foliage. Streaming audio, especially from services that buffer a song or two, works without a hitch. Plus, streaming services have much better audio quality than SiriusXMâ(TM)s 40 to 64Kbps. And they cost less, and donâ(TM)t require you to play the âoeIâ(TM)m going to cancel unless you give me a reasonable priceâ game every few months. I think this is SiriusXM realizing that the handwriting is on the wall for their existing business model. They canâ(TM)t change the bitrate or compression of their satellite service without replacing every âoecompatibleâ car radio out there, or pissing off everyone who has an existing receiver. They canâ(TM)t compete with streaming services... so the alternative to slowly going out of business is to buy a streaming service for the brand recognition.

    41. Re:Ugh... by ConceptJunkie · · Score: 1

      I can't bring myself to pay $15/month for a radio that only works in my vehicle, especially since there is advertising on almost every channel.

      I can't bring myself to pay $15/month for a radio that's sub-AM quality and doesn't have a progressive rock channel. For $15/month, I (and the rest of my family) can stream anything I want from Google (Amazon has a similar service). And I can download stuff, so I don't have to use phone data when in the car, plus I can use it anywhere, not just in the car.

      --
      You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
    42. Re:Ugh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't forget that SiriusXM has terrestrial based repeaters in some major urban areas. Here is a list of their land based repeaters. http://www.dogstarradio.com/si...

  2. Sirius has issue with value by sinij · · Score: 2, Informative

    Sirius has issue offering value - they have very expensive satellite radio with only a dozen or so channels. For that they try to charge $15/mo.

    1. Re:Sirius has issue with value by ArchieBunker · · Score: 1

      I think your math might be off for "only a dozen or so".

      --
      Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
    2. Re:Sirius has issue with value by bws111 · · Score: 4, Informative

      'A dozen or so channels'? I get about 150 channels in my car, and 200 or so when using their internet service.

    3. Re:Sirius has issue with value by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      Still, he's right what it's not worth $15/month, especially since most of those channels have advertising. If I was a road warrior and was out of internet and radio range a lot, I would buy it. But not worth it otherwise in my opinion.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    4. Re:Sirius has issue with value by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And how does this compare with Spotify in terms of music library and service reliability? Sincere question.

    5. Re:Sirius has issue with value by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      I tried the Spotify interface recently, I really didn't like it; and it didn't help that I was looking for Barenaked Ladies (the band, you jokester) and they weren't in the library. It's hard to tell how big the SiriusXM library is, but in some genres like the 80's they play a lot of the 'hit songs' and less of the obscure stuff and there seems to be a lot of repeats. The trick on SiriusXM is definitely to find a channel you are into when you get bored of the old one. They were doing a special Beatles channel and it was very interesting because they would tell you about the background to each song beforehand.

      You can listen to the comedy standup channels for around a week before you have heard most of it and then you have to leave for a month and come back.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    6. Re:Sirius has issue with value by known_coward_69 · · Score: 1

      aren't you paying for the howard stern channels and the rest is free?

    7. Re:Sirius has issue with value by edwdig · · Score: 1

      The music channels don't have advertising.

      Of what's left, most of it is either sports channels or live talk shows. You're going to get natural breaks in those, so advertising isn't unreasonable there.

    8. Re:Sirius has issue with value by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      Sirius has issue offering value - they have very expensive satellite radio with only a dozen or so channels. For that they try to charge $15/mo.

      Before I cancelled I was paying $8 a month with an a la carte plan that let me pick 50 stations (or some ridiculous amount)- I only regularly listen to about 3 or 4 stations. Pretty crazy not to do the a la carte with Sirius instead of the whole shebang.

      50 stations oughta be enough for anyone

      -- Bill Gates

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    9. Re:Sirius has issue with value by ArchieBunker · · Score: 1

      Only the talk channels have advertising. Even with their ads its barely five minutes an hour. Stern's last year on terrestrial radio was 19 minutes an hour of commercials.

      --
      Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
    10. Re:Sirius has issue with value by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      I find advertising unreasonable on anything I pay a premium price for. I can't honestly recall if I have heard advertising on music channels or not, just that a lot of the channels seem to have advertising.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    11. Re:Sirius has issue with value by bws111 · · Score: 1

      YOU may find it not worth the $15/month, others (like me) may find it worth it. I have had XM/SiriusXM for over 10 years, listened to daily, and have yet to hear an ad on any music channel (I am aware that there are 1 or 2 channels that retransmit some crappy FM stations, I don't listen to those).

    12. Re:Sirius has issue with value by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      Still, he's right what it's not worth $15/month, especially since most of those channels have advertising. If I was a road warrior and was out of internet and radio range a lot, I would buy it. But not worth it otherwise in my opinion.

      Ads must be a new phenomenon. I was with Sirius for years and never heard any ads (besides ads for other stations/upcoming features occasionally). I quit earlier in the summer- no ads then.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    13. Re:Sirius has issue with value by bws111 · · Score: 1

      There are still no ads on the music channels, just like it has always been. He doesn't know what he is talking about.

    14. Re:Sirius has issue with value by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      Yeah it's a preference thing. Personally I basically like a totally different playlist sometimes by the hour so I find the rigidity of the SiriusXM channels a little frustrating. I realize this is just me.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    15. Re: Sirius has issue with value by Miamicanes · · Score: 2

      Sirius was awesome ~15 years ago... good sound quality, channels that were like hypothetical big-city radio stations... but without ads... and worked even in "radio deserts" like northern Florida.

      Emphasis on "was".

      Now, even their music channels are bitrate-starved... piss-poor imaging & stereo separation, weird higher-order artifacts, and general "dead" sound. Content-wise, they've become more "XM"-like... good if you used to prefer XM over Sirius, awful if you didn't.

      Would I pay $48/year for it? Yeah, I guess. Would I pay full price for it? Not even in HELL. I ditched it 3 years ago when I got tired of playing their silly pricing games every 6 months.

    16. Re:Sirius has issue with value by omfglearntoplay · · Score: 1

      Not just you. I'm looking for more flexibility... siriusxm was fine for a little hwile.

    17. Re:Sirius has issue with value by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I can't recall if I'm talking out my ass or not, but I'm pretty certain I am.

    18. Re:Sirius has issue with value by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      'A dozen or so channels'? I get about 150 channels in my car, and 200 or so when using their internet service.

      Yeah just like the GP said. A dozen or so channels. Sirius is like a cable company. Approximately 10% of the product is actually worth using.

  3. Content Issues on Both by omfglearntoplay · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I loved Pandora for about 2 months way back when, then got sick of stale content.

    SirusXM I've had for 5 years. Loved it for 2 years, now completely burn out on it. I find about 1 new song every few days that I like, which is not nearly enough. I hear a lot of the same stuff over and over and over, sick of it.

    So I'm about to cancel it. The question is, should I pay for Google Play or Amazon Unlimited? Or something else? I don't love most current pop music, but I like various types of rock, dance, electro, ambient, and that sort of stuff.

    1. Re:Content Issues on Both by omnichad · · Score: 1

      Yeah, on that note - I guess they are a good fit for each other. If you want a service that focuses on repeating things instead of music discovery, their combined powers will....do more of the same.

    2. Re:Content Issues on Both by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      Pandora would be helped by new content. Their playlist generation is awesome, but agreed it could have more variety to work with.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    3. Re:Content Issues on Both by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The same bands releasing the same songs and interviewers asking the same artists the same questions as they promote the same tours, year after year

      "Stale Content" is literally the bread and butter of the radio industry.

      Why would you think you need to pay for anything? Just listen to broadcast radio, over FM or over shoutcast or something.

    4. Re:Content Issues on Both by EvilSS · · Score: 1

      I used to love it back in the day. Traveling out in the middle of no where and being able to get a station I like to listen to was awesome. Today? Today I can stream or load my phone up with more music than I could listen to in a month. And the non-music content? I though having news stations would be nice. Holy crap I never realized watching them on TV how many commercials they run. On SiriusXM with their repetitive commercials it's painfully obvious their commercial load is over 30 minutes per hour.

      It's probably a good thing they are buying a streaming service. I can't see the satellite service being profitable for much longer (if it even is now). They have to be bleeding subscribers.

      --
      I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
    5. Re:Content Issues on Both by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I loved Pandora for about 2 months way back when, then got sick of stale content.

      SirusXM I've had for 5 years. Loved it for 2 years, now completely burn out on it. I find about 1 new song every few days that I like, which is not nearly enough. I hear a lot of the same stuff over and over and over, sick of it.

      The days of "finding new songs" are long gone.

      There has been very little new music produced in the last 10 years. And what little has been produced is garbage. You're going to keep hearing the same songs over and over because that's all they have.

    6. Re:Content Issues on Both by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Um, all stations go stale. Local radio, doesn't matter geographic location, genre, etc, all plays the same songs over and over. Streaming, same deal.

      On Pandora, if you want new stuff, you have to search for it and thumbs up/down the music. You'll start hearing new stuff. But it too will go stale after a bit.

      I find about 1 new song every few days that I like, which is not nearly enough

      That's about as good as any service is going to get.

    7. Re:Content Issues on Both by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      it's expensive, but subscribe to di.fm and get all of their various websites

    8. Re:Content Issues on Both by omfglearntoplay · · Score: 1

      Thank you for the tip. Sounds cool. And while I was reading up on some things, I ran into this insane music map site. If you zoom in on it, you can find a million different subgenres of music. When I like, because if nothing else I can youtube search them and find some new stuff!

      https://musicmap.info/

    9. Re:Content Issues on Both by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      di.fm only has electronic music though. I subscribe there as well, but I love electronic music.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    10. Re:Content Issues on Both by swm · · Score: 1

      Similar experience with both Pandora and Sirus XM.
      I gave up on Pandora pretty quickly.
      I held on to Sirus for some years, but found I wasn't using it.
      (My best use case for Sirius was driving, and I don't drive much anymore.)

      I subscribe to Google music now, and I'm happy with it.
      It's cheap, the catalog has pretty much everything, and the channels are OK.

    11. Re: Content Issues on Both by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've ended up on bandcamp and going from recommendation to recomendation there. Much of my music listening is new (novel) to me. In these days of the bedroom studio there is all sorts of interesting and sometimes excellent non-RIAA music around.

      The bandcamp user algorithm and artists' recommendations work for even the free/ name your price downloads. Of course, when streaming it's all free.

      The poster who said there's no good new music is not looking in the right places.

    12. Re:Content Issues on Both by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The question is, should I pay for Google Play or Amazon Unlimited? Or something else? I don't love most current pop music, but I like various types of rock, dance, electro, ambient, and that sort of stuff.

      You know, after a lot of years of buying music on CD and ripping it, my music collection has about 40 days worth of songs in it.

      I just make a playlist in iTunes that grabs them by least recently played, and then have the whole damned thing on random. Sure, you can go from punk rock to salsa ... because, why not?

      Across all of the ways I play my music I get through the whole thing a few times a year, but won't hear the same song again for quite a long time (like months usually).

      No subscription fees, no ads, no tracking, no repetition, no internet required, no asshole companies and their business model ... just CDs which were bought, ripped, tagged, and enjoyed as I see fit.

      I can buy a lot of used CDs for the annual cost of a music subscription, so I just flat out refuse to play that game.

      The upside is the artists I've enjoyed have often sold me their CDs from the stores when new, and then the recording industry can fuck off and go away.

    13. Re: Content Issues on Both by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://somafm.com/ 20+ channels of ad-free, listener-supported music. Source: happy listening and supporting for the last 15+ years

  4. Re:Who is buying who? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Because you live under a rock?

  5. Re:Wow another giant corporate censor by fluffernutter · · Score: 0

    Howard Stern revolutionized shock media, and that's about it. He is a hero of free speech like Donald Trump is.

    --
    Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
  6. down 10% by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can anyone explain why the stock is down 10% since the announcement?

    1. Re:down 10% by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dying radio company spends billions on worthless internet shit to enter crowded market, because they plan to .... take out iTunes?

    2. Re:down 10% by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

      same reason comcast is down. They overpaid.

    3. Re:down 10% by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Can anyone explain why the stock is down 10% since the announcement?

      Because they spent 3.5 BILLION FUCKING DOLLARS on a company that LOST 225 MILLION DOLLARS in the first half of this year. And that's better than they did last year!

    4. Re:down 10% by ArchieBunker · · Score: 1

      Same reasons AMD's stock went down when they released way better chips than Intel.

      --
      Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
    5. Re:down 10% by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      waiting since 1997 on the "better" part, i'm sure it'll be any day now....

    6. Re:down 10% by EvilSS · · Score: 1

      Can anyone explain why the stock is down 10% since the announcement?

      Because buying implies spending money which implies increased debt and lower EPS. It doesn't mean the purchase is a bad decision, it's not unusual at all for the purchaser's stocks to dip on a buyout.

      --
      I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
    7. Re:down 10% by whoever57 · · Score: 1

      lower EPS. It doesn't mean the purchase is a bad decision,

      No, lower EPS means exactly that the purchase was a bad decision.

      The only alternative explanation is that management was hiding an inevitable drop in EPS, which would have happened with or without the acquisition and now that drop has become public knowledge.

      --
      The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
    8. Re:down 10% by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, the Athlon was better than the Intel chips when it was introduced in 1999. IIRC, Intel made up that ground in 2000 with the Pentium 4.

  7. Who needs Sirus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    One 32 gig micro SD card and...

    https://www.amazon.com/Nulaxy-Wireless-Bluetooth-Transmitter-Smartphones/dp/B018E0I01I/ref=pd_bxgy_107_img_3

    And I'm never in need of any paid service.

    1. Re:Who needs Sirus? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This. I have a 256GB card, and a headphone jack on my phone. I can put roughly half of my entirely downloaded/ripped music collection on my phone and listen without any streaming at all!

  8. Hmm $10 premium sub changes I wonder by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I currently do the $10 a month sub to Pandora. I like it because the types of music I listen to have new albums on release day and I can download music to my phone and run Pandora offline.

  9. You can play with the numbers, but by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    it won't change the fact that Spotify still has the most listeners, the most subscribers, and the best degree of availability and ease of use. Pick any numbers or metrics and add them up, it won't change a thing.

  10. Still US only by mrbester · · Score: 1

    "the world's largest audio-entertainment company"? Well good for you. How about allowing the rest of the world to use your services if you're so great?

    Or I could use Spotify, Apple, Google, Deezer, etc. who at least have international offerings.

    --
    "Wait. Something's happening. It's opening up! My God, it's full of apricots!"
  11. No thanks ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    the acquisition would enable Sirius to try to keep listeners who did not want to pay for music by diverting them toward Pandora's free ads-based model.

    I have a vast music collection of several hundred CDs, all of which I've ripped to MP3.

    I will play this on any device of my choosing, whenever I wish, without ads, tracking, and greedy assholes deciding they're entitled to be paid for it. You got paid when I bought the CD, the rest is none of your business.

    You don't get demographics, you don't get analytics, you don't get fuck all .. and you sure as hell don't get to show me ads.

    It's a pity most good CD stores have closed, because I used to buy a stack of CDs once or twice a year to add to my collection.

    Sorry, I'm just not playing that game, and don't care about your damned streaming music and more than I care about the shit they play on commercial radio which is guaranteed to have "that hit song" about 10 times per day.

    I'm tired of this digital economy shit, and I want no part of it. Certainly not letting the record labels know who I am and what I listen to.

    1. Re:No thanks ... by GTRacer · · Score: 1

      Something I discovered by accident, but wish to revisit soon - buying a stack of CDs at places like Goodwill. a dollar or so per disc and the randomish selection means I can try new artists at very low risk. And yes, they all get ripped for home play. Though to be fair, I stream Pandora out and about because I like the way I've themed my stations.

      --
      Defending IP by destroying access to it? That makes sense, RIAA/MPAA. Go to the corner until you can play nice!
  12. Let me introduce you... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...to a service offered by a little garage based business in Palo Alto, going by the name of Apple Music. I think it might suit your needs.

  13. It's Free! I Create/Publish My Own Music! by mallyn · · Score: 1
    Folks:

    I don't care about Sirius and others.

    I get a thrill making/publishing my own music and videos!

    You can see a sample at: My Bellingham Jail History Video with my own music

    --
    Most Respectfully Yours Mark Allyn Bellingham, Washington
  14. totally sucks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Pandora is a good value for the money. It's non-inrusive and provides what it promises. Sirius-XM on the other hand sucks the big one. Sucks big time.

  15. Ugh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is the right-wing nutball company Liberty Media. Heads up everyone.

  16. youtube by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I hear that google steals whatever content they want from artists and puts it up for free on a site called youtube.com

    only when an artist actually complains does google stop making money and take down the free content they stole and put ads on.

    it's cool because, google is the only company that can do this and nothing happens whatsoever to them.

    google/youtube can steal whatever they like, make money on it for however long they want, and not give you the artist or content creator a dime.

    It's the best business model ever! And with no one with the pockets to sue google for their extreme copyright theft , youtube will steal everyone's content forever and keep making money on it

    1. Re:youtube by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nice conspiracy theory. Stuff on youtube is generally uploaded by millions of otherwise-unconnected individuals. Do you have any evidence that Google employees, as part of their jobs, are uploading videos that infringe on artists' copyrights?

      BTW: It's called copyright infringement. Theft is a different crime, usually with lower penalties. You don't do yourself any favors by confusing the two.

  17. Will Pandora play edited songs now, too? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When I first got SiriusXM I thought it was great. All the music I like, no commercials.
    Then, a couple years ago, I noticed that some of the songs I was listening to did not match up with CD recordings of the same songs I own. The versions playing on Sirius were shortened.
    First it was Dire Straights - Money For Nothing. An entire verse was removed (I initially chalked it up to SJWs).
    Then it was Blue Oyster Cult - Don't Fear The Reaper. Almost the entire instrumental part was cut.
    Then it was Boston - Don't Look Back.

    Now, more and more often songs are being edited to shorten their duration, while the babbling between songs is becoming longer and longer. instead of no commercials, almost every other song has a break where Sirius tries to sell more of their own stuff.

    I would expect this from a terrestrial radio who relies on ads...shorten the songs and you can push more ads on the public. But I'm PAYING, DIRECTLY for Sirius. I should not have to suffer through mangled and butchered songs.
    So next renewal I think it is time to drop Sirius and start using the USB option on my radio.

    1. Re:Will Pandora play edited songs now, too? by AndroSyn · · Score: 1

      I noticed that some of the songs I was listening to did not match up with CD recordings of the same songs I own. The versions playing on Sirius were shortened.

      They play the single edits instead of the album versions. This is not unusual at all. This is done to a LOT of songs to fit in a 3 minute or so time period for radio. I'm not entirely sure how you've never noticed this.

      First it was Dire Straights - Money For Nothing. An entire verse was
      removed (I initially chalked it up to SJWs).

      There are multiple versions/edits of this song.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      Length

              8:25 (Album version)
              7:04 (Vinyl LP Edit)
              4:38 (Official Single Edit)
              4:06 (Promo Single Edit)

      Then it was Blue Oyster Cult - Don't Fear The Reaper. Almost the entire instrumental part was cut.

      Check out the length on the single for this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      Length
        5:08
        3:45 (single edit)

      There is your missing instrumental.

      Then it was Boston - Don't Look Back.

      Also from wikipedia... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      Length
      5:58 (Album Version);
      4:05 (Radio Edit)

      You seriously never knew about singles often being different?