XM and Sirius Music Changes Next Week

[JimmyJames]

XM content is in general, superior to Sirius content.

They've now fired 80 of the best programmers in the business and turned the channels into their much more narrow Sirius versions. There's no better "classic alternative" channel than the one Rick Lambert programmed on Fred. X-Country was an incredible Americana/Alt Country station, and Bobby Bennett made Soul Street a stunning mix of classic R&B.

To suggest for one minute the overly sterile and "FM" approach of Sirius is a good value for satellite radio subscribers is astounding. And baseless.

 

[robmadden1]

http://xmro.xmradio.com/

Down for the change I believe.

 

[tomservo]

If you read my posts here and elsewhere, you'll know that I've been very skeptical of whether or not these changes are taking place tomorrow. I have said that I need proof from the company before I'll believe it. That proof came yesterday during the company's 3Q earnings conference call:

The change began at 11:56pm EST... At least that's when Fine Tuning bit the dust. It was replaced with Cinemagic (with messed up titles) then dropped off to low bitrate barker saying the channel is off (Holly is going in this spot soon.)

Edit to add: Frannie Thomas (sp?) on The Loft just welcomed all the Sirius listeners... And all the titles have changed now, it appears. A cursory glance through the channels has them all playing familiar stuff. I wonder if this was done on purpose since the titles are all showing "Sirius XM Radio - Sirius XM Radio" during the transition?

 

[salemjedi54]

I'm not happy that the Slim Shady channel has replaced The Rhyme. Does Sirius have a Jazz Fusion channel now that Beyond Jazz is gone. Did Ali Shaheed Muhammaud's show moved to the slim shady channel? What about DJ Rasta Root's show? Will Heart & Soul(formerly Suite 62) keep the Music Honors Show. This is really begining to suck!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[4dude]

IT TOTALLY SUCKS!!!!

HEART AND SOUL IS GARBAGE COMPARED TO "SUITE 62" AND "THE SYSTEM" WAS THE BEST I HAD EVER HEARD FOR THAT TYPE OF MUSIC!!

Totally sickening......

What a pity the XM pedigree had to be infected with the Sirius virus.

Yes BIG TRACKS was the best 70s,80s stream i had ever heard!!

 

[Mike Sheridan]

They didn't ruin my favorite so I'll stick around...

 

[andreajesus]

They didn't ruin my favorite so I'll stick around...

just curious - which channel is YOUR favorite? Me - I like 70's on 7, SoulTown, 60's on 6, Sirius Gold...i think Little Caesar and the Romans sang it best in 1961 - "those oldies but goodies"....

Andrea

 

[robmadden1]

Classic Vinyl on XM Radio Online is messed up for the online player. Only stays in low bandwith and the song tile and artist never changes.

 

[tomservo]

Now that things have had a chance to settle, I can say the sound quality's taken ANOTHER hit.

That and the loss of two of my "occasional listens" — Beyond Jazz and Fine Tuning — have left me feeling cold.

 

[gerald]

Again I say, they killed Fred Ethel and Lucy!

Why do I need all Led Zep, all Grateful Dead, and all Bruce channels? Sorry Bruce I love ya, but don't need you there 24/7. And I can't imagine ever listening to Margaritaville except at gunpoint.

Maybe this is just v.1 of the new XMirius, he said hopefully?

 

[Walter Graff]

Led Zep channel is a short term contract running till 1/09, then it goes back to the bridge which plays a mix of hits, until the next music contract with a particular band (eg Stones, etc). Springsteen was originally short term but so popular that it's been extended indefinitely. Same for the dead. Dead heads can't get enough although I could never listen to the Dead Channel. And I said the same thing as you about Margaritaville until recently when I found they played more variety than I thought and songs I actually liked. Hey not every channel is for everyone. Can't be. with 130 to choose from the average is that only 30-40% will be listened to by an subscriber and that ain't bad. It's all about tastes and none are right or wrong, just different. When I put Fred, Ethel or Lucy my wife and I often heard a song we liked followed by a slew that were unlistenable to us.

 

[Darrel M]

XM receiver problems

Classic Vinyl on XM Radio Online is messed up for the online player. Only stays in low bandwith and the song tile and artist never changes.

I'm experiencing a similar problem, only it's not online but instead with my XM radio set. I have a Delphi MyFi receiver that I bought 3 years ago. The artist/title info of the song that played when I turned it on does not go away when the next song begins. Also, when I change channels, I hear silence and the radio constantly displays "Loading." I'm pretty sure this is in relation to today's channel changes. Is this a case of the receiver pulling in so much brand new information that it can't keep up?

 

[only1moore]

Well, at least they kept 20on20, The Groove, BPM, and The Heat.

I have no problem with BBC Radio 1, but I will miss U-Pop.

Personally they should've kept The Move, The System and Chrome, let alone Strobe, Boombox and The Beat. Already Dance fans over at the R-I Dance board are not happy about this. So much for Satellite radio supporting Dance music.

 

[htowler]

The Heat Stayed and is Now on Sirus too, But the Shifted the format to lean more Urban. It's now in the Middle of Urban and Rhythmic.

 

[htowler]

Re: XM receiver problems

Classic Vinyl on XM Radio Online is messed up for the online player. Only stays in low bandwith and the song tile and artist never changes.

I'm experiencing a similar problem, only it's not online but instead with my XM radio set. I have a Delphi MyFi receiver that I bought 3 years ago. The artist/title info of the song that played when I turned it on does not go away when the next song begins. Also, when I change channels, I hear silence and the radio constantly displays "Loading." I'm pretty sure this is in relation to today's channel changes. Is this a case of the receiver pulling in so much brand new information that it can't keep up?

I had that issue with my Skyfi2 I listen to The Heat Often I wanted to hear Hip Hop Nation I change it. It would say loading then flip back to The Heat. I change it again then it would stay on Hip hop nation. 3 Times I shut my Car off and restarted later the Skyfi2 would come back on Say Hip hop nation then Say loading then after like 20 seconds the station would go Back to The Heat which was odd. But later in the Day I went to the store and when I came out and started my car again the Radio Started and Stayed on Hip Hop Nation. I think it's just all the updates.

 

[tomservo]

Margaritaville has certainly been a surprise, and not an entirely unpleasant one, either.

BBC 1 has been a bit of a letdown thus far. Waaay too much talking. Guess that whole 'needle time' thing is still in effect in Ye Olde England. Thank heavens we don't have that or 'Can Con' here in the states!

 

[myke25]

Minus money with the two subs I have. So not getting anything other than the enjoyment of Sirius. I love sat radio. Can't listen to terrestrial anymore, other than to hear a spot or two I produced on terrestrial to make sure they sound good. Then its back to sat radio for me... and my wife who has here whole day mapped out when it comes to listening. Now if everyone guessing, and assuming would just sit back and wait, you'll find the new Sirius even better than the old, and XM folks will like Sirius a lot better.

Dude, you're killing me. XM had much better programming, much better dj's and more channels filled with more options. Sirius had the big names but XM had the quality of their content. Case in point, when I used to study the longggggg reports released by Arbitron comparing Sirius to XM, XM's ratings were consistently higher on more channels. I've also compared Sirius' dance channel and XM's BPM 81 (both played exactly same music) and found once again... XM's playlist to be more rich and expanded. Sorry but Sirius never impressed me. Does anyone really care about Slim Shady or Margaritaville? They've killed XM Cafe and replaced it with The Coffeehouse. (ooh, soooo original) They've removed the Heart and renamed it Love. Sorry but the Heart's name just sounded better. I don't trust Mel w/ this whole merger. I don't like him and his business practices. BBC 1's garbage sounds rotten. They sound worse than most Brits I hear and the music's utterly trashy. UPOP at least gave ya music around the world. It's a shame WorldSpace is shutting down.

They took away from us disco and freestyle. I guess I'll go back to terrestrial radio's 103.5 KTU for that during the day.

Do us a favor Walter and stop trying to sell us on a service that's already left a bad taste in our mouths in less than 48 hours. Chances are, we're still going to be as bitter and feel disappointed a month later.

 

[Walter Graff]

Your best bet would be to get rid of the service. Obviously it doesn't work for you. As for tastes, there is no right or wrong. I hated XM programming. Thought it was programmed like a bunch of cut-out records. But that doesn't mean you can't like it.

BUT, and I say but... it matters little now as XM is gone, so if you don't like Sirius, you can always get free radio and sell your radios. Sounds like it might be your best bet at this point.

 

[tomservo]

Free radio only works if they have something you wanna hear. 'Round these parts, we have a surprising amount of choice... As long as you love country, preachers or gospel. Sure we got a Jack FM clone and an ABC oldies outlet, but neither is run very well and subject to constant screw ups, dead air, interruptions for high school sports and tons of commercials.

 

[4dude]

I hated XM programming. Thought it was programmed like a bunch of cut-out records. But that doesn't mean you can't like it.

I love XM and dont like the fact that the streams i love have been replaced by thier garbage!!

I HATE SIRIUS WHICH IS WHY I LISTEN TO XM!! (Howard stern about the only good stream over there)


About the only good stream left on xm is THE SYSTEM