New "Royalty" Charge On XM Radio

So...I just called up XM radio to see if I could get the $77 for one year cost that many people have spoken about. He informed me that the promotion is still active but in addition to the $77 i would have to pay an additional $10.68 for a "Royalty" charge!

Is this for real?

I've never heard anyone ever mention this charge before!

It is for real.

I wonder what the charge will be for Lifetime.

I think it will be an additional $70 (approximately). I opted for the "lifetime" option in time to avoid this fee.

Stu

Ouch!!!!!!

I have about 4 months left on my Sirius subscription, do you think they could transfer over the credit to XM? Or would I just get my money back?

They will refund you. I had 4 months left on my Sirius subscription too and they told me today that the billing for Sirius and XM is not merged yet. Sucks!

They gave me a refund for the unused amount. (I still have a lifetime with Sirius, just canceled my second sub, which I prepaid one year at a time.)

Sounds to me like you better sign-up now before they add additional fees like:

1) Pre-conception baby health care for distressed musicians, and
2) SWARF Fee (Satellite Workers of America Retirement Fund), and
3) Credit card processing fee for anybody living within 1000 miles of a major body of water.

Keith

I think that fee is so absurd!! It should be built into the price of the subscription. I can't wait for those satellites to start tumbling down to earth. As I mentioned in another thread, I give SR another five years at best. With 4G being rolled out soon there is nothing to prevent you from streaming music from your smart phone to your Prius. You can already do it now with an iPhone and there is NO MONTHLY FEE!!!!!

This is a joke--it's a way to increase prices.

As part of the Sirius/XM merger, as I recall, the company had to commit to the feds that they wouldn't raise prices for a period of time (the anti trust regulators naturally concerned about decreased competition leading to higher prices). This looks like a cutesy way around that commitment.

Could you please tell me where I can get my iPhone service for no monthly fee? Seems that I am paying a bit more that $30 per month for an iPhone data plan, as required, per AT&T.

While I know that some folks will 'jailbreak' their iPhones, my understanding is that you still need to pay for the service if you connect it to another network.

I know that you despise Satellite Radio (or at least, keep bashing it), but for many folks here, their XM subscription cost is a fraction of what they would pay if they acquired a new iPhone and subscription to get the 'free streaming' you are referring to.

Hey, that is a great idea - an additional SRF (Satellite Recycling Fee)!!!!

Ok, I'm being cynical. However I agree with you. I'm also getting fed-up with all these additional fees. The airlines and financial services industries are the worst abusers of this scheme. If these costs are indeed real, then they should be priced in as part of the basic price, period. I'm to the point where when somebody tries to nail on absurd fees, I just walk away. If consumers unite and have the balls to walk away from businesses that use this insane business practice then it will go away. If not this practice will just get worse.

Keith

P.S. I'm just waiting for the day when gas stations start adding on a 50 cent GPFU (Gas Pump Fee for Usage) every time you fill-up with gas.

Keith

Here's a link to the Sirius page which explains and describes the royalty fee that is being added to the subscription fee for Sirius or XMradio. Don't blame Sirius or XM, blame congress. It is intended to pay artists a royalty for airing their music. Up until this fee was set, you'd pay sirius or xm and they'd give you the work of various artists. The artists, however, would have gotten nothing for their work from the broadcaster. Now there is some compensation.

SIRIUS Satellite Radio - U.S. Music Royalty Fee

Stu

Sorry, but I strongly disagree with you. Shifting the blame to a third party is B.S. If the cost of operating a business goes up for whatever reason, then the fundamental cost of your product or service goes up and the resulting sales price goes up. For example, if I'm a company that produces plastic products where the raw material is petroleum, I pass on the increase cost to the consumer. I don't add on a separate "Petroleum Adjustment" after the consumer price.

Keith

I beleive that what he was trying to say is that if you already have an Iphone you can stream music using the Pandora app which is a free program.

Pandora Radio - Listen to Free Internet Radio, Find New Music

Since some of us are coming up on our free 90 day service ending I'm wondering if XM is going to be flexible on pricing to get new subscribers?

No, I figured that and was being a tad sarcastic. My point was that it was only free for those who already had an iPhone (or other mobile web enabled device), and not just 'free'.

As for XM and Sirius charging more for licensing, while I agree that it sucks, we are all paying for it. The thing is that if you have prepaid a year contract (for example, I do not think that they should go back and re-adjust your pricing. However, if you are on a monthly plan, you are subject to pricing changes, as it spells out in the subscriber agreement.

While it sucks, I understand why they are doing so. If they simply raised prices without telling us why, then other would claim that the merger caused the price increase.

Given that they now have additional costs, it makes sense for them to pass them along to all folks who are making opayments, now or in the future.

Get a grip. You really have a blind spot here. Fuel surcharges appear regularly in various industries. I don't suppose you have ever heard of a Toyota dealer selling a Prius above MSRP either.
I don't have a problem with this surcharge if the money goes where it is supposed to. You might not believe this, but musicians do not write music to give to the world royalty free.

Where there is extreme cost volatility in the market (such as fuel) and it is a major component of the service being provided, then I can understand and endorse a fuel surcharge - especially for the trucker providing the service.

As far as the the musicians are concerned they clearly deserve their royalty fees. However it is a fundamental and predictable cost of of XM doing business just as iTunes charges for music. By the way, does iTunes charge an additional separate royalty fee for each tune you download?

Keith

No, There you are paying a fee per song. Imagine what your subscription fee would be if you were just charged a buck a song?

I would imagine at that point that they could simply bypass this extra 'royalty' fee if they did that.

In reality they do not charge the same way that iTunes does, and a recent change in the law forces these extra costs upon them, so I feel that they are justified in introducing these fees. In the same view, you are more than justified to simply drop your subscription and complain about it if you wish.

No iTunes does not presently charge a royalty fee but only because they won in court after threatening to shut down the service. The battle is not over.
Update: iTunes store stays open as royalty fees don't increase :: Culture Music News :: Articles :: Paste

What is wrong with all of you? It is only $10.68 per year, not $10.68 per month. That is less than 90 cents per month the help all those poor, starving musical artists that add so much mentally relaxing music to our lives. And, they are doing us such a favor, because I read at one time it was, or could be up to, $1.98 per month.

I am proud to have something wrong with me; I am not (NOT) signing up for any XM subscription because I can not see paying monthly subscription costs of $6.42, $9.95, nor $16.96 plus any amount in royalty fees when I have AM, FM, CD, BT iPod streaming, and cassette tape player connection through the Aux connection.

8-Track anyone? --TK