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Dr Wizard
The Wizard of Speed and Time
Premium Member
join:2002-12-23
Plain Dealing, LA

Dr Wizard

Premium Member

[Service] Royalty fee increase


Royalty increase

I had this waiting for me in my email this morning, just in time for my renewal next month:

Dear Valued Subscriber:

We appreciate your loyalty to SiriusXM and are dedicated to providing our subscribers with the best programming variety and listening experience available anywhere.

As part of our efforts to keep you informed about your subscription, we are writing to notify you that the "U.S. Music Royalty Fee" you will be charged on your next billing date will be different than the fee displayed in your subscription renewal notice. The "U.S. Music Royalty Fee" displayed in that notice reflects the fee in effect at the time it was processed.

The "U.S. Music Royalty Fee," which is added to SiriusXM subscriptions that include music channels, will increase to 12.5% for eligible plans that are purchased or renewed on or after February 1, 2013. Subscribers to our popular Select package will see an increase of less than 2 cents per day. Please refer to the chart at the bottom of this email for the current and new fees on other packages affected by this change.

The "U.S. Music Royalty Fee" offsets a portion of the royalties payable by SiriusXM to composers, publishers, recording artists, musicians and record labels that hold copyrights in musical works and sound recordings. We may adjust the "U.S. Music Royalty Fee" from time to time to reflect changes in our royalty costs. The fee increase is due, in part, to the recent decision by the Copyright Royalty Board to increase the rates that SiriusXM must pay beginning January 1, 2013, as well as other factors associated with copyright royalties.

Understanding that any increase—even a small one—has an impact on our subscribers, we want to ensure you are aware of all your options to save on your subscription, including changing your billing plan to a longer term plan that offers one or more free months of service:
To change to a longer term billing plan and enjoy these savings, please log in to your SiriusXM Online Account at siriusxm.com/myaccount
, or call 1-866-705-6222. Our Listener Care agents are available to serve you from 8am - 11pm, Mon. - Sat., or 8am - 8pm on Sundays.

Thank you for being a loyal SiriusXM listener. We hope that you will continue to enjoy the unparalleled entertainment value that only SiriusXM provides.
Best regards,
Joe Zarella
Chief Service Officer
SiriusXM Radio

Harddrive
Proud American and Infidel since 1968.
Premium Member
join:2000-09-20
Fort Worth, TX

Harddrive

Premium Member

"the unparalleled entertainment value that only SiriusXM provides"

Really? I hope they don't really think that.

Dr Wizard
The Wizard of Speed and Time
Premium Member
join:2002-12-23
Plain Dealing, LA

Dr Wizard

Premium Member

Yeah, unparalleled in that there isn't another satellite provider since the merger!

Oh well, I guess I have a decision to make. If I can get another year for $70-80, I might pull the trigger again...

pjhofmann
join:2000-08-22
Argyle, TX

pjhofmann

Member

Yeah, nowhere near worth it at full price, the yearly half-off call is coming up for me as well.

MagicalPig
join:2008-07-25

MagicalPig to Dr Wizard

Member

to Dr Wizard
Not that it makes it better but I believe the increase was part of the agreement with the RIAA when they agreed to the Royalty Fees. Increases at a set rate. Do not remember if/when it flattens out.

ilikeme
Premium Member
join:2002-08-27
Stafford, TX

ilikeme to pjhofmann

Premium Member

to pjhofmann
said by pjhofmann:

Yeah, nowhere near worth it at full price, the yearly half-off call is coming up for me as well.

Same here, on Feb. 25th.

Cthen
Premium Member
join:2004-08-01
Detroit, MI

Cthen to Dr Wizard

Premium Member

to Dr Wizard
Makes me glad that my units operate for free (all 4 missed their deactivation signal).

Warzau
Premium Member
join:2000-10-26
Naperville, IL

Warzau

Premium Member

Im just curious how you knew or how long. I tried that on one of my older units it worked fine for a couple of months then nothing. Is it a issue of them sending the signal once or is it repeated?

Cthen
Premium Member
join:2004-08-01
Detroit, MI

1 recommendation

Cthen

Premium Member

I upgraded from 2 units about 5 years ago. I just disconnected them and connected the 2 new units before calling in for a radio swap. About 8 months later I got curious after hearing about others who had units who missed their signal and connected them. Sure enough they worked and still do to this day. About 11 months ago I disconnected the 2 units I was paying for then called in to cancel the subs on them in which they never got deactivation signal. They even get their updates when they are pushed out and continue to work fine.

I'm not sure exactly what the time frame it's on when they stop sending the signal. Forums around the internet say about 3-6 months at intervals of once a week is when it is sent then after that it stops sending that signal. I would at minimum wait until 8-9 months pass by to be on the safe side.

These are also Sirius radios as well and not XM units. That also could have something to do with the ease of missing their signal for deactivation.
silbaco
Premium Member
join:2009-08-03
USA

silbaco to Dr Wizard

Premium Member

to Dr Wizard
Sound Exchange wanted a much larger increase. But SiriusXm is not paying 12.5% this year, so customers are getting ripped off.

I never renewed SiriusXM. All I wanted is music, so I switched to Slacker for $4 per month. Much better deal and I actually get to hear what I want.

J E F F4
Whatta Ya Think About Dat?
Premium Member
join:2004-04-01
Kitchener, ON

J E F F4 to Warzau

Premium Member

to Warzau
said by Warzau:

Im just curious how you knew or how long. I tried that on one of my older units it worked fine for a couple of months then nothing. Is it a issue of them sending the signal once or is it repeated?

I wonder that too. I have an older Sirius (2005) unit which I upgrade to a better unit (about 2008) then I migrated over to XM (2010?). Anyway, I cancelled when they got rid of BBC Radio 1 and Cinemagic. Plugged in the 2005 unit and it worked until XM offered me something I couldn't refuse. (I like MLB radio, something Sirius doesn't have). Anyway, before the XM offer, I had a notification on the 2005 unit about a 2 week free trial, and sure enough, the XM unit started working, for 2 weeks exactly. But the 2005 unit never stopped working. So I do wonder how long and often they send out signals.

If Satellite radio was smart, their units would not be working via activation/de-activation codes sent over the waves.

MagicalPig
join:2008-07-25

MagicalPig

Member

I believe XM gets kill signals on a more regular basis then Sirius. Not sure but I also think they both send out signals when you cancel but if the radio is off when it is sent it will not get it. With XM if you do keep getting a signal it will kill fairly soon where Sirius could go on for a while. Also I think that if there is a free preview there will be kill signals blasted out when it is over killing even radios that worked prior to it.

Warzau
Premium Member
join:2000-10-26
Naperville, IL

Warzau

Premium Member

That's what I think is prob killed mine. IIRC It worked until the end of a preview.

Bill Neilson
Premium Member
join:2009-07-08
Alexandria, VA

Bill Neilson to Dr Wizard

Premium Member

to Dr Wizard
Just be careful when adding or upgrading or doing whatever

I have now had SiriusXM completely screw up the last 2 times that I called in to either change or disconnect my service.

Recently, I called to turn off auto-renew and was told that i was given free 2 months followed by a deal for the next year (2 free months + $50 total for the next 12 months). Next day, I found out that a full-year sub had been added to my account (at a price of like $120 something) with 2 extra months added on to the end for free.

Uh what?

I then call up and have the next person correct it and they tell me that they can give me 2 free months but can only offer the deals that they have in front of them which according to this woman was 2 free months + 12 months at $115. Again, no thanks...BUT she says...how about she does give it to me for $70 for 14 months....i agree and we move on.

Next day I get into my car and find out that the $70 deal was NOT for the phone as well nor the package that I had before....it was the basic package.

AHo cancel and am given a full year free.

I then agreed and it has worked out
Crypto_Bug
join:2001-05-31
Torrington, CT

Crypto_Bug to Dr Wizard

Member

to Dr Wizard
Paid Satellite Radio is a huge waste of money, the only time I have bothered with it is the free 6 months every time I buy a new car and even then I never use it. Sure they claim it is commercial free, with the exception of their own commercials. That information aside, all they play is the same damn songs over and over and over again. The next day they do something amazing, they switch the order of the songs they played the previous day.

I went to Pandora One and have never looked back. Now I just wish Sirius would stop sending me 2 pieces of junk mail every single day.

pike
Premium Member
join:2001-02-01
Washington, DC

pike to Warzau

Premium Member

to Warzau
said by Warzau:

Im just curious how you knew or how long. I tried that on one of my older units it worked fine for a couple of months then nothing. Is it a issue of them sending the signal once or is it repeated?

Many years ago a friend that formerly worked at XM explained it to me like this. There is an extremely limited amount of bandwidth available for the deactivation signal. When a unit needs to be deactivated, the signal is broadcast constantly for the first 48 hours. Then every couple of minutes for the next few days. Then maybe once a day. The frequency decreases over a period of about 6 months. This is because every 6 months the decryption key for the audio stream is changed. Over the course of the 6 month period, the new key is delivered to legitimately activated units by addressing them individually. So even if you managed to avoid the deactivation signal, your decryption key would eventually expire anyway.

Subaru
1-3-2-4
Premium Member
join:2001-05-31
Greenwich, CT

Subaru to Crypto_Bug

Premium Member

to Crypto_Bug
said by Crypto_Bug:

Paid Satellite Radio is a huge waste of money, the only time I have bothered with it is the free 6 months every time I buy a new car and even then I never use it. Sure they claim it is commercial free, with the exception of their own commercials. That information aside, all they play is the same damn songs over and over and over again. The next day they do something amazing, they switch the order of the songs they played the previous day.

I went to Pandora One and have never looked back. Now I just wish Sirius would stop sending me 2 pieces of junk mail every single day.

I left when the merger was just about over.. I miss the old days because XM just by it's self was better.

Also about the junk mail I get it too.. BUT the by far the worst is geico.. ever since I switched the Nationwide I get crap from geico at least 3 times a month, so close to calling them asking me to take me off the list.