Official Slacker Forums

[ljb6599]

As I read these posts I cannot help but wonder why there are no Sirius defectors to Slacker.
Len

[nyhunter77]

my quick theory is because sirius has always stunk.

When the merge happened, XM became more like sirius.

That's one of the reason's i left.

[MikeV]

my quick theory is because sirius has always stunk.

When the merge happened, XM became more like sirius.

I wasn't going to come out and be quite as blunt as this, but that's about the gist of it. I always considered XM to be the better service, at least musically. Many have said Sirius was more or less "commercial-free FM", though of course there were stations you can't find on FM... but they still suffered from DJ-itis - DJ's talking too much.

XM's DJ's ADDED something to the mix... info about the artist, not info on what they did last night with their friends.

[Burner]

XM's DJ's ADDED something to the mix... info about the artist, not info on what they did last night with their friends.

Sadly, not all of them were this way. Some, particularly Bohdi on Squizz were as annoying as most Sirius DJ's. Sadly, he's one that Sirius kept on. Having Dish Network with the Sirius music channels pre merger, however, I did notice the DJ's talked more often than on XM. It seems they can't go more than a song or 2 without either a station ID or a DJ talking.

[nyhunter77]

Yeah, sorry if i was too blunt, I'm still really irked at hating xm so much now. I really liked the service a lot pre merger even with the lower quality of the music. With the myfi (albiet old), at least music was easy to take everywhere. For the last year before the merger, i was hoping it wouldn't go through or that xm would be the one taking over.

Another thing I never got were those dedicated Sirius channels to artists. I guess everyone's different but I never wanted to listen to Grateful Dead or any other artist all day long or ever wanted to know what music artists listen too. I just want to listen to the music I want to listen to. These dedicated channels sprang up on XM since before the merger but it got worse after and (I thought) wasted valuable bandwidth (there's more now too, when I received the come back flyer, i tossed that out right away). There WAS a lot to like (Like free online access) but ended up being more frustrating (especially with the doggone DJs that wouldn't be quiet, it made my 700 mile drive home painful (because their rants reran every hour or so as well).

I do miss certain things like BBC, MLB, and the medical talk shows (I'm a nerd) but I was driving last night and when Stevie Ray Vaughn came up through the Slacker I said, "ah ... it's not so bad."

[MikeV]

Another thing I never got were those dedicated Sirius channels to artists. I guess everyone's different but I never wanted to listen to Grateful Dead or any other artist all day long or ever wanted to know what music artists listen too.

And here we have what could possibly be considered ADVERTISING on the music channels. Except it's not your traditional advertising. :) And not all of these specific channels were this way (E-Street Radio is one that isn't this way). XM LED and the AC/DC station were CLEARLY advertising, considering their presences on the airwaves happened to coincide with major box set or album releases by the bands.

The label bought a channel for the artists to play their own songs, the songs by other artists they like, throw in their commentary, and of course plug the new item being sold.

It's a GREAT way to monetize the music channels, without appearing to the paying customers that you're doing so! They promote it as a temporary artist channel... a way to get inside the heads of the artist/group on the channel... or what have you. All the while, Sirius XM is laughing all the way to the bank, as they get paid by their listeners as well as the label.

[Burner]

The only dedicated channel I listened to at all was the Metallica channel, and that got old after a while. I really like Metallica, but how many times do I want to hear Battery?

[buckeye96]

I am a Sirius defector. I thought Sirius's music selection (in the beginning) was better than XM's. But that really is personal opinion. Now though, it all sucks. They got rid of 2 of my favorite channels Boombox and Backspin. I made my own Backspin channel and it is awesome, no repeats yet and a lot of songs I hadn't heard before or in a long time. My commute is 30 minutes each way. In a week of listening to slacker I had no repeats and only had to ban a few artists/tracks. A week with the new backspin I heard 15 repeats and artists that are played way too much.

I loved Sirius and was a listener since 2003. I got around 30 people to get SatRad and loved the way the music was programmed. Standard time was one of my favorites and then they went to Sinatra radio and I can't stand it. They have cut music and genre's and are moving towards terrestial radio. I remember when almost every genre of music was available (reggae, punk, blues, etc) and it is very sad that a "system" that had such potential has gone downhill so quickly and with such disregard for its listeners.

We Sirius listeners have felt as passionately about their platform as you guys have and are just as disappointed with its lack of soul. Sirius sucks now and if it wasn't for football I would have cancelled months ago.

[CandyLadyNJ66]

my quick theory is because sirius has always stunk.

When the merge happened, XM became more like sirius.

I wasn't going to come out and be quite as blunt as this, but that's about the gist of it. I always considered XM to be the better service, at least musically. Many have said Sirius was more or less "commercial-free FM", though of course there were stations you can't find on FM... but they still suffered from DJ-itis - DJ's talking too much.

XM's DJ's ADDED something to the mix... info about the artist, not info on what they did last night with their friends.

I feel the same way Mike..



Candy

[BillD3818]

Since the consolidation there's way too much talk and too many DJ's.

I also think it's strange that since the merger the brass decided to emulate Sirius's music style and programming instead of XM's. XM had to pretty much survive because of their music, they didn't have Stern, or the NFL to draw subs. All XM had was music and MLB.

So I always felt XM put more effort into their music programming. So IMO it was surprising that they seemed to go with Sirius's FM type of programming instead of XM's.

Surprising and a huge mistake. Because of their decision I am dropping all my subs except one.

[Hank666]

As I read these posts I cannot help but wonder why there are no Sirius defectors to Slacker.
Len

I bet most sirius subs were for Stern so they didnt really pay attention to the music much. I was a sirius subcriber,now i'm a Slacker!

[uraburr]

Add one more ex XMer. Been with XM over 5 years. Can't say anything that hasn't been said before on this thread.

Nice to see some familiar names from the old XM forums.

[styckx]

Add another to the list. Have had the Slacker G2 25 now for a few months. Love it as much now as I did the day I bought it. Canceled XM a month ago and refused their 1/2 price for a year offer.

Reasons I left XM: Awful playlists, killed off lucy, artist only channels (payola) taking over other channels, sound quality was insulting, awful DJ's.

[fizzicist]

As I read these posts I cannot help but wonder why there are no Sirius defectors to Slacker.
Len

There are. I think there may be another thread for that. I just got in on the most recent woot for 2 G1s, and will be cancelling my Sirius subscription when it ends at the end of this month.

In addition, I was not one of those who got Sirius for Stern. I was actually going back and forth on Sirius/XM, but my Jeep purchase in 2005 made the decision for me. It had Sirius, so I got Sirius for my other car, too. But, we dislike the changes to existing channels and elimination of other channels, and Slacker has provided a much better experience.

[Jimmy_Tide]

Good bye my ole friend XM... I have been with XM for 6 years (wow..) now that @ss Mel has taken over the whole service has gone to crap. Remember the we will not raise our rates BS they fed to the FCC? Well they are..but there not. The primary sub stays the same price BUT they are jacking up the family plan and making us pay for what is arguably the worst online listening, oh but it's going to 128K..really?? I was listening to 128k in 1998 with winamp. I've had it with them and I can't wait to see Sirius XM fail in the coming years. I LOVE Slacker, this my friends is the future of radio and if (I hope when) Slacker becomes a full blown satellite service they will learn from the many,many,many,mistakes made my Sirius XM. When I saw Lon was on board with Slacker, that to me put the seal of credibility on it.

Go SLACKER!

[timber03]

I'll tell ya, I just got a backberry storm today and installed the Slacker application and I am blown away. Does anybody know if Slacker is going to offer mlb/nfl on it's service. I'd gladly pay for that and cancel my xm account all together. It's sure got me thinking of cancelling it already, that would just be one more nail in the coffin.

http://www.xm-sirius-blog.com/blogviewpost_fbbae74b-0a16-4072-bc62-969f84b4425d.aspx

Slacker definately rules! I'm a fan already and it's only been a day

[MikeV]

Does anybody know if Slacker is going to offer mlb/nfl on it's service. I'd gladly pay for that and cancel my xm account all together.

Not likely... at least not anytime in the foreseeable future. Keep in mind that sporting events are usually LIVE, while Slacker's portable device, as well as part of the Blackberry app's functionality, are pre-cached.

Also, given the fact that Slacker is still a very small company, I would imagine that they don't have the cash to sign up one or more major sports leagues. Especially when the sports leagues usually already have their own internet offerings.

[abe froman]

I was an XM subscriber for at least 6 years. Since Sirius took them over I have not been too happy. I haven't been happy with Alt Nation. I thought Ethel was much better. the playlist has changed for the worst, imo. They took down fungus which I listened too as well. Mostly, I have been really disappointed with the Ron and Fez show. It's all loaded down with commercials and live reads for 188 flowers and crap like that. Just not the same. Most of my listening was online - which I was going to have to pay extra for starting next month

I finally called to cancel today. I was on hold for 30 minutes. the CSR barely spoke english and all she offered me was 20% off my bill for me to stick around. They don't seem to care much about retaining customers - especially customers who have been around for years. Glad to see them go.

[uraburr]

Does anybody know if Slacker is going to offer mlb/nfl on it's service. :

For Gods sake, I hope not. Have you seen what happened to XM and Sirius when the switch from focusing on music to providing every content under the sun? Ah, just a hint, they will be bankrupt by years end.

[truered]

As I read these posts I cannot help but wonder why there are no Sirius defectors to Slacker.
Len

Sirius defector here. Actually, over the years I have had both off and on depending on the make of car I am driving. When they announced the merger, I was excited at the possibility of Sirius picking up XM's catalog of music. No such luck. They just crammed a few more stations in what little bandwidth was left. The sound quality has degraded so much I would compare it to a 32kbps MP3. The price increase was the last straw for me. When I read about that, I decided to search for an alternative. I found Slacker.