XM Radio Canada introduces online radio fees
By Conrad Quilty-Harper 
posted March 3rd 2007 4:30PM
posted March 3rd 2007 4:30PM
In an oddly timed announcement considering all the confusion surrounding the XM hearts Sirius affair, XM Radio Canada is to introduce fees for the online contingent of its radio service. Previously, XM Radio Canada subscribers could access XM stations for free on a Mac or PC: from September 1 this year, it'll cost new subscribers $9.99CAD per month, with existing subscribers having to pay $1CAD a month until September 1 2008 when the fees will increase to the full $9.99CAD a month. At that point, existing subscribers will either have to pay $22.98 a month for the same service that they currently get for $12.99, or lose the ability to access XM online, bringing whole new meaning to Bernard Shaw's phrase "Progress is impossible without change." It's worth noting that XM Satellite Radio in the US isn't the operator of XM Radio Canada: XM Radio Canada is in fact a fully owned subsidiary of Canadian Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (of which XMSR owns 23%) which owns an exclusive 15 year license to use the XM brand name. Hopefully none of the companies involved will feel the need to take out an ad campaign over this "addition," although we would obviously sympathize if any angry canucks do.[Via Orbicast]
I don't know about the Canadian one. But when I had XM last year I never listened online since they didn't even offer all their stations on the website. Kinda shitty to charge for something that doesn't even offer the same amount of content.
That's incredibly retarded.
I'll never understand why when services decide to start charging, they start at something ridiculous like $10-20. Start at $1.99 and people won't even blink. Move it up to $4.99 within a year and some people will grumble but probably not cancel, and eventually ramp it up to $10 if you need to.
But raising the price 100% overnight is just stupid.
As a Canadian I'm not surprised we are so over taxed it is not funny. But like most things there are ways to get around this.
Get a friend in the great USA to subscribe for you and have the bills sent to you...
Err, as a Canadian, I don't know what 'overtaxed' has to do with this decision - it's the decision of a private company, not the government, unless you're suggesting the CRTC told XM to increase their fees... which they didn't.
Anyway, I live in a major Canadian city close to the US border and I find XM reception to be so spotty and poor that I wouldn't want to pay for it anyway. Paying an additional fee for radio I can only listen to when I'm on the internet - eating up my monthly data limits - isn't worth it.
As an XM user, when they start charging me 2x to listen to the same music (I can only be in one place at one time) that is when I QUIT.
The Reason not ALL of XM Channels are online is because XM doesn't have the Rights to Broadcast them on the Internet, just Satellite ONLY. Which is most the News Channels and some Music channels that XM doesn't control. There are a few Music channels XM does Extra for the Online that is not on Satellite. Sirius is the same way. This price Increase for XM Canada is a Rip off though. It should be FREE. I use the online service once in a while but I sure wouldn't PAY for it, let alone what they are asking.
Just over 50% of Canadian satellite listeners activated their radios using a fake US address in order to get a cheaper or no sign-up fee and lower monthly fees. I am one of them. Research showed that the address used was the White House, I wonder if XM ever wondered why so many "Welcome Kits" are sent to the White House?
Obviously, Canadians will cancel their current Canadian subscription and resign using a US address.
i just bought a car with an xm preinstalled, and i like it, but the price is just too much imo; besides they even charge for the paper statement & activation. i think i would just cancel the subscription & sell the module
"I don't know about the Canadian one. But when I had XM last year I never listened online since they didn't even offer all their stations on the website. Kinda shitty to charge for something that doesn't even offer the same amount of content."
You could say the same thing about Xbox Live up here too. While the Video Marketplace is chock full 'o' HD goodness for the downloading, the Canadian version has sweet f**k-all yet costs the same. We can all thank the CRTC for this but then again, even though I'm in the industry, if Canadian radio and television wasn't so shitty to begin with, the Government would have to mandate that it be carried to the tune of 30% of all broadcasts.
"We can all thank the CRTC for this but then again, even though I'm in the industry, if Canadian radio and television wasn't so shitty to begin with, the Government would have to mandate that it be carried to the tune of 30% of all broadcasts."
I'm not sure how the CRTC is responsible for this as they don't regulate the Internet - it's actually copyright and licensing issues that block these services, same reason that we can't get things like free TV eps from the TV network sites - they don't own the rights to distribute in Canada.
Anyway, I think you meant "the Government wouldn't have to mandate that it be carried..."
One more reason why XM sucks.