Comments on: Slacker and Pandora portable radio to finally put a bullet in Sirius

By: Mij

Mij — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 02:29:02 +0000

Interesting how people get kind of offensive when something they like is threatened. Comparing Sirius to Slacker, or vice versa is not really fair since what they offer is different. Clearly the content on Sirius is superior, but you can’t really tailor Sirius the way you can Slacker. I absolutely love Slacker because I can configure it to play the music I want to hear and only the music I want to hear. And I snagged a couple three of their first gen portables for like $69 on Amazon and my boys and I just love them. The article is right about the business model of Sirius, but it will survive in some form no doubt. The world will continue without Howard no problem.

By: edaciuk

edaciuk — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 09:24:59 +0000

Two notes:
1) I haven’t really poured through their financials but it looks like Sirius has never made money and losing ~$300 million a year with $380 million in cash not sure of their future. I could be wrong but that’s from just a quick glance at their 10-k: http://google.brand.edgar-online.com/displayfilinginfo.aspx?FilingID=6469359-147779-371057&type=sect&TabIndex=2&companyid=1133&ppu=%252fdefault.aspx%253fsym%253dSIRI.

2) I agree that the Slacker/Pandora format alone is probably not as content rich as Sirius XM. That alone is not going to kill them. The thought is that a single dedicated, walled-off, expensive and inefficient communications platform won’t be able compete with the open internet on content long term. Whether it’s Slacker or last.fm or iTunes or online radio. See newspapers.

By: edaciuk

edaciuk — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 09:16:44 +0000

That’s a good point about Howard Stern. Exclusive content can be a great business. Look at Bloomberg or HBO. Not sure if it’s justifies a global dedicated hardware and communications network though. That was a good move on XM’s part. But not enough to save it.

By: thebigtao

thebigtao — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 00:30:41 +0000

Sirius not profitable??? They are WELL on their way to profitability with 19 million subs and GROWING. Um…UNLIKE Slacker and Pandora which are losing money in such an overwhelming way that I find your ignorant comment about Sirius not being profitable down right laughable.

The royalty fees alone will kill free services like Pandora and Slacker. Think about it. Sure…alot of people will download FREE apps. But will they LOVE them as much as commercial free uncensored radio with live concerts and TONS of great content? Many people(myself included) have downloaded the Pandora and Slacker apps only to get TIRED of them. The novelty wears off pretty quick.

Its like how people said the ipod would kill Sat Radio. Don’t get me wrong. Ipods are GREAT. I love em. BUT….as far as a music DISCOVERY product….they are TOO WORK INTENSIVE. Sure, if you are a 15 year old kid who doesn’t have a job and lives at home and has 10 hrs a day to CONSTANTLY download music everyday….it ALMOST makes sense.

But for MOST working people that way will NEVER replace the ease of radio. And Sat Radio is the way to go. Once Sirius starts marketing and running ads again…it will become the hip/cool must have tech toy.

Slacker and Pandora get old real quick, because they are poor substitutes and don’t come REMOTELY close to the extensive channels and genres available on Sirius. Sirius CRUSHES them with content. Live concerts. Great DJs and personalities. LIVE SPORTS. ON and ON.

Sirius wins in the car with ease of use hands down.

And for anyone complaining about $13 a month being too expensive….thats pennies a day. Those who complain about that must truly be 15 year old kids who still live at home with Mom and Dad and DON’T work.

$13 a day is TOTALLY worth it for all the reasons I mentioned.

Nuff said.

By: Frank

Frank — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:54:27 +0000

I agree with your comments here – also I listen to Slacker on my iPhone every day going in to work, so just wanted to let you know you can get Slacker there too!

By: Donk

Donk — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:26:32 +0000

1 reason for Sirius-XM to exist.. HOWARD STERN, who’s skills and energy are greatly diminished. With each million banked and mansion built he sounds less and less interested in his show and certainly has given up on programing the rest of his channels. As long as he is on air they will continue to have some number of the origional 6 million fanatics. But with Howard lapsing into sleepy boredom and laziness the end may be in sight.

By: Jerry S

Jerry S — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 10:20:20 +0000

As cool as iPhones may be, they did not kill satellite radio. Your other hypothesis is right. It was a stupid, unprofitable business model from the start.

While I’m at it, contrary to popular belief, cool technology isn’t what’s crushing traditional radio either. They still reach 90+ percent of the population each week. It’s just that the Internet has conditioned advertisers to expect accountable, trackable media. Radio and TV have poor ratings methods and you can’t track performance very well.