Is XM/Sirius a threat to internet radio?

[Rick and Roll]

Everyone has different motivations. Personally, I would never buy an ipod, or otherwise ensure that the music I like is available anytime/anywhere I want it. It's just not that important to me. Doesn't matter that Sirius, or anyone else has prog. I can fill up my day with all kinds of things...and there's all kinds of things out there I don't even know about.

I don't have time to watch the History channel, Discovery, or a thousand other ways to fill up a day. There's already programming for all kinds of fun genres. XM with so-called "progressive" programming doesn't register with me.

There's a 3 hour fusion show that airs on commercial radio on Thursdays that's incredible. But I can only listen for 30-45 minutes...the point I'm making is that I wouldn't pay for anything I wouldn't get full use out of.

There will always be a niche for a community like ours, regardless of who else is out there.

[VAXman(Admin)]

Originally Posted by Rick and Roll

Everyone has different motivations. Personally, I would never buy an ipod, or otherwise ensure that the music I like is available anytime/anywhere I want it. It's just not that important to me. Doesn't matter that Sirius, or anyone else has prog. I can fill up my day with all kinds of things...and there's all kinds of things out there I don't even know about.

Then why did you increase the storage requirements of my server to post to this thread?

Originally Posted by Rick and Roll

There will always be a niche for a community like ours, regardless of who else is out there.

I believe the crux of Cozy initial question is whether or not we feel having a satellite radio prog channel option would be a threat to an internet radio prog channel. It is with reference to that that your statement has relevance. Prog is a niche. There are several Prog internet channels giving listeners choice; hopefully, they find the best which is here. If Sirius had a Prog channel, I doubt it would single-handedly supplant the listening needs for all of the people now hooked on Prog stations on the internet. I was listening to Aural Moon when I had the XM service and the Music Lab and Fine Tuning channels were still a part of the programming offerings. There's so much more here and I made the choice to listen to AM over the XM channels. I don't think that anything that Sirius would put together would be Sirius serious competition for what we have here.

[gr8sho92]

Originally Posted by VAXman

Prog is a niche. There are several Prog internet channels giving listeners choice; hopefully, they find the best which is here.

FWIW, here's how I found AM.

1) Bought Treo 650
2) Bought PocketTunes to listen to internet radio
3) Found RadioIO 70s channel which played 2 PFM tracks over a period of several weeks. PFM on the radio in the USA??? What a novel idea. But this channel played a lot of different genres of 70s music and wasn't focused enough on what I liked, so I started searching for progressive rock programming. If it exists at all, it will be on the internet, right?
4) After listening to several different stations around the world, this one seemed decent and I kept listening. Much music I know and love, but even more I don't know or never even heard of.
5) The clincher was the ability for listeners to request their own tracks and in essence extend the music programming model out to the entire listener community. Very cool concept.

As an aside, an article on the history of how AM came to be would be interesting to me.

[jtmckinley]

Originally Posted by gr8sho92

As an aside, an article on the history of how AM came to be would be interesting to me.

Hmm, I'd be interested in learning that as well, Jim?

[VAXman(Admin)]

Originally Posted by jtmckinley

Hmm, I'd be interested in learning that as well, Jim?

I hope this doesn't go too far off course.

I want to add the the Aural Moon FAQ to the web site. I am waiting on somebody to give me a good write-up on how to listen to AM on a Weendoze box. I don't know how to properly answer the question: How can I listen to Aural Moon using a Weenoze machine? other than to say: "Get a Mac!" and then: "See 'How can I listen to Aural Moon using a Mac?'".

Anyway, one of the FAQ sections will be about station workings and history.

[gr8sho92]

Originally Posted by VAXman

I am waiting on somebody to give me a good write-up on how to listen to AM on a Weendoze box. I don't know how to properly answer the question: How can I listen to Aural Moon using a Weenoze machine? other than to say: "Get a Mac!" and then: "See 'How can I listen to Aural Moon using a Mac?'".

I'll offer to help if you tell me the format of how your FAQs are being written.

The net though is there are many players easily accessible that will work. In fact, since you are pro Apple, you can even suggest Quicktime.

Other ubiquitous choices include Realplayer. I typically use MusicMatch. I'm sure there are many others.

It is interesting to note that Windows Media Player does not support .pls format as a default.

[gr8sho92]

And don't forget about HD radio.

I know people that swear by sat radio. People that buy cars because they can listen to Sirius. This makes sense to me if you have a long commute and there is something you like and listen to often. Also keep in mind that satellite radio, unlike free radio and internet radio actually pays license fees for each song they play. I know this because I have a close friend that works at XM.

I personally have adopted the iPod for use when in my car. I like being able to summon up the entire library of <put your band here> any time I like. In my case it would be primarily italian symphonic and british prog these days.

When I'm working with my laptop, listening to AM is very easy for me. I would listen to AM in the car too and have done it using my Treo 650 but it is awkward, plus it keeps my phone from being used as a phone. I can see it likely in the near future that cars will have a built-in internet connection, and this would make listening to internet radio much simpler.

Ultimately what will matter most I suspect is whether or not gov't and regulatory bodies will impose taxes/fees or other restrictions on the internet and broadcasters as to what will and will not survive.