Don't pay full price for SiriusXM radio

catdude · Post by **catdude** » Fri Aug 26, 2016 11:13 pm

Hi Bogleheads -

Just a quick tip FWIW. My subscription for SiriusXM radio was scheduled to automatically renew in early September. The new rate was $218/year. I called them this afternoon and said I wanted to cancel my subscription. They wanted to keep me as a subscriber and offered to extend my promotional rate for another year. Cost: $110/year (prepaid). I accepted their offer. I've been thru this with them several times... when I call to cancel, they always make me an offer to get me to stay. No need to pay full price for their service...

cookymonster · Post by **cookymonster** » Fri Aug 26, 2016 11:36 pm

I used to pay $110 per year as well. last month I managed to switch back to the $30 per 5 month plan; I told them this was the most I could afford and that if they wouldn't give me this rate to cancel the service. Considering I usually bike to work and hardly drive I wasn't bluffing.

catdude · Post by **catdude** » Sat Aug 27, 2016 12:03 am

cookymonster wrote:I used to pay $110 per year as well. last month I managed to switch back to the $30 per 5 month plan; I told them this was the most I could afford and that if they wouldn't give me this rate to cancel the service. Considering I usually bike to work and hardly drive I wasn't bluffing.

I'm not bluffing either. I'm retired and don't do a whole lot of driving. At $218 a year, their service just isn't worth it IMO. At 110 bucks (about $9/month) I'm willing to go along with it...

Que1999 · Post by **Que1999** » Sat Aug 27, 2016 12:31 am

I've done the exact same thing for the past 5 years. I'll set a reminder on my calendar, about a week before the subscription is set to auto-renew... I always get them down to $5 a month for the next 6 months. I really don't need it in this day and age of smart-phones w/Spotify, IHeartRadio, podcasts, etc.... But for $5 a month for 6 months, sure why not?

Post by **oldcomputerguy** » Sat Aug 27, 2016 4:43 am

I in fact pulled the plug on my XM radio a couple of years ago. They just don't have anything I want to listen to anymore. I finally realized that I was hearing the same thing over and over on Comedy Central, and I got tired of paying for re-runs. So goodbye and good luck. Podcasts are free.

obafgkm · Post by **obafgkm** » Sat Aug 27, 2016 6:09 am

Same here. I got SiriusXM for "free" when I bought my car a few years ago, liked it, and renewed at the $30/5 months rate several times. Fall 2015, I found out that you could "turn off" the service for a few months. I did so, and started up again for baseball season in the spring (I generally have it for baseball games, comedians occasionally, and the BBC sometimes. I do not have a smartphone, only an iPod Touch.

What I learned during my hiatus is that I really don't need SiriusXM, and I may just let it go after baseball season.

neilpilot · Post by **neilpilot** » Sat Aug 27, 2016 11:21 am

obafgkm wrote:Same here. I got SiriusXM for "free" when I bought my car a few years ago, liked it, and renewed at the $30/5 months rate several times. Fall 2015, I found out that you could "turn off" the service for a few months. I did so, and started up again for baseball season in the spring (I generally have it for baseball games, comedians occasionally, and the BBC sometimes. I do not have a smartphone, only an iPod Touch.

What I learned during my hiatus is that I really don't need SiriusXM, and I may just let it go after baseball season.

SiriusXM and I go back to when I purchased my current SUV in 2008. After the "free" intro, I have always renewed at the current promo rate, and call 2-3 days before my service rolls over to the regular rate. Rinse and repeat; it's a strange business plan that requires me to call every 5-6 months. BTW the OP's $110 rate is almost double the 5-month promo rate of $25 ($30 with added fees). Only once in the past 8 years have they called my bluff, and I dropped XM for about 3 weeks when they didn't offer the promo rate. They then contacted me, begging me to come back at the same $5/mo rate they refused to give me.

Unfortunately I pay full price for the aviator weather service I have under a different account. I'm not willing to drop that service.

catdude · Post by **catdude** » Sat Aug 27, 2016 11:50 am

neilpilot wrote: BTW the OP's $110 rate is almost double the 5-month promo rate of $25 ($30 with added fees).

Yeah, not very Bogleheadish of me to pay twice the rate I need to.

I think I'd just drop the service if the AM-FM radio landscape around here wasn't so bleak...

Toons · Post by **Toons** » Sat Aug 27, 2016 12:51 pm

I pay Pandora about 55.00 for a yearly plan.
I stream music through the audio system in the car from the phone.
I used up the free Sirius Trial when I first got the vehicle.
Decided it wasn't for me.

miles monroe · Post by **miles monroe** » Sat Aug 27, 2016 1:04 pm

to reference another current thread, sirius/xm is fantastic to have on road trips, which for me is generally driving 8am to midnite.

like most, i play the stupid game where i get the get $200 renewal, call and claim its not worth that much, and they set me up for $100 (numbers rounded). i really wish they would set a "real" price and stick to it. no negotiating. take it or leave it. i really hate going thru this annual exercise, but i'd feel stupid if i didn't.

knight rider · Post by **knight rider** » Sat Aug 27, 2016 1:11 pm

Just last night I called as mine had reached the end of my most recent promotional rate. After a couple of rounds of offers by them and rejections by me, I got another 6 months for $24.99. I had even missed the end date and it had already renewed at the full, absurd price. They refunded the difference with no objection.

spitty · Post by **spitty** » Sat Aug 27, 2016 1:26 pm

The music sound quality of Sirius is just not very good compared to a CD or even Spotify. And there are tons of commercials on all the talk stations--I timed the Hannity show once and it was almost 7 minutes! So I've dropped it totally after 12 years and subscribe to Spotify...or listen to podcasts. I too played the yearly renewal game and it just got old. It's a slimey business tactic on their part to have the policy of "we'll screw you unless you call us out" and I've told many friends about this who had no idea about the "game".

Doom&Gloom · Post by **Doom&Gloom** » Sat Aug 27, 2016 1:40 pm

spitty wrote:The music sound quality of Sirius is just not very good compared to a CD or even Spotify. And there are tons of commercials on all the talk stations--I timed the Hannity show once and it was almost 7 minutes! So I've dropped it totally after 12 years and subscribe to Spotify...or listen to podcasts. I too played the yearly renewal game and it just got old. It's a slimey business tactic on their part to have the policy of "we'll screw you unless you call us out" and I've told many friends about this who had no idea about the "game".

My wife's Subaru came with Sirius pre-installed. So far it hasn't expired even though it should have by now. Even on the music channels there is far too much jabbering by "dj's." Who needs them? That makes Sirius feel almost as bad as commercial FM radio to me. Just give me music.

I had XM prior to the merger with Sirius and loved it--particularly one channel they did away with post-merger. I found it almost impossible to cancel a subscription, but it sounds as if they have now made that easier to do. I abandoned Sirius/XM when they merged as my hardware was no longer compatible.

I evolved from there to Rhapsody and was able to record music onto an mp3 player for use in my car. Rhapsody became much too cumbersome and didn't have the catalog that Spotify does, so I am now subscribing to Spotify and using my smartphone to stream music to my car. I am quite pleased with Spotify, but I figure something better will eventually replace it. I used to think nothing would ever be able to take the place of XM, but I was clearly mistaken.

skatterZ · Post by **skatterZ** » Sat Aug 27, 2016 1:56 pm

$5 per month for past three years lat week didn't even have to use the C word ( cancel).

S&L1940 · Post by **S&L1940** » Sat Aug 27, 2016 3:53 pm

cookymonster wrote:I used to pay $110 per year as well. last month I managed to switch back to the $30 per 5 month plan; I told them this was the most I could afford and that if they wouldn't give me this rate to cancel the service. Considering I usually bike to work and hardly drive I wasn't bluffing.

got tired of negotiating the 5 month plan again and again. I too do not do much long distance driving, cancelled and loaded up the CD player. They offered me an in-home radio at no charge at the $5 rate and I refused. (Comcast music channels do just fine since I have already paid for them.) They now email me weekly renewal offers that alternate between 5 months at $4 or $5. May finally weaken and go back to the five month renewal tango. The catch is you gotta remember to cancel before the auto renewal kicks in...

miles monroe · Post by **miles monroe** » Sat Aug 27, 2016 4:03 pm

something else that annoys me is that its extra to listen via the app. there are a few talk shows that i'd listen to in the house, but i'm not gonna pay an extra $15 a month (or what the negotiated rate would be) to do so.

jebmke · Post by **jebmke** » Sat Aug 27, 2016 4:17 pm

spitty wrote:The music sound quality of Sirius is just not very good compared to a CD or even Spotify. And there are tons of commercials on all the talk stations--I timed the Hannity show once and it was almost 7 minutes! So I've dropped it totally after 12 years and subscribe to Spotify...or listen to podcasts. I too played the yearly renewal game and it just got old. It's a slimey business tactic on their part to have the policy of "we'll screw you unless you call us out" and I've told many friends about this who had no idea about the "game".

This is what I do. I have some podcasts and Spotify playlists downloaded to my phone for when I am in areas where I don't get cell signal or don't want to burn data.

Working my way through the History of Rome podcast. They just offed Caligula -- seemed like the right decision.

blaugranamd · Post by **blaugranamd** » Sat Aug 27, 2016 4:35 pm

With the proliferation of internet radio apps, Podcasts, and even service like Amazon Prime that let you download entire albums for free, why people pay for radio service is beyond me.

knight rider · Post by **knight rider** » Sat Aug 27, 2016 4:49 pm

S&L1940 wrote:
cookymonster wrote:I used to pay $110 per year as well. last month I managed to switch back to the $30 per 5 month plan; I told them this was the most I could afford and that if they wouldn't give me this rate to cancel the service. Considering I usually bike to work and hardly drive I wasn't bluffing.
got tired of negotiating the 5 month plan again and again. I too do not do much long distance driving, cancelled and loaded up the CD player. They offered me an in-home radio at no charge at the $5 rate and I refused. (Comcast music channels do just fine since I have already paid for them.) They now email me weekly renewal offers that alternate between 5 months at $4 or $5. May finally weaken and go back to the five month renewal tango. The catch is you gotta remember to cancel before the auto renewal kicks in...

Turns out you don't necessarily have to remember. I forgot to set a calendar reminder for this latest cycle, and only noticed when the full charge showed up on my CC. They had no problem refunding the difference after I re-negotiated the $25 rate.

mtgguy · Post by **mtgguy** » Sat Aug 27, 2016 9:26 pm

$30 for 6 months. Make sure to not allow auto renew with your cc, as you may not get flagged as someone who can/will cancel. Also, don't renew early (before current subscription ends), as you will lose any remaining days you have as of the renewal date.

wassabi · Post by **wassabi** » Sun Aug 28, 2016 6:35 am

Here's the direct number to customer retention. No waiting, no phone menus. I use it every time and the total call takes about ten minutes.

1-866-635-2349

Bagman · Post by **Bagman** » Sun Aug 28, 2016 11:10 am

Johnny, thanks. I just got off the phone with SiriusXM. Cancelled automatic credit card renewal, got a refund of current subscription, and signed up for the $30 for 5 months plan. You saved me some money.

S&L1940 · Post by **S&L1940** » Sun Aug 28, 2016 11:46 am

knight rider wrote:
S&L1940 wrote:
cookymonster wrote:I used to pay $110 per year as well. last month I managed to switch back to the $30 per 5 month plan; I told them this was the most I could afford and that if they wouldn't give me this rate to cancel the service. Considering I usually bike to work and hardly drive I wasn't bluffing.
got tired of negotiating the 5 month plan again and again. I too do not do much long distance driving, cancelled and loaded up the CD player. They offered me an in-home radio at no charge at the $5 rate and I refused. (Comcast music channels do just fine since I have already paid for them.) They now email me weekly renewal offers that alternate between 5 months at $4 or $5. May finally weaken and go back to the five month renewal tango. The catch is you gotta remember to cancel before the auto renewal kicks in...
Turns out you don't necessarily have to remember. I forgot to set a calendar reminder for this latest cycle, and only noticed when the full charge showed up on my CC. They had no problem refunding the difference after I re-negotiated the $25 rate.

Yeah, I set a calendar reminder and if that slips by you can walk the outrageous fee back to the original deal, not what I planned to do with my retirement time. Our local paper does the same thing, banging back to their "suggested retail price" unless you start doing the renewal or cancel tango. I try using a card that expires before the next renewal so they have to call. Then we do the dance...

Paul78 · Post by **Paul78** » Sun Aug 28, 2016 11:51 am

I just went for the "lifetime" option. Cost about $800. I am assuming the car/radio will last at least 10 years. After taking of the the free year (came with car) that comes out to $88 a year. The hope is my car/radio last 15-20 years which would significantly cut down the per year cost.

MtnTraveler · Post by **MtnTraveler** » Sun Aug 28, 2016 11:59 am

Paul78 wrote:I just went for the "lifetime" option. Cost about $800. I am assuming the car/radio will last at least 10 years. After taking of the the free year (came with car) that comes out to $88 a year. The hope is my car/radio last 15-20 years which would significantly cut down the per year cost.

Did you call and ask them for a lifetime subscription? I'd be interested in that.

Ged · Post by **Ged** » Sun Aug 28, 2016 12:03 pm

I dropped Sirius XM radio like a hot potato when my introductory period ran out on my new car. Mostly I listen to stuff off a USB device when I drive anyway. Audiobooks, favorite music, etc.

However I do keep the traffic and weather information service for my in car sat nav. On road trips it's helpful, and the quality of information seems to get a little better each year.

Paul78 · Post by **Paul78** » Sun Aug 28, 2016 12:10 pm

MtnTraveler wrote:
Paul78 wrote:I just went for the "lifetime" option. Cost about $800. I am assuming the car/radio will last at least 10 years. After taking of the the free year (came with car) that comes out to $88 a year. The hope is my car/radio last 15-20 years which would significantly cut down the per year cost.
Did you call and ask them for a lifetime subscription? I'd be interested in that.

Yeah but you may have to call multiple times. "lifetime" is not a subscription option but they are still able to manually put it in. Some reps will do it others will not. When I call they kept saying “we do not offer that option” but after being persistent (ie saying I know person x who just signed up for a lifetime membership a month ago) and transferred a time or two I was about to get it.

Also to upgrade to Sirius premier lifetime it cost an additional $100. You can only make this upgrade after you subscribe to Sirius lifetime and it can not be done at the same time. I made the call to sign up for Sirius lifetime and then the next day I called again to pay $100 to upgrade to Sirius premier lifetime.

And the membership only works on the car radio. It does not give you access to the online streaming option.

WhyNotUs · Post by **WhyNotUs** » Sun Aug 28, 2016 12:51 pm

blaugranamd wrote:With the proliferation of internet radio apps, Podcasts, and even service like Amazon Prime that let you download entire albums for free, why people pay for radio service is beyond me.

I lucky to have a good community radio station available with new and varied music. Having said that SiriusXM is by far the best service out there for people who love music. They have DJs who know what they are doing and a great mix of stations. Most of the online services are fine for people who just want to listen to oldies or pop but if your tastes are eclectic and you enjoy new music that is not Top 40, then community radio and Sirius are the best bets.

We haggle for the price and I would not pay the rack rate for it, but at $5 a month I enjoy the service. I gave up on Pandora in very short order, Amazon Prime even less, and the only channel that interests me on Spotify was the new music lists. The ads make it impossible for me to listen very long though.

I am trying to develop a podcast habit but so far it has not stuck, most of my car rides are 10-20 minutes and I don't really want to get involved and then stop and generally prefer music anyway.

mpsz · Post by **mpsz** » Sun Aug 28, 2016 1:06 pm

I've gotten the $25-$30 for 5-6 months (+$5 for taxes) deal each renewal for the past 2 years. If you call and say "I saw an ad online for $30 for 6 months" they might find it, but you have to ask for it.

When I renewed 2 months ago, they couldn't find this offer and offered me the $110 for 1 year. I asked the rep to please check again, since I'd be cancelling at the $110 rate, and since there's a re-activation fee, the radio would be turned off forever. She magically found the $30 for 6 months deal. Although being able to call once a year instead of once every 6 months may be worth the additional cost...

I was also surprised last time I received a renewal notice in the mail to see a ~20% "music royalty fee" on top. I hadn't noticed this before. Beware!

squirm · Post by **squirm** » Sun Aug 28, 2016 1:31 pm

How much longer is SiriusXM going to keep doing this? Every year it's the same thing, you call them and negotiate a better deal, at point I would think they would stop. AT&T seems to be going that direction.

catdude · Post by **catdude** » Sun Aug 28, 2016 1:37 pm

Paul78 wrote:I just went for the "lifetime" option. Cost about $800. I am assuming the car/radio will last at least 10 years. After taking of the the free year (came with car) that comes out to $88 a year. The hope is my car/radio last 15-20 years which would significantly cut down the per year cost.

That's a gamble, don't you think? I'd be afraid that SiriusXM would go belly up in a couple years and I'd be out all that money...

squirm · Post by **squirm** » Sun Aug 28, 2016 1:46 pm

mpsz wrote:I've gotten the $25-$30 for 5-6 months (+$5 for taxes) deal each renewal for the past 2 years. If you call and say "I saw an ad online for $30 for 6 months" they might find it, but you have to ask for it.

When I renewed 2 months ago, they couldn't find this offer and offered me the $110 for 1 year. I asked the rep to please check again, since I'd be cancelling at the $110 rate, and since there's a re-activation fee, the radio would be turned off forever. She magically found the $30 for 6 months deal. Although being able to call once a year instead of once every 6 months may be worth the additional cost...

I was also surprised last time I received a renewal notice in the mail to see a ~20% "music royalty fee" on top. I hadn't noticed this before. Beware!

The royalty fee has been itemized out for a while. I remember seeing it years ago.

squirm · Post by **squirm** » Sun Aug 28, 2016 1:47 pm

I have a lifetime subscription with my XM to go, portable player. It's old, but still works fine. The lifetime fee was $300 back then, around 2005. I feel old.

neilpilot · Post by **neilpilot** » Sun Aug 28, 2016 2:49 pm

mpsz wrote: I asked the rep to please check again, since I'd be cancelling at the $110 rate, and since there's a re-activation fee, the radio would be turned off forever.

When this happened to me years ago, I did cancel. When they emailed that $5/mo, 6 month offer to me 1-2 months later, they also waivey the re-activation fee. As I said earlier, I've been on this 5-6 mo treadmill since 2008.

RMO87 · Post by **RMO87** » Sat Oct 13, 2018 6:27 am

While $30 for 5 or 6 months sounds good, the best offer I've ever come across was via an email from them last month offering 3 years for $99. However, this was targeted toward my wife's unactivated-since-the-free-trial-expired vehicle.

I wonder if anyone with Sirius currently activated has successfully negotiated down to this awesome deal--it works out to less than $3 per month.

beyou · Post by **beyou** » Sat Oct 13, 2018 6:57 am

I actually enjoy their music, sports and comedy once in a while. News would be good but it’s mostly commercials.

That said, not only is the cost too high for as often as we use it, I find the service is not consistent. Of course if you are in a tunnel it would lose the signal, but mine goes in/out anywhere in any weather. All they tell you is “we’ll send you a signal” but that does not solve anything. My prepaid year is up, and going to call to say they must fix this for good and charge me much less or goodbye.

Anyone else have this intermittent signal problem ?
It is on a 2012 Subaru Outback in my case.

PS I tried the streaming option for a free one month trial.
Liked it since I am untethered from the Subaru, but the total cost would have been absurd if I added to the car sub. Anyone get them to add this when negotiating a better remewal deal ?

sksbog · Post by **sksbog** » Sat Oct 13, 2018 7:17 am

catdude wrote: ↑Fri Aug 26, 2016 11:13 pm Hi Bogleheads -

Just a quick tip FWIW. My subscription for SiriusXM radio was scheduled to automatically renew in early September. The new rate was $218/year. I called them this afternoon and said I wanted to cancel my subscription. They wanted to keep me as a subscriber and offered to extend my promotional rate for another year. Cost: $110/year (prepaid). I accepted their offer. I've been thru this with them several times... when I call to cancel, they always make me an offer to get me to stay. No need to pay full price for their service...

I call every 5 months to cancel. I get $35 for the next 5 months.

Blues · Post by **Blues** » Sat Oct 13, 2018 7:43 am

I got tired of doing the "call every five months and negotiate a low rate" dance so I ditched the service.

I'm much happier just listening to Spotify via bluetooth in my 4Runner, plus I get to choose what I want to listen to. And the fidelity of the sound is much better imho...not to mention, no repeats of the same tired playlists from SiriusXM.

Go Blue 99 · Post by **Go Blue 99** » Sat Oct 13, 2018 8:07 am

Blues wrote: ↑Sat Oct 13, 2018 7:43 am I got tired of doing the "call every five months and negotiate a low rate" dance so I ditched the service.

I'm much happier just listening to Spotify via bluetooth in my 4Runner, plus I get to choose what I want to listen to. And the fidelity of the sound is much better imho...not to mention, no repeats of the same tired playlists from SiriusXM.

My issue with this- how do you change the station without fiddling with your phone (which is illegal in my state)?
The beauty of Sat radio is that I can cycle through 15 different stations using my steering wheel controls, so no distracted driving.

elcassador · Post by **elcassador** » Sat Oct 13, 2018 8:27 am

Go Blue 99 wrote: ↑Sat Oct 13, 2018 8:07 am
Blues wrote: ↑Sat Oct 13, 2018 7:43 am I got tired of doing the "call every five months and negotiate a low rate" dance so I ditched the service.

I'm much happier just listening to Spotify via bluetooth in my 4Runner, plus I get to choose what I want to listen to. And the fidelity of the sound is much better imho...not to mention, no repeats of the same tired playlists from SiriusXM.
My issue with this- how do you change the station without fiddling with your phone (which is illegal in my state)?
The beauty of Sat radio is that I can cycle through 15 different stations using my steering wheel controls, so no distracted driving.

+1

It's great because it's on autopilot - no need to ever scroll through my phone to change things up and no data to stream. Many music channels of different genres, all news networks + Bloomberg (but yes, there are a lot of commercials), sports and actually some entertaining talk radio. While I have never used Spotify, I really like XM because you hear new music from artists you've never heard without any effort. All you have to do is drive. I have found many new bands that I doubt I would have other wise. I must note that live in Atlanta, so I spend a lot of time in the car, which makes it worth it. Demand cancelation every time renewal comes around, they will lower the price significantly.

Blues · Post by **Blues** » Sat Oct 13, 2018 9:13 am

There's no data use or charges when I play Spotify via bluetooth in the vehicle. I just download various playlists or albums to my phone from time to time via our wireless connection at home. It's painless and takes seconds to accomplish.

Before leaving the house I set Spotify to "offline" on the phone . As a result it uses no cellular data and streams the playlist or album via bluetooth without incurring any cost.

I literally have playlists that contain hundreds to over a thousand songs. I don't have to worry about pulling over and changing the list and I never have a clue what's coming when I use "shuffle" play.

And Spotify sends me new music / artists based upon my tastes weekly and I have a couple of those lists saved to the phone automatically.

On the other hand, when I had SiriusXM for a couple of years, I got bored to death with them playing the same songs on the same channels repeatedly...and I don't spend a lot of time in my vehicle by and large these days and still noticed the repetition.

To each his or her own.

Doom&Gloom · Post by **Doom&Gloom** » Sat Oct 13, 2018 9:57 am

Blues wrote: ↑Sat Oct 13, 2018 9:13 am There's no data use or charges when I play Spotify via bluetooth in the vehicle. I just download various playlists or albums to my phone from time to time via our wireless connection at home. It's painless and takes seconds to accomplish.

Before leaving the house I set Spotify to "offline" on the phone . As a result it uses no cellular data and streams the playlist or album via bluetooth without incurring any cost.

I literally have playlists that contain hundreds to over a thousand songs. I don't have to worry about pulling over and changing the list and I never have a clue what's coming when I use "shuffle" play.

And Spotify sends me new music / artists based upon my tastes weekly and I have a couple of those lists saved to the phone automatically.

On the other hand, when I had SiriusXM for a couple of years, I got bored to death with them playing the same songs on the same channels repeatedly...and I don't spend a lot of time in my vehicle by and large these days and still noticed the repetition.

To each his or her own.

Exactly what I do. I like it much more than XM/Sirius, but DW still has XM/Sirius in her car as that is what she prefers. It is a nice change of pace for me when we are in her car, but I tire of it on trips due to the repetitive playlists. The two primary reasons that I dropped the service at the time of the merger were that they discontinued my favorite channel and I was very annoyed by the presence of "DJs" on some music channels on a paid service.

Blues · Post by **Blues** » Sat Oct 13, 2018 10:09 am

^^^Even my missus, who is by her own admission no audiophile, says that the Spotify music via bluetooth is much better sounding than SiriusXM.

BTW, for those of you who may wish to save money (over Spotify) and have less demanding needs or tastes, Amazon Music or Prime Music can accomplish the same usage in the vehicle at lower monthly or annual cost. I prefer Spotify after having used all those services, due to its superior algorithm, deeper library and playlists, and "new artist" features.

Earl Lemongrab · Post by **Earl Lemongrab** » Sat Oct 13, 2018 11:59 am

Blues wrote: ↑Sat Oct 13, 2018 10:09 am ^^^Even my missus, who is by her own admission no audiophile, says that the Spotify music via bluetooth is much better sounding than SiriusXM.

BTW, for those of you who may wish to save money (over Spotify) and have less demanding needs or tastes, Amazon Music or Prime Music can accomplish the same usage in the vehicle at lower monthly or annual cost. I prefer Spotify after having used all those services, due to its superior algorithm, deeper library and playlists, and "new artist" features.

I seem to recall that some phone service providers don't count some of the streaming music services against your data. Is that the case for you?

8foot7 · Post by **8foot7** » Sat Oct 13, 2018 12:07 pm

To me there is little point in paying any more than the 6 for $30 if you just care about music. They hardly ever go cheaper than that. At that price it is worth it to me—pretty much blends in with the background noise of any given month. At a higher price it is not. One time they called my bluff and I said sure, cancel it. They called a few days later to get me back and I said I’ll do the 6 for 30 and it was done.

My wife did the $99/12 months only because she hates to have to call every six months. I guess that’s still not a bad deal but It’s just not worth $8.33/mo to me.

S&L1940 · Post by **S&L1940** » Sat Oct 13, 2018 12:18 pm

Blues wrote: ↑Sat Oct 13, 2018 7:43 am I got tired of doing the "call every five months and negotiate a low rate" dance so I ditched the service.

They never stop with the 5 month offers; get emails and snail mail constantly
Sometime back they even offered me a radio receiver for my home
My counter offer, stop the BS and give me the yearly subscription at the same rate which I would get anyway via the constant 5 month negotiation dances we go through.
If I got the 3 year $99 package, yeah, why not?

Blues · Post by **Blues** » Sat Oct 13, 2018 1:43 pm

Earl Lemongrab wrote: ↑Sat Oct 13, 2018 11:59 am
Blues wrote: ↑Sat Oct 13, 2018 10:09 am ^^^Even my missus, who is by her own admission no audiophile, says that the Spotify music via bluetooth is much better sounding than SiriusXM.

BTW, for those of you who may wish to save money (over Spotify) and have less demanding needs or tastes, Amazon Music or Prime Music can accomplish the same usage in the vehicle at lower monthly or annual cost. I prefer Spotify after having used all those services, due to its superior algorithm, deeper library and playlists, and "new artist" features.
I seem to recall that some phone service providers don't count some of the streaming music services against your data. Is that the case for you?

No, I only get 2 gb of data a month on my plan and I use very little of it. At home I use Spotify with my wireless router/modem. Before I take off in the 4Runner, I just turn on Spotify, switch it to offline mode and then shut off wireless on the phone before leaving the house.

I use none of my data this way. All my downloads were already done via wireless (not cellular data) at home and the communication between the phone and audio system in the vehicle is strictly via bluetooth.

If it sounds complicated...it isn't.

Blues · Post by **Blues** » Sat Oct 13, 2018 1:49 pm

S&L1940 wrote: ↑Sat Oct 13, 2018 12:18 pm
Blues wrote: ↑Sat Oct 13, 2018 7:43 am I got tired of doing the "call every five months and negotiate a low rate" dance so I ditched the service.
They never stop with the 5 month offers; get emails and snail mail constantly
Sometime back they even offered me a radio receiver for my home
My counter offer, stop the BS and give me the yearly subscription at the same rate which I would get anyway via the constant 5 month negotiation dances we go through.
If I got the 3 year $99 package, yeah, why not?

I blocked their phone calls and now I only get an email every now and again which I discard. I'm just not interested in renewing.
(I haven't blocked the email (yet) just in case they make an offer I can't refuse. But that would have to be ridiculously low. Below the $5 a month I used to pay.)

ladycat · Post by **ladycat** » Sat Oct 13, 2018 1:51 pm

catdude wrote: ↑Fri Aug 26, 2016 11:13 pm Hi Bogleheads -

Just a quick tip FWIW. My subscription for SiriusXM radio was scheduled to automatically renew in early September. The new rate was $218/year. I called them this afternoon and said I wanted to cancel my subscription. They wanted to keep me as a subscriber and offered to extend my promotional rate for another year. Cost: $110/year (prepaid). I accepted their offer. I've been thru this with them several times... when I call to cancel, they always make me an offer to get me to stay. No need to pay full price for their service...

We do the same thing, but we just ask to extend the current pricing. They've never said no.

Doom&Gloom · Post by **Doom&Gloom** » Sat Oct 13, 2018 2:04 pm

Blues wrote: ↑Sat Oct 13, 2018 1:43 pm
Earl Lemongrab wrote: ↑Sat Oct 13, 2018 11:59 am
Blues wrote: ↑Sat Oct 13, 2018 10:09 am ^^^Even my missus, who is by her own admission no audiophile, says that the Spotify music via bluetooth is much better sounding than SiriusXM.

BTW, for those of you who may wish to save money (over Spotify) and have less demanding needs or tastes, Amazon Music or Prime Music can accomplish the same usage in the vehicle at lower monthly or annual cost. I prefer Spotify after having used all those services, due to its superior algorithm, deeper library and playlists, and "new artist" features.
I seem to recall that some phone service providers don't count some of the streaming music services against your data. Is that the case for you?
No, I only get 2 gb of data a month on my plan and I use very little of it. At home I use Spotify with my wireless router/modem. Before I take off in the 4Runner, I just turn on Spotify, switch it to offline mode and then shut off wireless on the phone before leaving the house.

I use none of my data this way. All my downloads were already done via wireless (not cellular data) at home and the communication between the phone and audio system in the vehicle is strictly via bluetooth.

If it sounds complicated...it isn't.

Indeed. My phone is never online with Spotify except for the minute or two required each month to download/update music. The initial download does require more time, but the data usage for Spotify on my phone is negligible.