The Polaris Music Prize is a jury award determined by journalists, broadcasters, bloggers and programmers from across Canada. Jury members are selected annually by the Polaris Board of Directors. The Polaris Jury consists of over 200 members from local and national media who display a wide breadth and depth of knowledge of Canadian music and passion for discovering new albums.

All jury members submit a ballot indicating their Top 5 albums of the year; the results form the Polaris Prize Long List and, after a second round of voting, the Polaris Prize Short List. An 11-member Grand Jury is selected each year to convene at the Polaris Awards gala, where they determine the Polaris Prize Winner. To ensure an impartial outcome, no one with direct financial relationships with artists is eligible to become a jury member. The organization itself is a registered, not-for-profit corporation.

The concept of the Polaris Music prize is something similar to panelists used to vote in many Halls of Fame associated with sports. To be nominated for the Polaris Music prize is a huge honor for artists. To be named to the short list and even perhaps win is the pinnacle of the event. The Polaris Music Prize contest offers a great chance for artists and consumers to share their passions, be exposed to some great music, and feel a connection.

The Polaris Music Prize Gala and much more about the event will be broadcast on Sirius’ CBC Radio 3.

Position – Long Sirius XM Radio

There is nothing that can compare to a one week music and film festival. It is simply an awesome time full of great experiences, and for the participants a chance to gain new fans. Sure people party, and that is all part of the fun, but it is events such as this that get tomorrows popular bands in the hearts of today’s music listeners. For many, such a festival presents an opportunity to see bands they otherwise would not be able to see.

With So many events and a schedule that rivals the most busy business, people will need a way to figure out what to see and do. NXNE has an app for that! In addition, fans with Sirius Satellite Radio will be able to catch latest about the Fesival and even hear some great content.

NXNE Festival Website

Position – Long Sirius XM Radio

With the merger, all of those people now find themselves on the same team, and wondering exactly what the merged company will do on the content front as well as the business front. Many have accepted the merger, and are moving forward with cautious optimism.

There is still a satellite war happening though in Canada. Sirius Canada and XM Canada have not merged. They are still separate companies with XM Canada being publicly held, and Sirius Canada being a private company. The debate and barbs that used to be commonplace in the states still exist north of the border. A simple look at the press releases from the Canadian counterparts on the day of the merger tells everyone that Sirius Canada and XM Canada are still sparring.

SIRIUS CANADA STATEMENT

TORONTO, July 28, 2008 – SIRIUS Canada, the country’s number one choice for satellite radio, issued the following statement regarding today’s decision by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission:

“The U.S. merger has no immediate impact on our business and SIRIUS Canada’s more than 750,000 subscribers will continue to receive an unparalleled slate of programming,” said Mark Redmond, President and CEO, SIRIUS Canada Inc. “The satellite radio market in Canada is strong and having captured 82% retail market share* over the key Father’s Day sales period in May and June, SIRIUS’ continued brand and category dominance makes it well positioned to take advantage of the growing demand for the service. We anticipate that SIRIUS’ strong growth and leadership in automotive and retail continues.”

SIRIUS Canada will provide additional comment if there are any new developments.

SIRIUS Canada Highlights;

• The most paying subscribers: SIRIUS Canada announced that it exceeded 750,000 subscribers on June 12, 2008.
• Canada’s number one choice: SIRIUS Canada captured over 82% of satellite radios sold at Canadian retailers in May and June 2008 according to The NPD Group, North America’s leading independent market research firm. Throughout 2007, SIRIUS captured 75% of all retail satellite radio sales.
• Leading automotive partners: SIRIUS automotive partners make up nearly 60 percent of light vehicle sales in Canada and collectively make SIRIUS available in over 150 vehicle models.

* According to the NPD Group Canada

XM CANADA STATEMENT

XM Canada in a strong strategic position to maximize opportunities to shareholder and customer benefit

XM Canada (TSX: XSR) today announced it is diligently reviewing its options following the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) decision to approve a merger between U.S. companies XM Satellite Radio Inc. and Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.

“XM Canada is in a strong strategic position to maximize any opportunities that arise for the enhanced benefit of our shareholders and customers,” said Michael Moskowitz, President and CEO of XM Canada. “We are now evaluating how best to leverage the FCC’s decision so that we optimize our critical, market-leading advantages, which include innovative partnerships, long-term automotive contracts, steadily increasing retail market share, superior signal coverage and 130 channels of unbeatable programming. Our aggressive growth strategy is delivering improved financial performance and we are committed to providing the best service possible to our subscribers.”

XM Canada will provide further comment if and when there are any new developments. XM Canada has an exclusive Canadian license from U.S.-based XM Satellite Radio Inc., the worldwide leader in satellite radio.

Both companies proclaim to be number one, and of course, the barbs will continue over the coming months. Ironically, SIRIUS XM Radio, the merged entity, holds a stake in both Canadian services. As of May 31st, 2008 XM Canada reported 439,900 subscribers compared to 750,000 for Sirius Canada which was announced on June 12, 2008. Combined, satellite radio in Canada has nearly 1,200,000 subscribers and growing. This puts satellite radio overall at nearly 20,000,000 subscribers.

As yet, neither Canadian counterpart has added to the bottom line of SIRIUS XM Radio, but that day is approaching if for no other reason than the Canadian services do not need to launch and maintain satellites.

So, if you are an American that misses the endless debate about which service is better, simply find a chat room about the Canadian services, and ad your two cents.

Position – Long SIRI, none XM Canada

• The first satellite radio company in Canada to reach the 500,000 mark
• Canadians are adopting satellite radio faster than cable, wireless and satellite television were adopted
• Sirius Canada leads the sector with 82% retail market share in 2007
• More than 100,000 vehicles built with factory installed Sirius in 2007

In February of this year Sirius Canada announced that they had passed the 300,000 mark in subscribers. In the last 7 months the company has added more than 200,000 subscribers. It took the company 22 months to get to the half million mark. It was one month ago that XM Canada announced that they had surpassed the 300,000 subscriber mark with a total of 306,000.

Today’s announcement means that satellite radio penetration in Canada has reached over 800,000 thus far, and will surpass the 1,000,000 mark in under two years.

Position – Long Sirius, XM. No Position XM Canada.

We all know that SIRIUS is gaining some major group here in the state where XM was in the market far ahead of them. Yet in Canada where both providers were rolled out around the same time SIRIUS is destroying the competition with 75% of the total market share at this point in time. In the coming year SIRIUS plans to widen that gap even more through their inked deals with Audi, Aston Martin, BMW, Chrysler, Dodge, Ford, Jaguar, Jeep, Land Rover, Lincoln, Subaru, Volkswagen and Volvo to add factory installed head units in their newer model automobiles.

There is just nothing but good news for SIRIUS in the Canadian Satellite market with the launch of the Howard Stern channels and the SIRIUS Stiletto coupled with the fact that SIRIUS will be available in more than 150 Canadian vehicles by year end 2007.