Slacker Sucks Thread. People who want to bag on Slacker and Pandora.

[SiriusBuzz]

Thats a cute chart. Its also a straw man arguement. Why? Because...You ignore my content and variance and delivery arguements, and focus on personalization.

Throw away charts and analogies and personal opinions. People leave Sirius XM for Slacker and people leave Slacker for Sirius XM. Now, explain to me how these two companies do not compete. Not to mention a few people here have mentioned that they listen to both.

It would also be nice if you took the time to address my previous points that you seem to have missed.

Does terrestrial compete with satrad?

If someone cancels their sirius sub and signs up for slacker... what would that mean?

Again, you state there is no competition in your eyes but, there is, so your feelings don't matter. I can't believe anyone would be dumb enough to click on a spam link or read and click through a spam email about "making your penis bigger" but it happens, that is why those emails keep coming... you can thank your fellow man for being retarded. Just because you don't find something believable doesnt mean that it is not true.

Like Tyler said, what will you guys think if Sirius XM replicates slackers technology? That would be stupid right? Because based on what you are saying they do not compete so, those features could not possibly appeal to a Sirius XM subscriber.

[SiriusBuzz]

I have to ask Charles, why are you still holding SIRI shares if you believe everything you are saying?

From what I gather, you believe Sirius may very well be gone in the coming years due to competition and lack of quality management?

4 years ago I was blindly long SIRI. I no longer feel that way, but that doesn't mean that I don't like the company, or believe it can succeed. I just don't think that it will on the path that is on today... or that MAYBE it will but it wont live up to its full potential (which makes me want to pull my hair out).

Unlike the last 4 years, I now have a time frame in which I expect to see things from this company, if I dont see those things, I will no longer hold this stock. From what you have heard me say, you can probably gather that those things aren't numbers or sub metrics or anything like that.

[Hopeful]

Enlighten me Charles about what it is you would like to see besides the Iphone app and better marketing?

Thanks for replying by the way!

[SiriusBuzz]

I just want to see them act like a content supplier and then deliver in as many ways as possible, they should be thinking far beyond "satellite radio."

Blockbuster thought they were set, then netflix came along and gave a new way to deliver the same thing THEN by the time blockbuster spent 500 million to catch up, Netflix had moved on to online streaming, xboxs, and windows media centers. They seem to continue to deliver in whatever way their users want it. Now look at blockbusters stock price.

Sirius XM should be steamrolling these streaming radio guys. It should be said, that they might just have a massive plan like this ready to go and that would be the only way I would except the iphone app taking 12 months. If I don't see those kind of moves in the coming year, I will no longer be able to say that I am "long SIRI."

[relmor2003]

Throw away charts and analogies and personal opinions. People leave Sirius XM for Slacker and people leave Slacker for Sirius XM. Now, explain to me how these two companies do not compete. Not to mention a few people here have mentioned that they listen to both.

It would also be nice if you took the time to address my previous points that you seem to have missed.

Does terrestrial compete with satrad?

If someone cancels their sirius sub and signs up for slacker... what would that mean?

Again, you state there is no competition in your eyes but, there is, so your feelings don't matter. I can't believe anyone would be dumb enough to click on a spam link or read and click through a spam email about "making your penis bigger" but it happens, that is why those emails keep coming... you can thank your fellow man for being retarded. Just because you don't find something believable doesnt mean that it is not true.

Like Tyler said, what will you guys think if Sirius XM replicates slackers technology? That would be stupid right? Because based on what you are saying they do not compete so, those features could not possibly appeal to a Sirius XM subscriber.

Wheres your numbers for ex SiriusXM subs, that thought Slacker served their needs better? Didnt think so....
Not a matter of feelings. Its a matter of everything I stated you choose to ignore in your rebutals. You mention an exception, not the rule. Im glad you can sight one example. Im talking about facts. Your talking about opinions.
Fact.
Slacker does not offer a competitive alternative to what SiriusXM offers. If you name Slacker as competition for SiriusXM, then you must also name a cd player as competition as well. I will list their competitors again. HD radio. Clear Channel, and terrestrial radio stations. XM was a competitor, now they are the same company. I dont care if you and every Slacker user alive calls it a radio station, its not. Its a random music generator, tailored to some personal choices. Slacker competes with Pandora, and Ipods. Not SiriusXM. SiriusXM is an entertainment content company, deliverable now in many forms. Not just radio. Internet, and now cell phone apps. Facts are facts. Sorry....

[TSavery]

Thats a cute chart. Its also a straw man arguement. Why? Because...You ignore my content and variance and delivery arguements, and focus on personalization.That chart is has 3 categories.
1.Personalized music. This would be a music preference.
2.Everywhere. Accessibility of your choice of music.
3.Effortlessly. How easy is it to use. So this would be a mechanical point. Based on music.

This chart, as it was created by Slacker, to show you the strengths of Slacker, and the weaknesses of Sirius. Now if the chart had these 3 categories in it, how do you think Slacker would do.

1. Orginial content.
2. Variance of entertaiment.
3. Delivery of entertainment.

1. Slacker would not be in this bubble at all.
2. Slacker would be out of this bubble completely as well.
3. Here they would get some play. They can post of good coverage, and mulitple ways of listening. SiriusXM offers the ultimate delivery. Live, updated to the second, sports, news, weather, and special services with an almost unlimited coverage area. Now with the Iphone app, you can listen to it almost everywhere.
MP3 should not be in that bubble. If you do, you need to add boom box, tape deck, cd player, ipod, zune, and a hundred other individual devices that simply PLAY music. It should simply say a music player, that does not personalize like a radio(pandora..etc...)
SiriusXM is personalized as well. THey have a ton of pure artist stations, and multiple genres covered, with a much larger music library. And if their album debuts, im not hearing it first on Slacker. Slacker is simply inferior is everyway except you can think your having more control over what you listen too. When its really just a poor lazy excuse for loading up your mp3 player. Because thats all it is, a glorified mp3 player, that makes it convienient to hear music. Different market. Doestn compete with SIriusXM anymore than a cd player does.

Relmor.....

The point is that there is overlao. There will be overlap no matter what you do. It is audio entertainment and just like FM competes for your ears.

This is not to say that Slacker, Pandora, etc. is perfect. It is not. However, the same argument could be made about satellite. It is not perfect either.

Now IF Sirius XM provides a killer internet based service that lets you customize channels, THEN Sirius XM would carry a massive advantage over services such as Slacker.

One comment on you saying that Sirius XM is customizable. It is nowhere near customizable. Artist channels, etc. are great, but they are far from customized to/by the listener.

[TSavery]

Wheres your numbers for ex SiriusXM subs, that thought Slacker served their needs better? Didnt think so....
Not a matter of feelings. Its a matter of everything I stated you choose to ignore in your rebutals. You mention an exception, not the rule. Im glad you can sight one example. Im talking about facts. Your talking about opinions.
Fact.
Slacker does not offer a competitive alternative to what SiriusXM offers. If you name Slacker as competition for SiriusXM, then you must also name a cd player as competition as well. I will list their competitors again. HD radio. Clear Channel, and terrestrial radio stations. XM was a competitor, now they are the same company. I dont care if you and every Slacker user alive calls it a radio station, its not. Its a random music generator, tailored to some personal choices. Slacker competes with Pandora, and Ipods. Not SiriusXM. SiriusXM is an entertainment content company, deliverable now in many forms. Not just radio. Internet, and now cell phone apps. Facts are facts. Sorry....

Remor.....

The facts are that CD players also compete with satellite radio. All of these audio entertainment services are competing for the listeners ears. You will not listen to all of them at once.

FACT - 55% of those exposed to satellite radio through an OEM trial DO NOT sign up.

What is the reason for that? Is it the expense? Is it that they are satisfied with AM and FM? Is it that they have an MP3player and prefer that?

These people are listening to SOMETHING. What is it?

Your list of competitors falls short of services like Slacker, Pandora, and iTunes. Even Sirius XM lists services such as these as competitors:

FROM SIRIUS XM SEC FILINGS:

Among the significant factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements are:


• the competitive position of SIRIUS and XM versus other forms of audio and video entertainment including terrestrial radio, HD radio, internet radio, mobile phones, iPods and other MP3 devices, and emerging next-generation networks and technologies.

Early on some stated that "on the eve of Sirius XM's darkest hour" this site gave away a slacker radio. If Slacker does not compete with Sirius XM, then why did all of that hostility exist? If the site gave away tickets to a ball game that day, would the same angst and ire have existed or been at the level it was?

I am not defending Slacker here. I am simply pointing out that there are aspects where slacker does indeed compete. You call Slacker a random music generator, but it is nothing like that. You are being naieve with that statement. Slacker has program directors just like Sirius XM does. There is nothing random about it. You wont find a 60's song suddenly playing on an 80's channel with Sirius XM or with Slacker.

The weak points of Slacker make Sirius XM stronger, but the opposite is true as well.

Would you like to be able to customize some channels on Sirius XM? Would you think that such a feature would have appeal?

[James]

Wheres your numbers for ex SiriusXM subs, that thought Slacker served their needs better? Didnt think so....
...

Take a look over at the Slacker forums or at www.digitalradiocentral.com in the Slacker category. You will find lots of former Sirius or XM subscribers who now use Slacker exclusively. DAB, the moderator over at DRC was once a rabid Sirius subscriber. Many of these people are paying customers of Slacker not just people looking for a free service.

[James]

what it is you would like to see besides the Iphone app and better marketing?

While not addressed to me I would like to take a chance to answer this .

WIFI devices in all shapes and sizes that play the internet stream. I am not talking about Internet Radios but Sirius only devices. By making them Sirius only they could make them cheaper, let say under $100. Devices such as handhelds, tabletops and Conductor like receivers.

The cell phone companies are investing heavily in 700 Mhz for Data. Verizon and AT&T have purchase the former TV frequencies. When they build out this data only system they will offer a multitude of data only devices. Sirius needs to have some of these devices.

Disclosure: Long Siri, T

[TSavery]

I can remember a time not long ago when there were XM subscribers that said XM sucks, and Sirius subscribers that said sirius suck.

i can remember people saying that XM was far superior in every way, and people that said Sirius was superior.

In the end, the companies merged.

Rather than ignore what Slacker, Pandora, etc. offer, Sirius XM needs to look at what it is about these services that consumers find appealing. Perhaps more importantly, INVESTORS need to understand this.

The fact of the matter is that half of those exposed to satellite radio decide that it is not for them.

What the focus needs to be is what needs to happen to get those that are deciding agaist the service to opt to keep it.

If it is a money issue then there is little Sirius XM can do except to make the value of the service to the consumer increase. A subscription is not that much money, but people are electing not to maintain the service. Decreasing price is not really viable from a business standpoint, so they need to increase the perceived value of the service.

For many, a 30 minute commute may mean that SDARS does not have enough value, and their iPod, Slacker player or cell phone is sufficient. This brings out the exact point of INCREASING the value of Sirius XM by making the internet side of the business more robust.

Millions of iPods and MP3 players sell. Millions. Sirius XM can not afford to ignore this fact. People are gravitating to devices such that Apple and Slacker offer.

The fact is that the half that choose not to subscribe are listening to something. The challenge is to identify what that something is, and what is the appeal of that something.

Would changing the take rate from the current 45% to 55% or 60% be substantial. You bet it would.

I realize that those passionate about SDARS feel that every other service is inferior. However, those that are not passionate about SDARS far outnumber the SDARS fanatics, and they are getting their audio entertianment somewhere.

The best course of action for SDARS is to identify the audio entertainment marketplace as a whole, and why consumers are doing what they are doing. They then have to design a servoice that attracts the widest possible audience in a profitable manner.