Have you just bought a new car? Chances are pretty good that SirusXM Satellite radio was (A) a standard feature on your radio and (B) free of charge for a certain period of time. If you’re coming to the end of that trial, you’re making decisions on whether to keep the service. Or, if you just bought a used car with the functionality embedded in your audio system, you’re wondering whether to start up.
The answer -- like the answer every good attorney will give you to any question -- is “It depends,” on a lot of factors:
Package | Monthly Fee | Additional Features | Monthly Fee |
---|---|---|---|
SiriusXM Select | $16.99 | TravelLink | $1.99 |
SiriusXM All Access | $21.99 | Traffic | $3.99 |
SiriusXM Mostly Music | $10.99 | Traffic+TravelLink | $5.98 |
NavTraffic+NavWeather | $7 | ||
NavTraffic+NavWeather+TravelLink | $8.99 |
The quickest way to figure out whether or not SirusXM is right for you is to figure out exactly what you’re getting out of it. There are three different SirusXM packages available that are applicable to you if you’re interested in listening while you’re driving. (There are two others if you want just access at home, but since this is Car Talk and not House Talk, we’ll leave those aside for now).
The packages for listening in the car are:
We compiled the chart below to give you an easy way to compare the packages:
Sirius XM Select | SiriusXM All Access | SiriusXM Mostly Music | |
---|---|---|---|
SiriusXM Video | Access to SiriusXM video online and on the app | Access to SiriusXM video, including Howard Stern video, online and on the app | Access to SiriusXM video online and on the app |
Listening Outside the Car | Includes 5,000+ hours of On Demand shows, performances and interviews | Includes 5,000+ hours of On Demand shows, performances and interviews | Includes On Demand shows, performances, and interviews |
Personalized Stations Powered by Pandora | Create customized, ad-free music stations online and on the app | ||
Ad-Free Music Channels | All of our ad-free music channels | All of our ad-free music channels | A selection of our ad-free music channels |
Exclusive Artist-Dedicated Channels | The Beatles, Garth Brooks, Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen, Grateful Dead, and more | The Beatles, Garth Brooks, Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen, Grateful Dead, and more | |
24/7 Comedy Channels | Comedy Central Radio, Jeff & Larry's Comedy Roundup, and more | Comedy Central Radio, Jeff & Larry's Comedy Roundup, and more | |
World-Class News | FOX News Channel, CNN, MSNBC, Bloomberg Radio, NPR, and more | FOX News Channel, CNN, MSNBC, Bloomberg Radio, NPR, and more | |
Howard Stern | 2 Dedicated Channels | ||
NFL | Every NFL game, plus 24/7 Exclusive NFL® Talk Channel | ||
NASCAR | Every Race, Plus 24/7 Exclusive NASCAR® Talk Channel | ||
MLB | Every MLB game, Plus 24/7 Exclusive MLB® Talk Channel | Every MLB game, Plus 24/7 Exclusive MLB® Talk Channel | |
NBA | Every NBA Game, Plus 24/7 Exclusive NBA® Talk Channel | Every NBA Game, Plus 24/7 Exclusive NBA® Talk Channel | |
NHL | NHL Games, Plus 24/7 Exclusive NHL® Talk Channel | NHL Games, Plus 24/7 Exclusive NHL® Talk Channel | |
PGA Tour | PGA TOUR® Coverage, Plus 24/7 Exclusive PGA TOUR® Talk Channel | PGA TOUR® Coverage, Plus 24/7 Exclusive PGA TOUR® Talk Channel | |
College Sports | 24/7 coverage of men's and women's major college conference sporting events | 24/7 coverage of men's and women's major college conference sporting events | |
Traffic & Weather | Dedicated Channels | Dedicated Channels | |
Xtra Channels | 100+ online Xtra channels for every mood or activity | 100+ online Xtra channels for every mood or activity |
Your decision on which package to choose comes down to these questions:
Here is the music channel lineup:
Channel Number | Channel Name | Channel Type | Genre | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|
2 | SiriusXM Hits 1 | Music | Pop | Today's Pop Hits |
3 | Pandora Now | Music | Pop | Today's trending hits from Pandora |
4 | SoulCycle Radio | Music | Pop | Music to energize your soul |
5 | 50s on 5 | Music | Pop | 50s Pop Hits |
6 | 60s on 6 | Music | Pop | All 60s hits |
7 | 70s on 7 | Music | Pop | 70s Pop Hits |
8 | 80s on 8 | Music | Pop | 80s Pop Hits |
9 | 90s on 9 | Music | Pop | 90s Pop Hits |
10 | Pop2K | Music | Pop | 2000s Pop Hits |
12 | PopRocks | Music | Pop | Rock & Pop from the '90s & 2Ks |
14 | The Coffee House | Music | Pop | Acoustic/Singer-Songwriters |
15 | The Pulse | Music | Pop | Today's Pop Hits |
16 | The Blend | Music | Pop | Bright Pop Hits |
17 | The Bridge | Music | Pop | Mellow Classic Rock |
21 | Underground Garage | Music | Rock | Little Steven's Garage Rock |
25 | Classic Rewind | Music | Rock | 70s/'80s Classic Rock |
26 | Classic Vinyl | Music | Rock | 60s/'70s Classic Rock |
27 | Deep Tracks | Music | Rock | Deep Classic Rock |
28 | The Spectrum | Music | Rock | Classic Rock Meets New Rock |
29 | Phish Radio | Music | Rock | The Phish Universe On SiriusXM |
33 | 1st Wave | Music | Rock | Classic Alternative |
34 | Lithium | Music | Rock | 90s Alternative/Grunge |
35 | SiriusXMU | Music | Rock | Indie & Beyond |
36 | Alt Nation | Music | Rock | New Alternative Rock |
37 | Octane | Music | Rock | New Hard Rock |
38 | Ozzy's Boneyard | Music | Rock | Ozzy's Classic Hard Rock |
39 | Hair Nation | Music | Rock | 80s Hair Bands |
40 | Liquid Metal | Music | Rock | Heavy Metal-XL |
41 | SiriusXM Turbo | Music | Rock | 90s/2000s Hard Rock - XL |
42 | The Joint | Music | Hip-Hop/R&B | Reggae |
43 | Rock The Bells Radio | Music | Hip-Hop/R&B | Classic Hip-Hop w/ LLCoolJ-XL |
44 | Hip-Hop Nation | Music | Hip-Hop/R&B | Hip-Hop Hits-XL |
46 | The Heat | Music | Hip-Hop/R&B | Today's R&B Hits |
48 | Heart & Soul | Music | Hip-Hop/R&B | Adult R&B Hits |
49 | Soul Town | Music | Hip-Hop/R&B | Classic Soul/Motown |
50 | The Groove | Music | Hip-Hop/R&B | 70s/'80s R&B |
51 | BPM | Music | Dance/Electronic | Electronic Dance Music Hits |
52 | Diplo's Revolution | Music | Dance/Electronic | Future Sounds |
53 | SiriusXM Chill | Music | Dance/Electronic | Downtempo/Deep House |
54 | Studio 54 Radio | Music | Dance/Electronic | 70s-2000s Dance Hits |
56 | The Highway | Music | Country | Today's Country Hits |
58 | Prime Country | Music | Country | 80s/'90s Country Hits |
59 | Willie's Roadhouse | Music | Country | Willie's Classic Country |
60 | Outlaw Country | Music | Country | Rockin' Country Rebels |
61 | Y2Kountry | Music | Country | 2000s Country Hits |
62 | Bluegrass Junction | Music | Country | Bluegrass |
62 | Bluegrass Junction | Music | Country | Bluegrass |
63 | The Message | Music | Christian | Christian Pop & Rock |
64 | Kirk Franklin's Praise | Music | Christian | Kirk Franklin's Gospel Channel |
65 | enLighten | Music | Christian | Southern Gospel |
65 | enLighten | Music | Christian | Southern Gospel |
66 | Watercolors | Music | Jazz/Standards/Classical | Smooth/Contemporary Jazz |
67 | Real Jazz | Music | Jazz/Standards/Classical | Classic Jazz |
68 | Spa | Music | Jazz/Standards/Classical | New Age |
69 | Escape | Music | Jazz/Standards/Classical | Easy Listening |
70 | Real Jazz | Music | Rock | 70s/'80s Smooth-Sailing Soft Rock |
72 | On Broadway | Music | Jazz/Standards/Classical | Show Tunes |
73 | 40s Junction | Music | Jazz/Standards/Classical | 40s Pop Hits/Big Band |
75 | Met Opera Radio | Music | Jazz/Standards/Classical | Opera/Classical Voices |
76 | Symphony Hall | Music | Jazz/Standards/Classical | Classical Music |
78 | Kids Place Live | Talk & Entertainment | Family | Kids' Music |
79 | Radio Disney | Talk & Entertainment | Family | Pop Hits For The Entire Family |
110 | Doctor Radio | Talk & Entertainment | Entertainment | Real Doctors, Real People |
120 | BBC World Service | News & Issues | News/Public Radio | World News |
121 | SiriusXM 121 | News & Issues | News/Public Radio | SiriusXM 121 |
122 | NPR Now | News & Issues | News/Public Radio | NPR News & Conversation |
128 | Joel Osteen Radio | Talk & Entertainment | Entertainment | Positive Inspiration For Life |
129 | The Catholic Channel | Talk & Entertainment | Religion | Talk For Saints and Sinners |
130 | EWTN Radio | Talk & Entertainment | Religion | Solid Catholic Talk |
131 | Joel Osteen Radio | Talk & Entertainment | Religion | Christian Talk |
141 | HUR Voices | More | More | Real talk with real people |
142 | HBCU | More | More | HBCU Excellence In Education |
143 | BYUradio | More | More | Talk About Good |
145 | SLAM Radio | More | More | SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT TALK |
145 | SLAM Radio | More | More | SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT TALK |
148 | RadioClassics | Talk & Entertainment | Entertainment | Classic Radio Shows |
152 | En Vivo | More | More | Where Music Is Born |
153 | La Politica Talk | More | More | Live Hispanic Talk |
154 | American Latino Radio | More | More | American Latino Talk Radio |
158 | Caliente | Music | Pop | Latin music & culture meet! |
162 | CBC Radio 3 | More | Canadian | Canadian Indie Music First |
165 | Canadian Indigenous Peoples' Radio | More | Canadian | Modern Canadian Indigenous Music |
166 | ICI Musique FrancoCountry | More | Canadian | Francophone Country Folk |
169 | CBC Radio One | News & Issues | News/Public Radio | Canada's #1 Radio News Source |
171 | CBC Country | More | Canadian | New Canadian Country |
173 | The Verge | More | Canadian | New & Emerging Indie/Alt-Rock |
174 | Influence Franco | More | Canadian | The New Indie Pop Alternative |
When satellite radio first launched in the 1990s, it represented something that terrestrial radio just couldn’t offer: Hundreds of channels, customized and curated for whatever kind of listening you loved. Especially for fans of talk radio, it got down to granular levels that the AM and FM bands just couldn’t compete with.
But in the intervening years, a lot has changed. Streaming services like Pandora, Spotify and Apple Music have taken ownership of the music industry, and they’re the go-to options for hard-core music listeners. Services like Apple Podcasts and Stitcher stream even more specific talk listening right to your phone, offering variety that SiriusXM just can't.
So why bother with SiriusXM at all with all these streaming services available? There are a number of really good reasons:
SiriusXM still relies on old-school program directors and on-air talent to curate music that you’re more likely to listen to. XM21 (Little Steven’s Underground Garage) is a good example. Do you like the Ramones? Good, because every song played on that channel is either the Ramones, bands that influenced the Ramones, or bands the Ramones influenced. And on top of that, there’s good on-air talent that provides information about those songs you may not have known. And they’re breaking new music in that genre, too, something that simply is not happening anywhere other than a few college or community radio stations around the country.
Integration: The major advantage to SiriusXM in the car is that it’s native to almost every OEM audio system sold in the United States in the last 20 years. The band already exists on your radio, all you have to do is turn it on. It works seamlessly with no additional hardware, and you can save your favorite stations right along with your favorite AM and FM stations.
Satellite Coverage: There are a whole lot of places in this country where streaming services just don’t work. You’re depending on a signal on your phone -- or through the onboard WiFi now available in many cars -- for your listening. If you’re out in the middle of nowhere, you’re going to be disappointed if you rely solely on streaming services.
You can start in California and end up in Massachusetts and listen to the same SiriusXM channel from coast to coast with barely an interruption, because it’s satellite based and the whole country is covered. The only dead spots you’ll notice are when tree cover is particularly thick, but on the highways, you hardly ever lose signal.
SirusXM, on the other hand, is working under a much more strict royalty requirement, as set out by Congress. “Unlike terrestrial radio, SiriusXM is required to pay copyright music royalties to recording artists, musicians and recording labels that hold copyrights in sound recordings (the actual recording of a work) that were fixed after February 15, 1972. Like terrestrial radio, SiriusXM must also pay music publishers who hold copyrights in musical compositions (or the lyrics and music) through their collective organizations such as ASCAP and BMI. The U.S. Music Royalty Fee offsets royalties payable by SiriusXM to composers, publishers, recording artists, musicians and record labels that hold copyrights in musical works and recordings.” Nobody’s getting rich off of SiriusXM royalties, but at least it’s not the near theft that’s happening with the streaming services.
The base price for subscriptions is $16.99 for SiriusXM Select, $21.99 for SiriusXM All Access and $10.99 for SiriusXM Mostly Music, without any applicable discounts.
If you just bought a new car, chances are you have SiriusXM for free for three months. There are also discount programs that can get you free access for a limited period of time.
Yes. Every manufacturer currently offers a radio with SiriusXM built into its capabilities.