In an extremely interesting piece in Slate, Farhad Manjoo explains why Sirius XM is failing (there have been rumors, this week, of a pending bankruptcy filing).
Manjoo cites to the cheap (free) and broad availability of music (and general radio programming) on the internet as the primary reason for Sirius XM's rapid decline. I think this is precisely right -- when I bought Sirius in 2004, it wasn't nearly as easy to get music from the internet, and I had never even heard of podcasts. Then, by late 2005, I had cancelled my Sirius subscription as it had already become superfluous.
Manjoo says that the introduction of the iPod was particularly important -- again, this is precisely correct given my own experience; I got my iPod during the summer of 2006 (which was probably a bit late compared to most people my age), and it became, pretty quickly, my primary mechanism for listening to both music and general radio programming. Here's the key quote from the article:
"In retrospect, the most important announcement in the recent history of radio had nothing to do with Howard Stern. Instead, it was Apple's unveiling of the iPod in the fall of 2001. The device didn't look like a radio killer—after all, it couldn't receive any signals. But the iPod could connect to your computer, and your computer was connected to the Internet—so, really, the iPod could get everything. In addition to carrying all the music you could get through your favorite file-sharing app, digital music players spawned podcasts—essentially time-shifted radio—which attracted both talented amateurs and established stars."
62. What is currently the most popular podcast on iTunes? Where does Slate's political gabfest rank?
63. Did I save my Sirius transmitter up in the attic somewhere?
64. What is Sirius XM's stock price currently? Is it below $1/share?
