Pandora - choice not herd mentality

Recently I purchased a new vehicle and it came with Sirius XM Radio, something I've never had before, of course it was only for a three month trial period.  I have another two months left before my 'free three months expires," and I have to admit that sometimes it's rather nice.  I get to listen to the music I prefer (alternative) without a lot of normal FM radio patter, and, of course, there are no annoying commercials.  The Sirius DJ's do pop in every other song to provide little, newsy tidbits and, now and then, to ask you to follow them on Twitter.  But then I looked at the cost per year and took a step back, not that it's exorbitant, but I did ask myself was it worth it just for the Alternative station?  Last week I received a letter from Sirius encouraging me to subscribe and one of the first things to come out of the envelope reminded me that with Sirius XM I could listen to Howard Stern.  They must think I'm part of that herd mentality who feels it necessary to listen to Mr. Stern on a daily basis.  I'm not.  When people gather around the water cooler and begin discussing Howard's latest comments or antics I don't knot my hands and gnash my teeth as a horrendous, little voice wails in my head.  I have more important things in my life.  I don't need to be one of the people who tell other people how funny Howard Stern was that morning on their drive into work.  I would rather spend the drive listening to Alternative music.  In fact, I don't need DJ's interrupting every other song.  And then someone at work mentioned Pandora.

 

Not only is my car equipped with Sirius XM, it is also equipped to play Pandora.  It's a lot less expensive then Sirius.  I've been comparing the two over the past three weeks and, honestly, there really is no difference.  So far I have not heard one DJ on Pandora.  I do get much more information about the song which is playing: lyrics, should I want to see them, background info on the band, the album or EP on which the song was recorded.  Actually, I get much more info then the DJ's on Sirius patter about.  In case you haven't guessed, I'm going with Pandora and avoiding the herd mentality.

Sirius XM - dollars down the drain?

I recently purchased a new car and like many new cars these days it came with a free three month subscription to Sirius XM.  Of course, the first thing I did was to go online and check up just how much this sucker would cost.  If I were to go with the Premier package it would set me back about $200 per year.  I think that's kind of high since the only time I listen to radio is while I'm in the car which in total is about 20 to 30 minutes per day.  You also have to remember I have an Ipod full of music which I have already purchased.  So do I really want to fork over $200 to Sirius?  Since I am not a Rah! Rah! sports fan, those stations would never get played.  I don't like Howard Stern, never have, probably never will.  I never listen to oldies, I've already lived through that shit, I don't need to live through it again. 

There is a slightly less expensive package, but again I have to remind myself just what it is I am paying - commercial free music.  The truth is I have not listen to radio since I purchased my first Ipod, and that was years ago.  I don't listen to Pop Music because it is here today and gone tomorrow.  For those who don't understand, it is the most ephemeral of the arts, being so short lived I'm wondering why we don't just classify it as mindless filler.

 

Anyway, I have another 2 months and 28 days to make up my mind about Sirius XM.  I will try to remember to listen to it on my 12 minute ride to work and my 12 minute ride home from work.  I will try not to change the source to my Ipod.  At some point I will reach a decision as to whether I consider it worthwhile, or just dollars down the drain.