I cancelled my XM Radio account…

For 5 years, I was a massive fan of XM Radio. Living in rural Wisconsin like I do, it was my favorite entertainment option for a loooong time. So, why did I cancel? Here are a couple of thoughts:

One, I was one of the early adopters that helped make them successful — even still, they kept sticking their hand in my pocket when they rolled out new tools. The cost of adding XM to an iPhone for example — I felt XM should have been free to portable devices as a ‘thank you’ for my advocacy — but they wanted an amount equal to adding one of their radios…

Two? Pandora. For $30 per year [less than a quarter of XM's cost], I can have a premium subscription to Pandora. Pandora’s so good that I was actually using my BlackBerry Curve connected to a pair of Bose Roommate speakers more than I was using my XM Radio! Even I can do the math on that equation… ;-)

Three? I think every post should have 3 points like a good sermon but in this case there are only two. XM Radio is a great technology but their business model hasn’t kept pace with their product. IMHO, the acquisition of Sirius made XM the Microsoft of satellite radio and the lack of competition will encourage people like me to make better entertainment choices. Anyone want an XM Radio cheap? Drop me a note on the contact page…

P.S. Here’s a great tip: If you want to keep your XM account, call to cancel it anyway — they’ll offer you two smoking hot money saving deals to keep you on board. In the end, you’ll save 75% of your monthly subscription fee by threatening to cancel!