What Does The Sirius/XM Radio Merger Mean For Blues Fans?
As any reasonably plugged-in gadget head knows, the two American satellite radio companies - Sirius and XM Radio - have merged into one gigantic broadcast entity, and the jury is still out on what it means to blues fans. Personally, kids, the Reverend believes that we've taken a step backwards with this one...Sirius Channel 74 used to be called "Sirius Blues" and XM Radio's Channel 74 was "B.B. King's Bluesville," and they both provided original programming. With the recently-announced program changes, though, the two different channels have been mashed into a single blues station, called B.B. King's Bluesville, with limited programming.
Although The Chess Records Hour has survived the merger, Daily Cup of Joe Bonamassa seems to have fallen by the side of the road. Blues artist Shemekia Copeland's bio is still listed on both company's websites, but The Shemekia Copeland Blues Show has disappeared from the combined program guide altogether. The blues-rock leaning The Rockers Doin' The Blues program has hung around, but much of the rest of the new Sirius/XM Channel 74 programming seems to be standard blues fare, anchored by deejays Pat St. John, Bill Wax, and Tony Colter.
So, About.com Blues fans, what do you think? The merged satellite stations offer a total of 21 different rock-oriented channels, including those dedicated to Bruce Springsteen, the Grateful Dead, and Led Zeppelin. Should Sirius/XM Radio offer listeners a wider choice of blues music, or is a single offering enough to satisfy your daily minimum requirement of the blues? Take our poll below and let your voice be heard!
B.B. King photo courtesy Geffen Records
Comments
I just wrote this to Sirius, summarizes my feelings:
I have been a Sirius subscriber and shareholder for several years. Sirius Blues opened my mind to GREAT blues music. A really bad decision has been made picking XM Bluesville over Sirius Blues. Tracks from Freddie and Albert, new stuff from Sean Costello and Ronnie Baker Brooks, are missing from Bluesville. PLEASE return to the great DJs and music of Sirius Blues. Every morning I switch to other stations, which I never had to do before. I would appreciate any insight from Sirius-XM.
I couldn’t agree with you more! I have had Sirius satellite radio for a couple of years, and have never even changed the channel from Sirius Blues 74 - this was the best radio station in the entire world. Shemekia Copeland’s show and Daily Cup of Joe were my favorites. I listened on Sunday morning - never heard ANY Freddie King, Albert King, Albert Collins, maybe one BB King cut, one Etta James, no Koko Taylor, etc. Bluesville 74 is not even close to being the channel that Sirius Blues was. BRING IT BACK!
A month ago I remitted payment to extend my Sirius service for another year. Last week when the merger with XM occured, I became very dissatisfied with the new programming. I contacted Sirius with an email complaint to express my frustration and mentioned if the programing wasn’t more to my liking by years end, that I would cancel my subscription. I have not heard back from them at this point. I want my old Sirius 74 Blues back !
As a former Sirius Blues 74 listener, I just want to register my complaint regarding the choices of songs for the combined Sirius/XM channel 74. I’m sure there are thousands and thousands of listeners like me that are dissatisfied with the mix of songs on Bluesville.
While I recognize that the Blues genre covers a lot of territory, it would seem that the single satellite station would play mostly “mainstream” blues with early and contemporary blues mixed in. This is not happening, at least when I’m listening. It has been a week, and I’ve yet to hear Freddie King, Albert Collins, Albert King, Johnny Copeland, Howlin’ Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, Junior Wells, amongst others. To advertise Bluesville as a Blues station and not include these icons is a sacrilege.
Many of the tunes I’ve heard are just pure crap. (Excuse my use of the term, but I could find no other that better describes the music I’ve heard.) Some of the contemporary blues are indeed good, and admittedly the Sirius playlist was a little redundant at times, but give us a break and play the “real blues” for a change (and predominantly mainstream blues, please).
Many of my blues pals were XM subscribers in the past, and they all were hoping the combined stations would be more Sirius than XM. They are as disappointed as I am that the reverse has happened.
There was a Sirius testimonial from a fan that aired occasionally and said, “When my car is running, the blues are a playing.” That’s how I felt and many felt. That’s how I want to feel going forward. Otherwise I’ll be content with listening to Music Choice on cable when home and CD’s I burn while in the car. And I’ll cancel my subscription if things don’t change. I’m sure others will do the same.
Respectfully,
Richard Fulton
I agree with the previous comments. Sirius Blues was a great station. It is the primary reason I subscribe to Sirius. The problem I have with “BB King Bluesville” is that it predominantly plays no-name or B-grade artists rather than playing the standards by the iconic artists of the blues. I enjoyed how Sirius Blues used to mix in new artists, but it seems as if those are all we get with Bluesville. I don’t even recognize the artist name on 4 out of 5 songs Bluesville plays, and I’ve been listening to blues for 30 years! It’s ironic that channel 74 is now named after BB King because they play his songs about a quarter as much as they used to when it was plain old Sirius Blues. I’ll likely be cancelling my subscription if channel 74 stays as it is. Bring back Freddie, BB, Muddy, and Wolf!
its is sickening what they have done with the blues channel on sirius. i am not hearing any muddy waters, freddie king, ray charles, srv, & howlin wolf, to name of few, being played on a regular basis. the majority of the music is from lessor known artists. there is no mix of the music, only a very rigid approach. i have written sirius twice on this and it seems like they dont care.
I couldn’t agree more about the blues on sirius/xm. I just had this feeling that nothing good was going to come of the merger and it seems that it has come true. I also sent an email to sirius and heard nothing back. How the hell am I suppose to hang with my friends on a Saturday night to jam to the blues? We were all shocked. We even checked to make sure that we had it on the right station. There is no way to describe it but to say that it sucks! I want “the best damn blues staion on the planet” back!
EVERYONE I KNOW MISSES SIRIUS BLUES 74
BRING IT BACK!!
Sirius Blues was GREAT! THE best on Sirius. Now, channel 74 just does not measure up. No comparison!!!
Sirius *had* it right… Why did they have to mess with it?
If you agree, send Sirius an email and complain!
Add one more that thinks this new station sucks. I hear lots of soul, and while there is nothing wrong with that, the dial is littered with soul stations. I miss my morning cup of Joe and Shemeka. And WTF is that mumbling between songs yesterday (saturday. Sad part is, I ponied up for a lifetime sub to Sirius, and now I have a lifetime of this crap to look forward to?
I just want to AGREE with all the ‘former’ Sirius Blues fans. I love B.B.King and love the blues, but XM’s blues SUCKS … BIG TIME!!
Now the question is, with all this bitchin, does ANYBODY care what we think ??????
Someone should send this page to Sirius/XM/Whomever.
Finally a blog to complain???
I’ve been a subscriber to Sirius for 5 years and have had my radio set to Sirius 74 almost continually…Have 5 subscriptions and on the verge of canceling…..No more cup of Joe…no Earl Times…no Shemika….less and less of Freddie, Albert, Stevie Ray, Robert Cray, Johnny Copland, Albert Collins, Johnny Winter, Derek Trucks….and on and on…
WTF happened to the Sirius Blues 74 I was paying for….back to my IPOD in my cars… XM Bluesville sucks
I don’t think that I can say much more than what’s been said. I agree with all of ya’ll that SIRIUS was ten times better than BLUESVILLE is. I listened to it about 95% of the time that I had it on,to and from work,at work with my boombox,and at home(indoors and outdoors).People at work ask me why I don’t play my tunes anymore. I don’t play my sattelite radio at all anymore. I,too,will cancel my subscription if SIRIUS BLUES is not brought back by the end of my subscription in July. I chose SIRIUS over XM because I had listened to both stations and knew what I liked.Bring it back or goodbye. I’m just blue for the Blues.
I am NEW to the blues, and SIRIUS Blues was my gateway. I can’t claim to be seasoned blues listener like you all, but I know that what’s playing now on 74 is not near as pleasant to the ear as the old channel. I won’t cancel because I joined SIRIUS for NPR, but I’m hating having 1 less good channel to enjoy.
I subscribed to sirius because of the blues channel, even did a live show in NYC at the station.
The folks programing the station are obviously out of touch with what great blues is, the classics, and the great new artists, Jon Cleary, Susan Tedeschi, Derek Trucks. Tommy Castro, etc.
I’m hearing from XM, a lot of washed out artists that sounds like white loungy wannabees, nothing racial intended, but this music came from the black culture, and now is being watered down by XM radio. Please hire
Early Times Back, Joe Bonamassa, and the other great djs,
I’ll probably cancel my subscription if it doesn’t change, and just plug in my ipod.
To the Suits, if you’re reading this, get a clue and hire some real blues loving DJs who know this music inside and out.
they plug the gigs, and actually know who’s playing on these tracks.
Just another comment, and don’t wanna be listed, because I used to get checks for airplay from Sirius. One reason you may be hearing so many unknown b-list artists, is that maybe XM is getting these tracks for peanuts, or maybe free, from acts who want the exposure, and don’t mind not getting the ASCAP BMI Checks.
Rupert Murdoch who owns XM radio, and Fox television pushed this merger through, So he’s
doing to the blues what he did to mainstream television news. One reason to cancel my description, is not to give this right wing fascist any more of my money.
This is a freaking outrage! Everyday, I enjoyed listening to Early Times while I work, and now,…what is this crap?
Ok, so Sirius and XM want to merge….why can’t they just have two blues channels?…and if they do have to pick just one, why this one? Sirius Blues was so much better and will be missed.
R.I.P. Sirius Blues…
I am incredibly disappointed by the programming change from Sirius Blues 74 to BB Kig’s Bluesville. I am also a DirecTV subscriber and had listened to Bluesville on DirecTV channel 854. One of the reasons that I chose Sirius over XM was the quality and style of Blues being played on Sirius over XM. I used to leave Blues 74 on for hours at a time without changing the channel. I find the Bluesville programming unlistenable. It is not the hard driving guitar oriented Blues that I enthusiastically love to listen to. After two weeks of listening or rather NOT listening to Bluesville I have sent a complaint via email to Sirus Customer Support. I hope that there are enough fans of Sirius Blues 74 who will register similar complaints and force the suits at Sirius to revisit some of the unacceptable programming changes that have been made.
Send an email!
bluesville@XMradio.com
Let them know how we feel! If we complain enough, they have to listen, or lose customers.
Email, now!
I have had a Sirius subscription since they went on the air. The ONLY station I listened to “was” Sirius Blues 74, I basically paid 13 bucks a month for one station and was happy to do it.
My wife has XM in her car and I never listened to Bluesville for more than 10 minutes at a time.
I have called and complained to Sirius and was told that while they were sorry i was unhappy I should just cancel my service if i did not like it any more.
That was the very first time I have ever told someone on the phone to go F**k themselves.
Yeah, i got a Sirius case of the Blues alright. Maybe I’ll right a song about it but you can bet it will never get played on XM!
I agree with all comments. Sirius Blues was awesome and XM Bluesville sucks. Bluesville seems to be a catch-all station for music that doesn’t belong in other categories. But IT’S NOT BLUES!
Sirius Blues programming was near perfect IMO. True blues both old and new.
SEND AN EMAIL TO SIRIUS/XM AND COMPLAIN!! I sent one and I did get a response. I can only assume they’re getting many from true blues fans who are now without a channel.
Ditto to all of the comments above. I have sent numerous emails and called Sirius to complain about the changes to Sirius Blues Channel 74. Originally all I got were auto replies touting the new channel lineups. But eventually, due to persistence, I got an email that stated that my opinion mattered. There is an email address on the BB King Bluesville website that I used. I was also told that www.customercare@sirius-radio.com would generate a response. Another address was on a reply I received www.sirius.com/customercare. Maybe if enough of us bombard them with compaints, we can get our sirius blues back!!! If not, I’ll be cancelling too.
I’m an XM subscriber, and while I’ve always questioned some of what they played as “blues”, I put up with it for the good stuff in between. Now, I think it’s gotten worse since the merger. I never heard the Sirius station, but it sounds like the new version is worse than either was previously.
Honestly, I can hear songs (sometimes the same song) by a particular artist multiple times in an hour. I hear songs that are not even close to being blues, and I don’t hear many of the great blues artists (both past and present) being represented at all.
I’ve written XM/Sirius; we’ll see if they respond.
What a major disappointment! I am a true blues lover who has every preset button set to Sirius Blues channel 74. I carefully listened to both Sirius and XM’s blues stations before paying my hard earned money to subscribe. Now that Sirius has my money, a different choice has been made for me by the replacing Sirius Blues with XM’s Bluesville. I will not pay another cent for a service I don’t want. I am so missing my old Blues channel 74. I was your biggest fan, but now….goodbye Sirius
BRING BACK SIRIUS BLUES 74 !!!! IAM MAD AND IAM NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE. WE MUST BOMBARD THEM WITH EMAILS AND CALLS.
Wow! I can’t believe there are more folks like me out there. I’ve emailed Sirius three times since the change to the Blues channel and just got a response. Here is a quote:
“SIRIUS strives on making our programming the best radio has to offer.Song choices on our music channels are made based on feedback from our listeners.”
I don’t think they have been listening! I hear less B.B. King now then when it is was Sirius 74 Blues. Bring back Early Times and JB!
Thanks Rev!
What have they done. Bring back JB and Earl E Times. This new station is horrible. I have emailed them several times and have not noticed a change…so I don’t think I am going to be keeping serious.
Someone tell me why at 5 EST they play the same song 10 times and then talk about local acts playing in the Delta???? I live in NY and they are killing my ride home.
Affirmation! I’ve been complaining to Sirius since the third day of the channel change. I have 3 subscriptions and I am going to cancel them all.
Blues 74 was awesome and made my day! Like the listener ad they used to play on the air, I didn’t know there were any other channels on Sirius but Blues 74. Now all my presets are full and I am constantly changing the channel. Broadway tunes (Old Man River), pop ballads (At Last) and traditional Christmas music (White Christmas)is not what I subscribe to Sirius for. And they have the nerve to continue playing their ad that says, “Remember when you were lucky to hear the Blues played on a college station on Sunday nights?” Back to those Sunday night blues, my mp3 player and CD changer! Just cancel your subscription… they’ll be out of business in months. Their stock is practically free right now.
I am equally upset at the new format. Bring back the old Sirus 74. I enjoyed Early Times, Daily Cup of Joe and all the others. There was not one of the DJ’s that I did not like. They ALL knew there Blues and played some great music. Sorry to bash the DJ’s that are there now, but they are not getting it. I will be up to renew in May of 09′ and if it does not get better then I will not renew with them. Thank God I have a Aux. connection for my I-Pod. I will be sending a many E-mail to them to change the format back to the way it was.
Sincerely,
Benny Abbott
It would have been nice if they took the best of both worlds
I am somewhat of a Blues virgin…I must say the above comments resonate with me 100%. I too left my Sirius car radio tuned to Sirius Blues 74 for the majority of the time after I discovered it. Diverse and eclectic it was indeed. Never thought XM Bluesville was even close,” ears don’t lie”. For the corporate types that may read this, many an album or song was purchased on itunes after hearing it on
Sirius Bluesville or satellite radio for that matter. Can’t do that with terrestrial radio as they rarely say who’s playing. I have Sirius in the car and XM at home, no doubt Sirius Blues 74 is missed and I would like it back.
I’m so distraught over the switch. I used to look forward to listening to Sirius 74 every day via my PC while working. I kept iTunes open and bought songs that made me look up from my work. Before the merger, I had purchased about 250 songs. Since the merger about 4 songs. Please bring back power guitar and jump blues. They have this backwards. The traditional stuff should be a special show (early AM and late PM). We want blues that rock. I now find myself turning off the station in disgust.
I’ve been an XM subscriber for over 2 years. For about the first year my only exposure was to the XM blues station. Then, the store that I was working for got Sirus for their in-store radio. Well, one night when the managers were gone I searched out the Sirus blues station and switched the radio. It was awesome! So much better than the XM station. I eventually left the store so I could only listen to my XM subscription, but I am in agreement that the Sirus station was better than the XM station. Why not give us both?
Same here. When we originally signed up we saw a big difference between XM and Sirius. Sirius was our kind of Blues. The real down home blues.
It really stood out when last night my wife asked my why I changed the station to ‘that stuff’. I went and looked and it was still on 74.
I also emailed them - I really suspect we will be cancelling both subscriptions. My wifes car now has a 6 CD changer and mine now has a mp3 player. We should be ok.
Still will miss catching the new stuff or the older stuff we had overlooked.
The old Sirius had turned us onto a number of blues artists we had overlooked.
I love the blues! I use to listen to the classic blues station 24/7. I am so very dissappointed in this bluesville station. What happened to the wonderful DJ’s and great music lineup? i.e. Shemika Copeland etc. Living on an island I have use of up dial up only so, I rely on sirius to provide me with music. HELP! I hope things change- soon!! This sucks!