On a recent trip out of town, my rental car came equipped with all 130+ stations of XM Satellite Radio. Up until this time, the only thing I knew about XM was the barrage of ads I had seen and heard claiming it was the next best thing since sliced bread. Granted, this was before ipods, zunes, and sansas became commonplace. Still though, I was excited to have 4 days to play around with this bit of technology I had (somewhat purposefully) overlooked.
The XM player was integrated with the stereo system in the 2006 Buick LaCrosse I was driving, so the way to switch over to it was as easy as switching from FM to AM - by pressing the 'BAND' button. (I just threw up a little bit, remembering the whole "AM/FM/XM" ad campaign) Anyway, after switching over to XM, I spent about 5 minutes flipping from channel to channel, each with its name displayed on the factory stereo when it came tuned. Some seemed like interesting channels, others I knew I definitely would not like. One station XMLM seemed pretty good, it was playing some flavor of metal, and I skimmed over a couple alternative/indie stations, and a couple of techno stations. Nothing really jumped out at me, so I kept on going through the dial, putting trust in the fact that 130 stations would have something to impress me. Pretty soon I hit the news/sports/talk end of the dial (appx 40 stations), then it started back at the beginning. Immediately let down, I started trying to find those few select channels that seemed "OK". I found those to be the following:
XMU - a "college radio" station, playing stuff they find to be indie rock, but most of it is pretty predictable. I heard Conner, new stuff from the trail of dead album I hadn't checked out yet, les savy fav, something from the new rapture disc and a bunch of boring stuff that made me switch stations.
XMLM - 'LM' stands for LIQUID METAL, why liquid? I have no clue. XM's only metal station. This station was really more funny than good, I heard DEEP CUTS from our friends Hatebreed, Slipknot, 3 Inches of Blood, Black Sabbath, All Shall Perish, among other unimpressive selections.
The System - This was a techno trance channel, that I actually enjoyed for background music. It is all pretty predictable and deliberate, but I find that sort of thing done with electronics to be soothing sometimes.
Ethel - Ethel was a "New Alternative" channel according to XM themselves, selections from this station I remember being Built to Spill, Sunny Day Real Estate, Stone Temple Pilots, Nine Inch Nails, The Bravery, AFI. My first 3 examples are why you should agree that this station is hilariously miscategorized by XM, but not a total loss.
My overall impressions were decent, I feel a little dumb thinking "Oh man! 130 channels, there just has to be one for me!!!" More realistically, it is like real radio - every now and then you find something you don't mind hearing at the time, but damn you wish you had your CD Player. It is good for the times when you draw a blank when it comes to your own personal music collection, and for some - you may even discover something new. I like the idea of having XM or something like it in a retail/business setting, no advertisements and I'm sure its better than most things you can pay to have piped in.
In terms of competing with mp3 players, it doesn't stand a chance. A good mid range player/tuner? will run you over $100 and the service is $12.95 per month unless you purchase it in blocks of a year or more at a time. For personal/mobile auto, an mp3 player and a an hour or two a week stocking it is a much better solution.
XM's website (
link).
