The iPhone's AOL Radio: Bad News For Sirius-XM, Good News For The Music Biz

Dan Frommer | June 15, 2008 11:19 AM

aol-radio-iphone.jpgOne of Apple's favorite apps for its upcoming iPhone apps platform: Time Warner's (TWX) AOL Radio app, which lets iPhone owners listen to some 200 stations, including CBS radio and 25 other genres, for free. Stations will stream over the iPhone's mobile Internet connection, and will be supported by in-stream audio ads, and potentially graphic ads, Bits' Saul Hansell reports.

We haven't had a chance to play with this software yet, but we're excited about it. The music business should be, too: For years, both labels like Warner Music Group (WMG) and services like Napster (NAPS) have been hoping for a practical way to get consumers to experience music delivered over the air, directly to their phones. With the exception of novelty ringtones, it hasn't happened (at least not in the U.S.). A working radio app -- one that works pretty consistently, doesn't chew up your battery life, etc -- on a phone that's about to become mainstream would be a huge first step.

On the flip side, it's more bad news for Sirius (SIRI) and XM (XMSR), which are steadily losing relevance while the FCC sits on their merger deal. If we're going to listen to music we're not programming ourselves, it might as well be free and on a gadget we already own. Expect satellite radio growth to continue to slow as more services like this come out.

See Also:
What Happens To XM And Sirius After A Merger? Not Much, And That's A Problem
Apple Puts A Few iPhone Apps Above The Rest

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39 Comments

Helpful Update said:
Ummm, don't want to spoil your thesis, but isn't AOL Radion actually XM?
Helpful Update said:
Ummm, don't want to spoil your thesis, but isn't AOL Radio actually XM?
Nope. http://music.aol.com/radioguide/xm_radio_guide
"AOL & XM partnership has ended

The partnership between XM and AOL Radio has ended. XM Radio channels are no longer available via the AOL Radio player but look below for a list of similar, recommended AOL stations. "
Gordon said:
i never thought of this before - but what about apple buying aol? they get search, content, ads, and subscribers and can morph it into something new with itunes??????? possible???????? wishful thinking?
Jon Smirl (URL) said:
How long until I get an ad free Pandora or last.fm player?
Peter Kafka (URL) said:
Jon, how much do you want to pay for that?
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fluxam said:
Seems like a double-whammy of ads.
Calculate the value of your time and attention and then compute the true cost of all these commercial distractions.
I love XM in my Upper E Side apartment.
Raul said:
I'll stick with my Sirius. Free music comes with commercials and lacks cerebral content. The old saying that one gets what one pays for us age old and real.
huh? said:
Raul said:

Free music comes with commercials and lacks cerebral content.

--

Have you even listened to AOL Radio's stations, or are you just making blind assumptions? They're good.
EPS said:
So I can get CBS Radio stations like WBZ on this too? That's pretty neat- I wonder if programs like this will eventually lead to some broadcast radio stations switching over to become streaming only.

Assumedly this program will be available for any iPod touch that gets the $10 update, right?
Ron said:
I've actually been using AOL Radio for years, first in AOL's old Windows software, and more recently on the web (radio.aol.com) and on Mac OS X. The Mac client really is great. Nice, simple, sounds great, and the ads are unobtrusive.

It was fantastic at first with lots and lots of stations, but you had to have a paid AOL account to get the 16-bit CD quality sound. I believe free use was limited at the time to a lower quality. Nowadays, though, everyone gets the top quality music for free--just need to register for a free AOL account.

IMO, AOL Radio went a bit downhill just before and during the XM Radio deal. Lots of AOL's own stations disappeared and then there was a lot of overlap with XM stations.

Now that deal is over, and it seems AOL is bringing back more stations (thankfully), plus lots of CBS Radio feeds. And any ads they've been playing recently are pretty short. Not at all bad for a totally free product with so many stations.

So in total, there is nothing that tops AOL Radio as far as free music is concerned. Thanks AOL--you have a winner; please don't mess it up!
Eric said:
XM & Sirius need to develop applications for the diffrent mobile platforms. I know a few are available but they really need to have them for the most common devices on the market.
ContentAOL'er said:
It's nice to hear good news about AOL once in awhile. Many of us still work hard to create great applications that people would like. I hope to hear more reviews like this in the future!

bob said:
@ContentAOL'er : now go back and work harder, your job satisfaction means nothing if my TWX shares go nowhere.
bob said:
Have you ever listened to Sirius?

"Losing Relevance"? How many iPods have been sold? Sirius has over 8 million subscribers!

Ken said:
I wouldn't go head to head with the ipods Bob. As of September 2007, the iPod had sold more than 150 million units worldwide making it the best-selling digital audio player series in history.
With that said, I listen to my sirus radio at least 3 hours a day and my ipod about 3 hours a month. I love Sirius.
Karen Chao (URL) said:
Actually, streaming radio has been around for several years and is growing in popularity. At mSpot we have been offering streaming radio since 2005 and our service is offered on many of the major North American carriers including Sprint, where our service is actually included as part of a user’s data plan. mSpot’s Radio service offers over 200+ channels spanning an array of genres and even includes local stations from across the nation. We have partnerships with many other content providers such as Clear Channel, ABC, NPR, FOX Sports, Radio Disney and more.

For more information, you can check out our website at www.mspot.com.

Karen Chao
Product Manger at mSpot for Radio Services
nick said:
I wouldn't call it bad for sirius. Now with the app store it wont be long before there is a sirius player for the iPhone ala Starplayer for Mac.

I am also tired of people comparing Sirius to iPods. they have nothing to do with each other. I have both and I use both. If I want something specific I listen to my iPod/iPhone and when I want to hear a genre and maybe something new (or Howard) I listen to sirius.

As far as comparing anything to radio it's too late. I havn't listened to regular radio since I got my Sirius. Now I have never used AOL radio and it may be audio commerical free. but it doesnt have NFL, NBA, MLB or Howard. Which Sirius and XM have and will combine when the two merge.
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opos said:
Ummm, don't want to spoil your thesis, but isn't AOL Radion actually XM?
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