An Open Letter to Mel Karmazin

This is not a typical post for ImRubberYourGlue, but as I explained previously I have been too happy to write the normal fare for this site. Besides, people actually read this blog so maybe someone could forward it to Mel. In case you did not know, Mel Karmazin is the CEO of Siruis XM, the satellite radio provider of which I am a subscriber and a share holder. A lot of shares. A lot of shares that I paid an average around $4.50 to own and are, as of this morning, are being traded at 26 cents. Something has to be done.

I love Sirius. I have been a subscriber since October of 2005 and have not listened to terrestrial radio since. When I heard Howard Stern was moving to satellite radio I did two things; I bought a receiver and I bought shares of Sirius. Last year I was given an iPod and I have to confess that these days I spend more time with it than my Sirius receiver. I have completely changed the way I consume content thanks in part to Tivo and the iPod and so have a lot of people. If Sirius wants to stick around they need to become more than a broadcasting company who delivers their content on satellite rather than on a Earthbound transmitter. Here is what they can do.

1. Offer Podcasts of their popular shows: This isn’t great for music but perfect for talk shows. Like him nor not, Stern is the reason a lot of people have Sirius. If you could download the show each day to your iPod and take it to work or wherever you go, a lot of people would do that. A lot of people would probably pay a few dollars more each month to be able to listen to the show when and where they want. A lot of people who do not subscribe because they don’t want to buy a receiver may also sign up to get casts of their favorite shows.

2. Open a Music Store: There is a lot of great music on Sirius. A lot of times when I listen I make a note to myself to go download a song I heard. How convenient would it be if I could press a button and be able to buy the song? Very cool. If all receivers were WiFi enabled, this could be done. If people are listening online this could be very easily done.