Now that a Sirius/XM Satellite Radio merger is one step closer to reality, you may be asking yourself logical questions about future types of programming packages and usability of older equipment. Thankfully satellite radio blog Orbicast spells it out in plain English.

Both companies have defended the possible merger as a venture that will benefit consumers, promising compatibility with existing radios and more flexible pricing and programming choices, including a delicious a la carte option. We break down the post-merger choices for you after the break. (more…)

KCRW has always been known for having some of the best bands around stop by their studios to perform live. Last Tuesday marked the release of SPIRITUALIZED’s latest album, Songs In A&E. To mark the occasion, J Spaceman delivered a few acoustic tracks on the station’s airwaves. Peep a gander at just how awesome “Soul On Fire” sounds live.

You can listen to the entire performance here.

Daytrotter has worked itself into being a required stop for bands to get into their studios and record live music sessions. Artists ranging from Death Cab For Cutie to Vampire Weekend have all stopped by the site’s studios and recorded tracks for the site to give out to its wide audience.

Like Daytrotter, XPN has built up a solid reputation as one of the best AAA-formated radio stations in the country. The Philly-based station is known for taking risks (see their merger with y-rock a few years back) and “Daytrotter Radio” will probably be no different.

“Daytrotter Radio” will debut on Wednesday, May 7th at 10:30pm on WXPN. The half-hour show will be hosted by the ‘Trotter’s founder Sean Moeller. The show will feature music from the website’s vast recording sessions and be transmitted on XPN’s terrestrial airwaves as well as their three websites – www.xpn.org, www.yrockonxpn.org, and www.xponentialmusic.org. The show will also be available for download at www.daytrotter.com.

You can read the official press release after the jump. (more…)

The Department of Justice has approved a merger between SIRIUS Satellite Radio and rival XM, over one year after it was first announced. The move has been hotly contested, with the companies arguing their merger would benefit consumers and not create a monopoly (the argument being that consumers aren’t choosing between two satellite radio providers, but rather between terrestrial radio, iPod, etc when looking for music and entertainment choices). Both Sirius and XM have promised a number of benefits to their customers should the merger happen – a la carte service, a variety of channels, etc.

But don’t expect to be tuning into a wonderland of XM-Sirius goodness any time soon though, as the FCC still needs to sign off before this is final – and they’ve been the slowest decision makers of all. Hopefully this won’t drag out for another year, but with the National Association of Broadcasters still fighting valiantly against the merger, who knows…

If you’re the type who likes to read big words, here’s what the D to the O to the J had to say:

After a careful and thorough review of the proposed transaction, the Division concluded that the evidence does not demonstrate that the proposed merger of XM and Sirius is likely to substantially lessen competition, and that the transaction therefore is not likely to harm consumers. The Division reached this conclusion because the evidence did not show that the merger would enable the parties to profitably increase prices to satellite radio customers for several reasons, including: a lack of competition between the parties in important segments even without the merger; the competitive alternative services available to consumers; technological change that is expected to make those alternatives increasingly attractive over time; and efficiencies likely to flow from the transaction that could benefit consumers.

You can read the Department’s official release and analysis here.

At 4pm today, New York City lost a smooth jazz station (sorry Kenny G.) but gained a rock station as CD 101.9 pulled the plug on its dentist-office friendly format that it had been playing for the last 20 years and unveiled WRXP, “The New York Rock Experience.”

Considering that the New York rock experience has, for the last decade or so, consisted of Lenny Kravitz, Foo Fighters, Green Day and Nirvana, we weren’t expecting much. However, the station’s website showed their first hour of music, and for the most part, it’s pretty impressive. For a market that’s been a lot more likely to play Velvet Revolver than the Velvet Underground, it was both risky and exhilarating to have heard Lou Reed’s voice emanating out of the Syn stereo. Then to follow up it up with R.E.M.’s “Supernatural Suerserious,” a song that isn’t even out yet, was a nice one-two combo to start off a new station. Here’s the rest of the first hour, which, with the exception of Nickelback, we’re pretty ok with.

The Velvet Underground – Rock And Roll
R.E.M – Supernatural Suerserious
Elvis Costello – Pump It Up
Tom Petty – Mary Jane’s Last Dance
Blondie – Call Me
The Bravery – Believe
Bruce Springsteen – Blinded By The Light
The Flaming Lips – Do You Realize
U2 – Angel Of Harlem
Nickelback – Rockstar
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Zephyr Song
The Black Crowes – Hard To Handle
The Killers – Somebody Told Me

It seems smaller internet radio stations aren’t the only ones that are feeling the pressure since the Washinton-based company SoundExchange proposed and got their agenda passed that increased streaming fees for artists this summer.

SoundExchage’s push was heavily objected to by many internet radio statons big and small. Now that the higer royalty fees are in place the burdon is getting too big for many to handle, forcing many online entities to shut down shop.

However, no one expected this “death blow” to be as far reaching as two major internet players. Both AOL and YAHOO! have announced that if revenues for their internet stations did not get better, they would be shutting down operation of those areas of their business.

So question…Is SoundExchange, which is intended to operate in the best interest of their artist clients too aggressive to get royalties and not operating in their clients best interest? For if they manage to shut down two of the largest sites out there? Are they cutting off an entire revenue stream for their clients even if at a lower royalty rate?