$9.99 SiriusXM streaming service leans into human curation, exclusives

SiriusXM has announced the launch of a $9.99 per month streaming service that combines content from its satellite radio service, Pandora music service, and Stitcher podcast app alongside more than a dozen new exclusive channels and content sources.

The new SiriusXM app will launch on December 14th and feature a customized For You landing page and special sections for Music, Talk and podcasts, and Sports alongside combined search and discovery.

The new branding and product reboot is designed to move SiriusXM beyond its core satellite radios service, which lost more than 575,000 self-pay subscribers in the last three quarters. The company’s Pandora service lost 150,000 paid users last year.

Not a Spotify Killer

“putting our differentiators at the forefront”

The new app does not take on Spotify directly with an on-demand music service. Instead, it leans heavily into SiriusXM’s slate of live, exclusive, and original programming, including three new music channels, Alt2K, Flex2K, and The Flow, new artist channels from Kelly Clarkson, John Mayer, Shaggy, and Smokey Robinson, a weekly show from James Corden, a true crime channel with Ashley Flowers, and takeovers by over 160 celebrity guest DJs.

A new deal with Audible will add an audiobook component sometime next year.

“From can’t-miss live moments to the perfect soundtrack for any occasion, with the new SiriusXM, we are putting our differentiators at the forefront and welcoming in a new generation of listeners, bringing them closer to what they love,” said Jennifer Witz, CEO, SiriusXM.

Bruce Houghton is the Founder and Editor of Hypebot, a Senior Advisor at Bandsintown, President of the Skyline Artists Agency, and a Berklee College Of Music professor.