Remember Sirius and XM's battle for satellite radio supremacy in the early 2000s? Or the companies' 2008 merger that ensured the survival of subscription radio? No? That's fine, because you don't need to know SiriusXM's history to enjoy its rich mix of news, talk, weather, traffic, comedy, sports, video, and music.
A SiriusXM Internet Radio subscription lets you stream satellite radio channels to your PC, tablet, smartphone, and internet radio devices, as well as in-car gear.
Like iHeartRadio, SiriusXM Internet Radio has a strong focus on live content, except that it's implemented in a far more engaging and entertaining fashion.
As a result, SiriusXM Internet Radio is an easy Editors' Choice among streaming music services.
Plans, Plans, Plans
Of all the streaming music services we've tested, SiriusXM has, without question, the most subscription tiers.
There are three Inside the Car specific packages aimed at SiriusXM automobile hardware: the $10.99-per-month XM Mostly Music, $16.99-per-month XM Select, and $21.99-per-month XM All Access.
There are also two Outside the Car plans—the $8.00-per-month SiriusXM Essential and $13 per month SiriusXM Premier (reviewed)—that target PCs, phones, and tablets.
SiriusXM also offers additional listening options and speciality packages, such as SiriusXM All-in-One, Sirius A La Carte, SiriusXM for Business, SiriusXM for Boats (fishing and weather information), SiriusXM for Planes (coast-to-coast graphical aviation information), and Sirius News, Sports, & Talk.
For full pricing and features information, check out SiriusXM's pricing page.
There is simply too much to list here.
SiriusXM lacks a free tier like the company's own Pandora.
Instead, SiriusXM has a wonderfully lengthy three-month trial.
Unfortunately, there's no true SiriusXM family plan in place, but you may qualify to receive a discount on additional subscriptions if you subscribe to one full-price plan or package.
Most streaming music services, including Apple Music and Deezer, let you cover a handful of household members at a low monthly price.
Serious Content
SiriusXM's content varies depending on your hardware and subscription level.
The basic-tier XM Mostly Music, for example, boasts more than 80 channels, but it lacks news, traffic, and weather reports, as well as sports (MLB, NASCAR, NBA, NFL, NHL, PGA Tour), and radio legend Howard Stern.
The top-tier XM All Access, as the name implies, includes everything under the SiriusXM sun, including video, sports, on-demand performances and interviews, dedicated traffic and weather, Comedy Central Radio, both Howard Stern channels (yes, the shock jock has two!), personalized channels powered by Pandora, and more than 100 curated, online-only Xtra channels.
Besides Howard Stern, SiriusXM has many notable personalities pulling hosting duties.
You'll find LL Cool J on Rock the Bells Radio, Billy Idol on 1st Wave, Chris "Mad Dog" Russo on Mad Dog Sports Radio, Hoda Kotb on Today Show Radio, Trevor Noah on Comedy Central Radio, and Sway on Shade 45.
In all, there's a lot of potential entertainment, and no other streaming audio service can truly compare with SiriusXM's depth.
LiveXLive Powered by Slacker Radio, with its informative DJ drops, news updates, historical retrospectives, and video content, does something similar but on a smaller scale.
Unique Features
SiriusXM's live radio hook as inspired the service's development crew to create unique features.
If you fire up, say, 90s on 9 to hear Gen X tunes live as they're broadcast, the TuneStart feature proves useful.
In fact, TuneStart is my favorite SiriusXM feature.
Let me explain.
As you channel-hop, you'll never jump into the middle of a song, because TuneStart automatically plays songs from the beginning when you stumble onto a track.
Sometimes it catches the tail end of a song or a DJ chatting about something or other, but that's not a deal breaker.
This is, after all, a feature that traditional streaming music services lack altogether.
On a similar note, you can also pause and rewind live radio, courtesy of a massive one-hour buffer.
You can even skip six times between the buffered songs! In a nice touch, SiriusXM supplies a daily live radio guide so you can view upcoming shows' broadcast times.
In addition, favorited channels live in their own dedicated section and even display what's currently playing so you can decide whether or not to listen.
SiriusXM is truly an expertly designed streaming music service.
SiriusXM's has a deep well of original on-demand, downloadable audio programming that is essentially the company's own podcasts.
On the audio side, you can listen to hip hop host Heather B chat with Common about a new album.
On the video side, you can watch Zoe Kravitz and the High Fidelity cast chat about the Hulu series.
Audio Power
In terms of sound quality, SiriusXM delivered clear audio in my testing.
When I fired up the Studio 54 channel—which plays some of the 1970s best dance tunes—I enjoyed satisfactory bass and other low-end sounds that didn't overwhelm other parts of the track.
Though SiriusXM doesn't display or release its streams' bit rates, you can switch between the Normal, High, and Maximum audio quality settings in the web or mobile apps.
Unfortunately, SiriusXM lacks Hi-Res Audio, an excellent streaming music format offered by Amazon Music Unlimited, Tidal, and a few other services.
If you want that high-quality audio, SiriusXM is not the place for that.
Radio Ga Ga
If you're a radio diehard—especially one disgusted at the state of traditional over-the-air broadcasts—consider SiriusXM Internet Radio is a must-have service.
It not only puts decades of music at your fingertips, but sports, the comedy circuit, and lifestyle and political talk, too.
If you're looking for Hi-Res Audio, which SiriusXM lacks, check out Amazon Music Unlimited or Tidal.
Otherwise, SiriusXM Internet Radio should fit your live radio-streaming needs.
Pros
Massive content well encompassing live and curated channels.
Large buffer lets you pause and rewind live radio.
High-profile exclusive content.
Video shows.
Massive three-month free trial.
Useful TuneStart and alert systems.
View More
The Bottom Line
Combining live radio and traditional streaming audio services elements, SiriusXM Internet Radio boasts the features and content to keep music, news, and comedy fans happy for a long time to come.
Remember Sirius and XM's battle for satellite radio supremacy in the early 2000s? Or the companies' 2008 merger that ensured the survival of subscription radio? No? That's fine, because you don't need to know SiriusXM's history to enjoy its rich mix of news, talk, weather, traffic, comedy, sports, video, and music.
A SiriusXM Internet Radio subscription lets you stream satellite radio channels to your PC, tablet, smartphone, and internet radio devices, as well as in-car gear.
Like iHeartRadio, SiriusXM Internet Radio has a strong focus on live content, except that it's implemented in a far more engaging and entertaining fashion.
As a result, SiriusXM Internet Radio is an easy Editors' Choice among streaming music services.
Plans, Plans, Plans
Of all the streaming music services we've tested, SiriusXM has, without question, the most subscription tiers.
There are three Inside the Car specific packages aimed at SiriusXM automobile hardware: the $10.99-per-month XM Mostly Music, $16.99-per-month XM Select, and $21.99-per-month XM All Access.
There are also two Outside the Car plans—the $8.00-per-month SiriusXM Essential and $13 per month SiriusXM Premier (reviewed)—that target PCs, phones, and tablets.
SiriusXM also offers additional listening options and speciality packages, such as SiriusXM All-in-One, Sirius A La Carte, SiriusXM for Business, SiriusXM for Boats (fishing and weather information), SiriusXM for Planes (coast-to-coast graphical aviation information), and Sirius News, Sports, & Talk.
For full pricing and features information, check out SiriusXM's pricing page.
There is simply too much to list here.
SiriusXM lacks a free tier like the company's own Pandora.
Instead, SiriusXM has a wonderfully lengthy three-month trial.
Unfortunately, there's no true SiriusXM family plan in place, but you may qualify to receive a discount on additional subscriptions if you subscribe to one full-price plan or package.
Most streaming music services, including Apple Music and Deezer, let you cover a handful of household members at a low monthly price.
Serious Content
SiriusXM's content varies depending on your hardware and subscription level.
The basic-tier XM Mostly Music, for example, boasts more than 80 channels, but it lacks news, traffic, and weather reports, as well as sports (MLB, NASCAR, NBA, NFL, NHL, PGA Tour), and radio legend Howard Stern.
The top-tier XM All Access, as the name implies, includes everything under the SiriusXM sun, including video, sports, on-demand performances and interviews, dedicated traffic and weather, Comedy Central Radio, both Howard Stern channels (yes, the shock jock has two!), personalized channels powered by Pandora, and more than 100 curated, online-only Xtra channels.
Besides Howard Stern, SiriusXM has many notable personalities pulling hosting duties.
You'll find LL Cool J on Rock the Bells Radio, Billy Idol on 1st Wave, Chris "Mad Dog" Russo on Mad Dog Sports Radio, Hoda Kotb on Today Show Radio, Trevor Noah on Comedy Central Radio, and Sway on Shade 45.
In all, there's a lot of potential entertainment, and no other streaming audio service can truly compare with SiriusXM's depth.
LiveXLive Powered by Slacker Radio, with its informative DJ drops, news updates, historical retrospectives, and video content, does something similar but on a smaller scale.
Unique Features
SiriusXM's live radio hook as inspired the service's development crew to create unique features.
If you fire up, say, 90s on 9 to hear Gen X tunes live as they're broadcast, the TuneStart feature proves useful.
In fact, TuneStart is my favorite SiriusXM feature.
Let me explain.
As you channel-hop, you'll never jump into the middle of a song, because TuneStart automatically plays songs from the beginning when you stumble onto a track.
Sometimes it catches the tail end of a song or a DJ chatting about something or other, but that's not a deal breaker.
This is, after all, a feature that traditional streaming music services lack altogether.
On a similar note, you can also pause and rewind live radio, courtesy of a massive one-hour buffer.
You can even skip six times between the buffered songs! In a nice touch, SiriusXM supplies a daily live radio guide so you can view upcoming shows' broadcast times.
In addition, favorited channels live in their own dedicated section and even display what's currently playing so you can decide whether or not to listen.
SiriusXM is truly an expertly designed streaming music service.
SiriusXM's has a deep well of original on-demand, downloadable audio programming that is essentially the company's own podcasts.
On the audio side, you can listen to hip hop host Heather B chat with Common about a new album.
On the video side, you can watch Zoe Kravitz and the High Fidelity cast chat about the Hulu series.
Audio Power
In terms of sound quality, SiriusXM delivered clear audio in my testing.
When I fired up the Studio 54 channel—which plays some of the 1970s best dance tunes—I enjoyed satisfactory bass and other low-end sounds that didn't overwhelm other parts of the track.
Though SiriusXM doesn't display or release its streams' bit rates, you can switch between the Normal, High, and Maximum audio quality settings in the web or mobile apps.
Unfortunately, SiriusXM lacks Hi-Res Audio, an excellent streaming music format offered by Amazon Music Unlimited, Tidal, and a few other services.
If you want that high-quality audio, SiriusXM is not the place for that.
Radio Ga Ga
If you're a radio diehard—especially one disgusted at the state of traditional over-the-air broadcasts—consider SiriusXM Internet Radio is a must-have service.
It not only puts decades of music at your fingertips, but sports, the comedy circuit, and lifestyle and political talk, too.
If you're looking for Hi-Res Audio, which SiriusXM lacks, check out Amazon Music Unlimited or Tidal.
Otherwise, SiriusXM Internet Radio should fit your live radio-streaming needs.
Pros
Massive content well encompassing live and curated channels.
Large buffer lets you pause and rewind live radio.
High-profile exclusive content.
Video shows.
Massive three-month free trial.
Useful TuneStart and alert systems.
View More
The Bottom Line
Combining live radio and traditional streaming audio services elements, SiriusXM Internet Radio boasts the features and content to keep music, news, and comedy fans happy for a long time to come.
