Now THAT was fascinating.

My car needs a subwoofer.  I tried to get away without one.  In my BMW the
trunk amplified the bass speakers in the rear deck and I got enough response. 
But even though I’ve got the best speakers available in my new car, they’re in
the doors, and you just don’t get enough bass.  But, I got such a deal on the
car, I’m having a hard time rationalizing how much money I’m putting into the
stereo.  It seems like it costs more than the car!  But, sound comes first, so
after driving around with the new stereo for two months I decided to pop. 
There goes another $500.

And it’s fascinating to go to the place.  It’s kind of like regular stereo. 
All that’s left is the low-end schlock houses and the super high end places. 
Since factory car audio has gotten so much better, most people don’t upgrade,
of if they do, they want cheap shit.  But for those of us who need to hear
EVERYTHING, places like the one I go to exist.

I bought shit I never heard of.

Oh, I got an Alpine head unit.  I only buy Alpine.

They wanted to sell me a Kenwood, because of the 24 bit CD, but I never
listen to CDs, I’m a satellite man only.

But the amplifier…  It’s an Audison.  Ever hear of Audison?  Neither have
I.  Handmade in Italy.

And the speakers.  Focal.  Made in France.

I had ADS in my Beemer, and loved ’em, but that company is toast.

I could have shopped it out, but there are few of these high end places left,
and this place is close to my house.  AND, in car stereo it’s all about
installation.  And these guys do a phenomenal job.  I realized that when XM paid
them to have the gear installed in my old car.

It’s a veritable car showroom.  You see the Bentleys.  And just now they had
one of those Chevy SSRs.  And a ton of Escalades.  Owned by people, who as Rod
Stewart once sang, have a lot more money than sense.

Now I’ve got XM AND Sirius in my car.

They wanted to install the antennas inside, but I told them they couldn’t.  I
didn’t want any issues of reception.

But, even though both antennae are on my roof, I lose Sirius signal in
strange places.  Like the next block.  I’ve had XM for three plus years and I lose
signal once every couple of months.  And, Sirius sound isn’t quite as good. 
So, you’d think the company is in trouble.  But then you show up where they
install the shit and you learn what’s really going on.

Sirius is killing XM.  Three to one.

It’s Howard.

That’s how I was greeted.  My man wanted to know what I thought of Howard
being suspended.  He stated it was a joke that he gets to advertise Sirius all
the time anyway.  Why don’t they just air reruns?

Because of the money.

For years everybody got XM.  That’s almost all they sold.

But the tide turned back in January.

And now, with Howard’s departure from terrestrial imminent, his lemmings are
showing up, wanting Sirius.  And, since Sirius has better radios than before,
they’re satisfied.  Until, they come back and bitch about reception.

Women?  They buy XM.  He couldn’t exactly tell me why.

And it’s not like this guy’s pushing Sirius.  They pay him LESS per
activation.  And the percentage of the subscription, which goes for five years, ain’t
much.  It’s tiny.  Then again, he told me XM pays a percentage, we didn’t
discuss Sirius.

And what about those people who bought Mercedeses and BMWs?  Whose cars came with Sirius instead of XM?  Well, in January the brains of these cars will
allow you to plug either in, and the satellite service will play through the
factory head unit.

XM is ahead for a number of reasons.  One of the main ones being Hugh
Panero’s factory install contracts.

But Sirius has the mo.  Stern is an icon.  And Mel Karmazin turns out to be a
household name.  Maybe since Howard mentioned him so much over the years.

Sirius probably would have gone out of business without Stern.  They NEEDED
to pay him $100 million a year to survive.  But, by betting the farm, they may
have set themselves up to win the pot.  People buy brand names.

In any event, it proves that old adage of record executives.  You can’t
understand the business unless you understand retail.

Unfortunately, these same execs still think it’s brick and mortar retail,
whereas if they understood technology, specifically P2P, then they might get what
their business is really about.