Audio Video News

The news comes from some "leaked" internal documents, but it looks like subscribers will be hit for an extra $2 in every Sirius XM bill in the form of a music royalties surcharge. This is happening because of a royalty increase that was enacted in 2007 and will continue to increase, all the way up to 8% between now and 2012. That's an extra expense that plain old radio doesn't have to contend with at all. According to the report at Orbitcast, single subscribers will pay an extra $1.98, multiple radio plans will go up $.97 and "Mostly Music" packages will go up by $1.53. And according to the FAQs posted in the document, going a-la-carte and opting out of music stations won't lessen the cost.

We put in an e-mail to Sirius PR, but haven't heard back on whether or not this thing is actually confirmed, but we'll keep you updated. Until then, it might be a good idea to tell Quicken to set an extra $2 aside for your entertainment budget from now on.

-Stan Horaczek