Curating Songs for the Deceased

The evolution of Sirius XM's channel list gives us deep insight into how we remember (and forget) popular music.

I was stumped. I was in my dad’s car scrolling through the Sirius XM satellite radio channel list, and I couldn’t find Elvis Radio. I had scrolled through where the rock stations were - roughly channel 20 to channel 40 - yet The King remained elusive. Assuming I couldn’t get my Elvis fill, I was scanning aimlessly, looking for something else to listen to. That’s when I found him.

Elvis Radio was hiding up in the 70s near stations like Symphony Hall and Bluegrass Junction. I was shocked. I felt like a station dedicated one of the biggest stars of the 20th century deserved better billing.

And it did used to have better billing. For years, Elvis Radio was channel 19, the first station in Sirius XM’s rock lineup. So, what happened? Why did The King of Rock n’ Roll get demoted? In trying to find out why, I ended up learning about how we remember (and forget) the music of the past.

The Business & Science of Forgetting

To understand the Sirius XM channel lineup, you have to understand Sirius XM as a business. Since they’re a publicly traded company, learning about that is pretty simple. Sirius XM is required by law to publish quarterly and annual financial results. From those filings, we see that Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is made up of a few different business units.

• Sirius XM Satellite Radio: The company’s satellite radio unit was formed by way of a controversial merger between the Sirius and XM satellite radio companies in 2008. Upon the federal government’s approval of the merger, the New York Times noted that it was a “marriage that would create a de facto monopoly in satellite [radio].” This satellite radio marriage now generates revenue via their 34 million paying subscribers.

• Pandora: In 2018, Sirius XM agreed to purchase the internet radio service Pandora. Pandora offers both ad-supported and paid services with over 50 million monthly active listeners and 6 million paid subscribers.

• Stitcher: In 2020, Sirius XM acquired the podcasting network Stitcher. Stitcher makes money via ad sales and podcasting tools. In July 2023, Sirius XM shuttered the Stitcher app in an effort to better integrate podcasts into their satellite and internet radio offerings.

• SXM Media: SXM Media is a combined advertising sales group spanning all Sirius XM business units. In addition, SXM Media operates AdsWizz, a digital audio and ad tech platform purchased by Pandora in 2018, “which connects audio publishers and advertisers with a variety of … monetization solutions.”

Though there is some overlap between these groups, the most important from a revenue perspective is Sirius XM satellite radio, which generated $6.9 billion in revenue in 2022, representing nearly 77% of total revenue for Sirius XM Holdings Inc. In short, the satellite radio subscriber base is the engine that keeps the company running.

Numbers in millions

In order to grow and retain that subscriber base, Sirius XM tries to curate stations that people want to listen to. At present, they’re not trying to leave anyone out. Their satellite radio channel lineup includes “music, sports, entertainment, comedy, talk, news, traffic and weather … and other content, as well as podcasts and infotainment.”

Based on Elvis Radio falling down the channel lineup, it’s clear that that the breadth and depth of the lineup is not all that matters. The location of those channels also matters. Let me explain why.