XM-Sirius Merger Nears Completion, Pending FCC Decision

One year after announcing a plan to join forces, former satellite radio competitors XM and Sirius moved one step closer to merging companies after getting approval from the U.S. Justice Department. The Dept. of Justice decided in a ruling that the merger was not "anti-competitive," as the two companies face competition from Clear Channel and Apple's iTunes software. Both companies struggled when competing against each other, with Sirius acquiring shock jock Howard Stern and the NFL while XM boasted Oprah Winfrey and Major League Baseball. Both companies plan to bump up their monthly price following the merge, but will likely also offer an "a la carte" option, allowing consumers to choose specific combinations of channels for a discounted rate. The final step in the merger, and perhaps the most difficult, is getting the approval from Howard Stern's old nemesis, the FCC.

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Song Stories

“1999”

Prince | 1982

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.

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