So here’s to having a Thursday off in the middle of the week folks! Hope you are enjoying it. I envy you bastards who are able to make a long weekend of it all. Kudos to you.

We have so much in this country to be grateful for and are truly fortunate.

Take a few minutes to reflect on some of your favourite Canadian artists who are featured on Sirius Radio regularly. Don’t care what channels and what kind of music you prefer. You can find lots of Canadian content on the dial, and Canadian contributions from Canadian radio talent.

Worth mentioning on these pages are a few personal favourites such as Rush, whose music we regularly hear on Sirius 19 The Boneyard and Sirius 15 Classic Rewind. Also remember to head on up to the great channel known as The Iceberg for some great Adult Oriented Rock and Alternative Music. I just happened to flip to it hearing The Parachute Club’s classic one hit-wonder “Rise Up”. I forgot that song was even Canadian in the first place.

We are lucky enough to be living in an age where there is a tremendous surge in original new talent from this country, while the older groups and artists are releasing new material that is of critical and commercial success. So much great Canadian talent out there, it will surprise you and everyone else if they just listen.

I renew my continued objection to the CRTC interfering with Sirius Canada and XM Canada by not allowing people to subscribe to the best of series for each set of stations. Maybe they could give that to us as a Canada day gift….

The Digital Home Forums have recently hosted a thread discussing the pros and cons of Canadians two satellite radio options, the still unmerged Sirius Radio Canada and XM Radio Canada.

The verdict from passionate, Canadian satellite radio fans was that one service is better for automobiles and that one is better for home usage.

So which one is for you?

XM Canada received better ratings for home usage, Digital Home members mentioning that service is great once an appropriate spot has been found. Sirius Canada on the other hand emerged as a clear favourite for users requiring satellite radio service for their cars.

[Via Digital Home Forums]

After creating plenty of attention for their inability to pay outstanding royalties owed to SOCAN, XM Canada has now made good on their previous promise and fulfilled the requirements asked of them by the artist protection society.

SOCAN had launched a lawsuit against XM Canada over this unpaid money earlier this month, a move that prompted the Canadian satellite radio company to finally pay the funds.

The money had been owed to SOCAN since January 2005 and was ordered to be paid by a date no later than July 31st 2009. After XM Canada was still unable to pay the owed funds, SOCAN launched a lawsuit that led to a conclusion to the matter.

[Via Digital Home]

As troubles have continued between SOCAN and XM Canada over the latter party’s unpaid royalty fees there has been increased agitation from SOCAN to receive their overdue payment.

Now XM Canada has announced their intention to repay the sum immediately, still bemoaning the difficult economic climate but assuring SOCAN of their continued efforts to rectify the situation.

SOCAN has rightfully responded to XM Canada’s plea for further time with a statement condemning the satellite company’s delayed payment, speaking of the sums that are being unfairly held from composers, producers and other rightful recipients due to the wait.

[Via The Canadian Press]

In another plus for Sirius Canada subscribers, a recent New York Times article has praised the satellite company’s response to the theft of satellite receivers.

While looking at corporate responses to the theft of Amazon Kindle electronic book readers the New York Times questioned the practices employed by Amazon in cracking down on stolen units.

Mentioned in the article however are the policies outlined by Sirius Radio Canada. The Canadian side of the company has maintained a policy since 2005 that allows subscribers to cancel service on stolen units by simply signing a statement, a move that is much better than XM Canada or the American Sirius XM Radio.

[Via New York Times]

Bad news has hit fans of XM Radio Canada this week with the announcement of a lawsuit being filed against the satellite company by The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) over an unpaid royalty dispute.

XM Canada has been accused of failing to pay royalties owed for the broadcast of SOCAN-protected music. The royalties were due for payment by July 31st, 2009 and the company has still been unwilling (or perhaps unable) to pay.

As penalty SOCAN has demanded that XM Canada (and Sirius Canada as well from a different dispute) pay 4.26 percent of their service revenue, an amount that will prove difficult to provide during the ongoing recession.

EDIT: Sirius Canada has met their royalty responsibilities with SOCAN. Apologies for the error.

[Via Digital Home]

For those Canadian iPhone owners sick and tired of waiting for access to the Sirius XM iPhone App north of the border it may be time to download a different program which functions just as well and is already available.

We mentioned WunderRadio previously when news was surfacing of their Version 1.8 release, an upgrade which has now been released with fixed bugs and vast improvements, making it into the best platform for streaming Sirius Canada.

With a price tag of only $6.99 at the iTunes Canada Store, WunderRadio v.1.8 is definitely the best App for those frustrated with the continued wait and is well worth the download.

[Via Digital Home]

We previously reported on the massive subscriber loss recently reported by XM Radio during the last fiscal quarter but the ramifications of the results may be the most important aspect of this story as evidenced by the interest of the satellite radio fan community.

Members at the Digital Home Forums have been discussing the subscriber losses and the inherent link with the decline of the automotive industry, one of the businesses hit hardest by the continuing economic recession.

With the recession set to continue into 2010, this link becomes even more troubling, perhaps pointing to the very real possibility of XM Canada losing further subscribers and potentially finishing as business as a result.

[Via Digital Home Forums]

XM Canada has recently opened the voting process for the 2009 edition of The Verge Music Awards, providing listeners the opportunity to vote for their favourite artists and help reward them for their work.

The voting opened up on Canada Day and is scheduled to remain so until August 31st in preparation for the award show itself on September 22nd at Toronto’s Mod Club.

Winners of the award will receive $25,000 for taking first place in either the Album of the Year or Artist of the Year category. The sponsorship by XM Canada helps round out the fall indie awards, occurring at roughly the same time as Sirius Canada’s coverage of the 2009 Polaris Prize.

[Via Digital Home Forums]

The satellite corporation itself appears to have managed business extremely well, reporting a rise in revenue and lowering of overhead costs, but reported a massive hit through diminishing subscriber numbers.

Self pay subscriber rates dropped by an 8.1% rate (32, 000 subscribers) to a total of 363, 400 while the total number of subscribers (including automobile purchase incentives, etc.) fell to 497, 800, a number that is down by 10, 900 subscribers only three months prior to the release.

[Via Digital Home Forums]