NiceMac has finally gone public on what happened with its satellite radio iPhone App and its relationship/situation with Sirius XM Radio Inc.
In late February, the uSirius StarPlayr app was rejected by Apple, and we now have confirmation on what many had already suspected - that the app was killed by the satellite radio provider. This led to the final demise of the StarPlayr project itself, and NiceMac's decision to drop its satellite radio endeavors.
According to a recent post, both NiceMac and Sirius XM Radio had been under a mutual non-disclosure agreement for the past 9 months. During this period, NiceMac had hopes of striking an "entrepreneurial agreement" with the satellite radio provider.
But NiceMac also pointed out that they decided to move forward as a 3rd party developer, without Sirius XM's blessing, at the beginning of this year.
While I can understand - and definitely respect - the drive behind NiceMac's decision to go at it alone, I think it was that move that ultimately led to the downfall of the project. That's not to say that Sirius XM Radio were "right" in stringing them along, as it appears they were, but in this case NiceMac simply had no leverage.
The service (Sirius XM) isn't NiceMac's to use. The platform (Apple iPhone) isn't NiceMac's to distribute on. They're the middle-man, and suseptable from both sides.
Sirius' terms-of-service clearly define the prohibited usage of their intellectual property:
Beside the intellectual property issue, there's the problem of brand confusion. Despite being branded as uSirius StarPlayr (note the "Sirius" in "uSirius"), it can easily be argued by the company that consumers will mistakenly confuse the product as being owned by Sirius XM Radio.
Now... I still think Sirius XM made a mistake here.
Instead of being caught up by the corporate legalese, they should instead take on the position of fostering consumer advocacy. Your consumers are your best sales people, and the folks behind StarPlayr are clearly hardcore fans.
I obviously wasn't part of the closed-door negotiations, so this is a total assumption, but it seems like a simple case of "buy vs. build" - and Sirius XM should have bought. They'd been to market faster, and it would have been a good story of embracing their fanbase.
The killer will be this: If Sirius XM can develop an App that is better than what NiceMac had created. Album art, lyrics, etc. those were all nice - but the current state of either Sirius or XM's online players doesn't instill much confidence in an "awesome" iPhone App being made.
The Sirius XM iPhone App doesn't need to live up to expectations, it needs to exceed them.
[StarPlary]
But NiceMac also pointed out that they decided to move forward as a 3rd party developer, without Sirius XM's blessing, at the beginning of this year.
While I can understand - and definitely respect - the drive behind NiceMac's decision to go at it alone, I think it was that move that ultimately led to the downfall of the project. That's not to say that Sirius XM Radio were "right" in stringing them along, as it appears they were, but in this case NiceMac simply had no leverage.
The service (Sirius XM) isn't NiceMac's to use. The platform (Apple iPhone) isn't NiceMac's to distribute on. They're the middle-man, and suseptable from both sides.
Sirius' terms-of-service clearly define the prohibited usage of their intellectual property:
"You may not re-skin, re-package, decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble Sirius Internet Radio, or construct a media player or interface that accesses Sirius Internet Radio."This isn't anything new either. This clause dates back to August, 2007.
Beside the intellectual property issue, there's the problem of brand confusion. Despite being branded as uSirius StarPlayr (note the "Sirius" in "uSirius"), it can easily be argued by the company that consumers will mistakenly confuse the product as being owned by Sirius XM Radio.
Now... I still think Sirius XM made a mistake here.
Instead of being caught up by the corporate legalese, they should instead take on the position of fostering consumer advocacy. Your consumers are your best sales people, and the folks behind StarPlayr are clearly hardcore fans.
I obviously wasn't part of the closed-door negotiations, so this is a total assumption, but it seems like a simple case of "buy vs. build" - and Sirius XM should have bought. They'd been to market faster, and it would have been a good story of embracing their fanbase.
The killer will be this: If Sirius XM can develop an App that is better than what NiceMac had created. Album art, lyrics, etc. those were all nice - but the current state of either Sirius or XM's online players doesn't instill much confidence in an "awesome" iPhone App being made.
The Sirius XM iPhone App doesn't need to live up to expectations, it needs to exceed them.
[StarPlary]
Seems that uXM and uSirius is being dropped as well. So any future channel/feature changes won't be supported. Thanks Millard Software. I can understand why they dropped StarPlyr but NOT the uXM/uSirius apps??!!
Honestly, I don't see what the difference is. I don't know what they had planned for the USirius app(free or paid) but Sirius could have paid them for the app and then distributed it as their own. Why block them out all together?
You're totally right, Ryan. I love XM, but since the merger many a boneheaded move has been made. It's kind of miraculous they aren't out of business.
here here we will soon see.like a kid in a candy store i am hungry and want
some.
I've said the same thing. Sirius should have bought the uSirius app to please their customers and stockholders. Millions of iPhone owners were chomping at the bit wanting to buy this app - me included. It just goes to show you how poorly managed Sirius XM is.
If it weren't for Howard Stern, I'd cancel. Commerical free music is available from many different sources. Go ahead Mel, ruin this company, too.
What changes in the terms and conditions are they referring to?
QUOTE:
"After reviewing satellite radio's updated terms and conditions, NiceMac has decided to shutdown the StarPlayr project..."
As Ryan pointed out, the part about "no third party internet players" has been in the terms since 2007. What changed?? They shouldn't have even BEGUN developing a player, especially for sale. I love uSIRIUS. I was hoping for a iPhone/iPod app from them. But they clearly violated SIRIUS XM's terms. But them blame the terms for the reason they shutdown..when nothing changed?
Still, shame on SIRIUS XM: they could have tossed them a bone, slightly redesigned/rebranded the player and called it the OFFICIAL player. Beta testing, tweaking and developing had already been done. Why not buy StarPlayr out?
Their app better be amazing, because I loved Starplayr simply because it wasn't Sirius' awful media player.
If it wasn't for Stern, I'd have to seriously reconsider my subscription at this point.
In my opinion, the company did exactly what it should have done in this situation - investigate the opportunity and then move on. Unless NiceMac had developed a game-changing application with both short and long-term potential, there is zero incentive for SiriusXM to license from or acquire the developer. When R&D firms (what NiceMac in effect is here) develop unsolicited improvements on existing products, the bar is set very high for success, they know going in the likelyhood of success is low. They don't succeed by proving utility in every single idea, they suceed by leveraging the 1 in a 100 ideas that’s a game changing improvement into massive gains. Unfortunately I think people want to apply the successes of the open-source and user-development software models into areas where it has little to no monetary incentive.
The key here was for SiriusXM to develop a functioning program that meets the company and customer's general requirements, not to satisfy the detailed (and often variable) wants of its most demanding customers. If the program comes out and it functions without issue, the average consumer will be happy, and the additional revenue stream is accessed.
Weren't these the same folks (nicemac) who figured out a way to sell advertising space for related products on top of the satellite radio stream....
if so...that's probably what did it
its on thing to create a product to increase the user base...but its another to find a way to profit from someone else's content stream. And its another argument entirely if the interlopers were going to profit off of the app they developed in the first place. (As i doubt that they were planning on giving it away)
additionally...did anyone really have to spend any time wondering why apple rejected the app? Seriously, this was a TOTAL no-brainer.
And as for the statement that the iphone app has to exceed expectations...um..nope. (i wont go into this because JS summed it up perfectly)
the only expectation is for the product to connect to the content and play it. That's it.
If you think that Sirius is going to incorporate lyrics and other nonsense, then you clearly haven't connected to their website for internet listening. The capcha alone is a major headache. XM's online interface is a little bit better...but not by much (and the little bit was the ability to look at the content that is playing on other channels).
Charging for internet access to the content was inevitable. It had to happen. Too many people were taking advantage of this for it to remain profitable in the long-haul. Besides, you can always get a home dock and a car dock...and move the player around.
Ryan...i think your a great guy, but sometimes you really cant see the forest for the trees. Anyone with half an understanding of the marketplace could see why Apple rejected the app.
As for the argument that SiriusXM should have purchased Nicemac's code. That would not work either; as it would validate the efforts that Nicemac did to reverse engineer their content stream. Open that door and next we would see companies creating radios that could access the Satellite feed...
Is it even known yet if it will offer the entire channel list?
NiceMac obviously was not run well as a business. It was naive/stupid for them to assume they could develop something illegal from existing terms of service agreements, make money off it, and assume another 3rd party would endorse this behaviour. While they may have had technical sense, they had zero business sense.
But no skin of my nose. I don't and won't own an iPhone anyways.
Ryan, you could not have said it any better. They missed a golden opportunity to not only have a killer app on the iphone but also an unprecedented kinship with their very hard-to-please fans. And I don't mean that as an insult to satellite radio users. It's hard to totally please any customer base of 19 million, but embracing all the work these guys did would have really gone along way.
I'm nervous about a crappy app from Sirius as well. I'd rather pay $10 for Nicemac's app than get an app that looks like Sirius' internet streamer for free.
Also, to all of the Mel haters, say what you will about him. I'm sure there are decisions he regrets. We all make decisions we regret in our personal and private lives. However, there are very, very few CEO's that could have pulled Sirius out from sure bankruptcy they way he did.
You know, If NiceMac/Starplayr didn't try so hard to get approved - - the stock price would be at .05. It's the buzz that has people excited, and SiriusXM has missed the boat by not getting an app out - - LAST YEAR!!!
I mean really? COME ON!!! They won't even tell us when they submitted the app, or if it's approved. For all we know, they could release it at the END of Q2.
It's getting old, fast, and if it wasn't for NiceMac - I don't think SiriusXM would have even given it a thought, and THAT is a BIG problem with the current "management".
Throw us a bone. Give us some pictures, Tell us how long it's been in the approval process, Who has been working on it? Internal? Where is the reporting and PR in this? I can't take it anymore!!! Sirius-ly! This is stupid.
How many paid Internet Radio apps own the content they are streaming?
I use Pocket Tunes, $9.99 and love it, but I seriously doubt they have a license and are paying for the hundreds on stations broadcast through this player?
Pulsar for Mac charges $16 for their Sirius XM streamer and seriously doubt they have a license.
SelectRadio charges $25 for this Windows Mobile app and it streams Sirius and XM Radio along with 5000 internet radio stations.
I could probably mention many more that do not own or have a license to the content.
Remember that 3 ways to listen on the 11th.. I bet they panicked when they saw the Starplayr app and how shitty SXM's would be compared to the Nicemac boys' player. I bet we'll see SXM's shitty app next fall.
iPhone app. Great idea, many have been waiting forever, and it seems like a great way to sell new/more online subscriptions. So SiriusXM, maybe buy their app. and consider buying out your current developer. (NiceMac's is ready to go now, and SiriusXM could use the cash from new subs now!)
I don't have an iPhone, and won't have one for several years, if at all (Apple: say hello to Verizon Wireless after the current AT&T exclusivity ends.) So I have no interest in an iPhone app, aside from the potential business expansion for the company (which it desperately needs!).
But let's talk about the Mac/PC solutions.
Sirius rushed this player to the web. All the Howard listeners wanted online access, and many months later Sirius finally delivered (say hello to CAPCHA). It was something, considering how long we all waited. A good effort. Hmmm...lists, organized by category. Was that your first idea, or your second? Either way, it's clear you didn't spend a lot of time on usability studies.
As Lou mentions above, the XM player is slightly better...actually, it's pretty good. It's a giant list of all the channels, but the content is updated for each song, and you can SAVE FAVORITES!
Face it Sirius, your player is awful. Mac support is limited. Layout is basic. A good first/early effort. Maybe the CAPCHA and 90 minute timeouts are required, but I hope not.
Right or not, NiceMac has shown us a much better way to listen online with Mac's & PC's. It's so easy and sooooo much better. Saved login/password. Channel favorites with logos. Updated content over logos. Album covers. Lyrics. It's an app, not one of five browser windows I have open. The app. can minimize to the tray. And there's so much more. (At one point we could record the streams...very convenient!)
Don't through out the baby with the bathwater!!!
Do what you must with NiceMac's iPhone app...but buy their Mac and PC apps.
Or let us buy them.
At a minimum, give Sirius online listeners the XMRO player interface.
Sirius: if you're going to force us to use your crappy player...it's time to update it.
Gotta stop what I'm working on...my webplayer is beeping, it's been 90 minutes since it last nagged me.
True. The NiceMac guys would add in features based on requests in a matter of days and sometimes within 24 hours.
Seriously doubt the official App will have that type of high level support.
The NiceMac developers have OCD when it comes to helping others and making their App want the customers want.
I hope there's no bad-blood between NiceMac and Sirius; I hope Sirius didn't do-them-wrong (as an investor now wanting to be part of such!); I do love the idea of "grass-roots-involvment"; That's one reason Apple is so successful; Sirius needs to learn how to harness the power-of-its-fan-base, not disenchant them and diss them! Management could really turn-this-Co. around if they knew how to do that! Kudos to NiceMac for kicking-Sirius-in-the-Arse, and forcing them to realize the potential of a Iphone/Ipod App. Honestly, management at Sirius are "white-shoe-dudes"; Frear is a cowtowing "yes-man", up-on-tech., but too beholden to the almighty Mel, who doesn't know how to operate a computer!
God help us through this management team! Maybe Maffei can get something done! Malone's actually a genius, and he knows how to delegate, hence Maffei! Mel is a "power-dude", and I get the sense that he's threatened by other's prowess; I'm diverging, but not really! Such corporate culture stifles real innovation...and it's obvious! Give-me-my-money-back-guys(investment!), and someone with some verve, nerve, and modern-tech. ability, assume the leadership position, please!
Good Karma to you NiceMac!
You are welcome. Thank you for the positive comments. We are waiting to see what Sirius XM comes up with and how it compares NiceMac's StarPlayr.
Sirius XM and partner AT&T want to use a lower-bandwidth codec than the hacked online codec used by Starplayr. Looking at the existing XM player for AT&T's other phones it's clear that a major reason that Starplayr was not acceptable was that it would have burned up AT&T's network.
Jason Millard and the guys from Starplayr are great. The came up with great products and I am sad to see Sirius/XM turn their app down. I can't imagine that the official app will be half as good as starplayr was. I hope that Sirius/XM is in the process of releasing the Starplayr app and the NiceMac guys just can't talk about it. They deserve a reward for all their hard work.
Let's hope that NiceMac does (not) release the StarPlayer as open source. The app does not need to be Apple approved to run on the iPhone and by opening up the source code they'll protect themselves from liability. (The code goes in public domain and is no longer owned by NiceMac and as such they are not responsible for it.)