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What can you do?
Cancel your subscription
Have your account number or radio ID ready, go to SiriusXM Listener Care, and call their number.
The operator will attempt to talk you out of your cancellation (assuming you can understand
their dialect). Tell them that you're cancelling because of the removal of Cinemagic from
their primary service.
Send a protest e-mail
Send notice of your cancellation to SiriusXM's entertainment programming senior vice
president, Jeremy Coleman. His address is
jeremy.coleman@siriusxm.com. Expect a form letter response.
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Filmtracks Boycotts SiriusXM for Replacing Cinemagic
Soundtrack Channel with Mormon Interest Group Channel
"So Long, Farewell" from The Sound of Music Abruptly Cut Off As Channel
Goes Off the Air
It's no secret to film score collectors that their beloved genre of music resides outside of
mainstream tastes, and nowhere has their struggle for respect been more apparent in recent
years than on XM Radio and now SiriusXM. After pushing the dedicated soundtrack channel
Cinemagic around in the lineup several times and cancelling it for a short time already in
2008-2009, SiriusXM announced on June 24th, 2011 that bandwidth would no longer exist for the
channel beginning on July 1st, 2011. At that time, some of the channel's segments will be
shifted to slots on another channel and anyone searching for Cinemagic's current format
will be forced to listen to its ghost-like continuation on the Internet-only SiriusXM
platform
for an extra cost.
According to those who operate the channel and make its executive decisions, the final demise
of Cinemagic is due to conditions of the recent merger between the satellite radio companies.
As an FCC requirement, SiriusXM is being forced to open more bandwidth to minority-owned
channels that are now supplanting long-standing music channels. In the case of Cinemagic, the
bandwidth was reallocated to "BYU Radio," a Mormon interest group channel. Indeed, a genre of
music as universal as the movies they accompany is being replaced in the dominant satellite
radio lineup by a channel dedicated to the LDS Church, a minor religion considered by many to
be a fringe cult that espouses highly exclusionary, historically bigoted beliefs.
Filmtracks is operated from Missoula, Montana, an area with a substantial Mormon population,
and the site's office exists literally just a few feet away from an LDS student center. The
members of this religion in this area have proven themselves to be not only disrespectful
neighbors at times, but also on average the most diminishing of (and quietly hostile towards) women
and gays, among others, as any group. As an organization, the LDS Church's expenditure of money
to influence the political restrictions of equal rights in America has been extraordinarily
offensive and an example of their refusal to accept universal equality. Movie soundtracks, on
the other hand, inherently bring all cultures, creeds, orientations, genders, and other
aspects of humanity together for the love of a genre of music that knows no such
boundaries.
There is no hint about whether the channel could be resurrected once again over the air once
the upcoming "SiriusXM 2.0" finishes its development. Concerns sent to the company's listener
care & feedback website forms and to the "cinemagic@siriusxm.com" address for the channel are
being treated with a form response from Jeremy Coleman, the senior vice president who
oversees SiriusXM's entertainment programming and can be e-mailed directly at
"jeremy.coleman@siriusxm.com" (though expect only the same form response). The meat of
Coleman's form response to previous queries contains the following statement:
"Making the decision to pull Cinemagic from XM was really hard. Every now and then, we
have to pull a channel off our service. Our system and bandwidth only allow for so many
channels, and each one of our channels has developed a passionate fan base and has taken a
lot of care and creativity to put on the air. Any change we make, even if it allows us to add
something new that pleases a large number of people and expand our subscriber base, will
upset those that loved the channel we are removing and that's certainly the case for
Cinemagic, which is so unique and artfully done."
Granted, Cinemagic has never been perfect (some of its suites omit the scores' best material,
compression rates have been a concern, and the interviews occasionally contain fanboy
enthusiasm), but for a decade it has been the digital airwaves' only true soundtrack
representation and was a reason why many film score collectors originally chose XM over
Sirius when the former was the sole provider of the station. It's been instrumental to the
running of Filmtracks through the years because its suites have assisted in the editorial
choices about which scores merit a review. Without Cinemagic over the air (and with
perpetual, obnoxious changes to the rest of the lineup, increased fees despite the mandate of
the merger, and the company's often incomprehensible service representatives in India), there
is far less reason to maintain a subscription to SiriusXM. It's strongly encouraged for
anyone who enjoys this channel to contact the addresses above or use the form at siriusxm.com
to express dissatisfaction with the decision.
As of July 2nd, 2011, Filmtracks has cancelled its two radio subscriptions. In case anyone
seeks proof, the radio IDs were: K72VC0C9 and ELXMC2HA. Notice of these cancellations and
boycott has been sent to the address above as well. Now it's your turn to do the same!