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Sirius XM Radio subscribers are paying more as the satcaster is adding a $1.98 to its subscription fees, in a move it says covers an increase music-royalty fees. Some have speculated that the hike is "an end run" around the FCC's approval of the merger that prohibits the combined companies from raising prices for three years.

Under the merger agreement, Sirius XM is only allowed to collect royalty fees through a separate surcharge, which the FCC allowed the company to start charging after a year, or July 29. New York-based Sirius XM began charging customers in August.

In a letter to subscribers last July, Sirius said that it would charge a "music royalty fee of $1.98 per month for primary subscriptions and 97 cents per month for multi-receiver subscriptions effective on a subscriber's next renewal." The fee, Sirius XM says, will be used "directly to offset increased payments from XM to the recording industry."

Sirius said customers with lifetime subscriptions, or who subscribe to news, sports and talk radio packages with little music, will not have to pay the fee. Those with annual or multi-year contracts will pay the fee when renewed. (10-01-09)

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