Apple Thoughts: StarPlayr Killed Because It Was Unauthorized

"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."

Sorry for the long explanation, but it's important. The app was not rejected by Apple because it streams (as some wrongly suggested) nor was it held in release limbo because it was a media player that competed with others on the iPhone, nor was it the victim of some vast conspiracy on Apple's part. It was a simple decision by SiriusXM to build their own app and to shut down a product being made in violation of SiriusXM's terms of service (and very clearly so, as demonstrated in the linked article) and without their cooperation or approval.

Ultimately, it was NiceMac who was responsible for StarPlayr being rejected / refused / whatever you want to call it, not Apple. By the way, I think SiriusXM is being really stupid about this, but that's immaterial; anything that grows the platform is a good thing in the long run. At least they were smart enough to decide to bring their own similar player to market in a few months.