SiriusXM signed Avett Brothers bassist Bob Crawford to host a new audio docuseries examining music activism, including the big benefit concerts from the 1970s through the 1990s, that “defined a new era focused on human rights,” said the service Thursday. Concerts of Change: The Soundtrack of Human Rights debuts Tuesday on SiriusXM's Volume channel, with bonus content available on the SXM app, it said. The series will feature interviews with Live Aid organizer Bob Geldof, activist and musician Jackson Browne and other artists, politicians and journalists, it said.

SiriusXM announced the return of Neil Young Radio as an exclusive limited-run channel, after its limited-engagement run in December. The channel will be available for a week on SiriusXM and for a month on the SXM app, said the service Thursday. A day earlier SiriusXM’s rival Spotify honored Young’s request to remove his music from the service after Spotify stood by its Joe Rogan podcasts. Young accuses Rogan of spreading misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines.

The AAA Club Alliance (ACA) is offering free three-month SiriusXM platinum plan trial subscriptions through its 89 car care centers and 400 affiliated independent repair shops, in the first agreement of its kind between SiriusXM and a regional AAA club. ACA is the No. 3 U.S. AAA club, with more than 6 million members in 13 states, plus the District of Columbia. The offer is open to drivers who have a deactivated factory-installed SiriusXM receiver in their cars, said SiriusXM Monday. Customers without a factory-installed radio can qualify for a free three-month trial to the SiriusXM streaming app, it said. ACA car care centers and affiliated shops need to enroll in SiriusXM's "Service Lane for Shops" program to participate in the offer, it said.

Public and private German broadcasters are banding together on a nationwide “cross-media” campaign to promote DAB+ digital radio adoption during the holiday selling season, reported gfu, according to an unofficial English translation. DAB+, introduced about 15 years ago with the AAC+ audio codec, is the upgraded version of the original MP2-based Eureka-147 service that debuted in Europe during the 1990s. Ads running through Dec. 5 on TV, radio, in print and on social media are conveying the motto: “Hear what you want, but hear it right. With the new generation of radio.” Sales of DAB+ receivers are a global “success story in 2021,” surpassing an installed base of 100 million units for the first time, reported gfu. Sales in Germany neared 1.2 million DAB+ devices between January and September, up 14% from a year earlier, it said. Revenue from DAB+ receiver sales climbed 9% during the period to 152 million euros ($170.9 million), said gfu.

GeoBroadcast Solutions will demonstrate its geotargeted radio tech on Roberts Radio’s WRBJ(FM) Brandon, Mississippi, in “the coming weeks,” said Roberts Radio CEO Steve Roberts in calls with FCC Media Bureau Audio Division Chief Al Shuldiner and aides to Commissioner Brendan Carr and Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, per a filing posted in docket 20-401 Monday. GBS filed a report with the FCC on a previous demo of the tech (see 2109200066), which requires a change in the booster rules to be used on a broad basis.

HD Radio expanded to motorbikes, said parent Xperi Monday. HD Radio receivers are available on the digital dash display of the 2022 BMW R 18 Transcontinental. The system, for AM and FM, broadcasts a digital signal over traditional radio frequencies, allowing for up to three additional channels of separate audio programming, along with improved “static-fee” sound quality, emergency alerts and metadata. HD Radio receivers have had an estimated 85-plus billion listening hours in cars since 2005; over 95% of all Americans are able to receive an HD Radio signal, Xperi said.

TikTok Radio launched exclusively Friday on SiriusXM as a full-time music channel in vehicles and as a streaming channel on the SXM app and all connected devices, said the satellite radio company. The arrangement includes The TikTok Radio Trending Ten, a weekly countdown of the top 10 songs trending in the TikTok community, it said. The show will air Fridays at 3 p.m. EDT with replays throughout the weekend and will be available continuously on the SXM app.

Xperi’s HD Radio is expanding into the commercial truck category, said the company Monday. Receivers will be available first on the digital dash display of the Mercedes-Benz Freightliner Cascadia truck, said the company. HD Radio’s digital broadcast system sends a signal over traditional AM and FM frequencies, allowing up to three additional channels of new audio programming, along with information such as album art, station logos, song and artist information, traffic, weather and critical emergency alerts.

Platinum VIP, SiriusXM’s new top-tier package, gives subscribers access to “the full spectrum of SiriusXM content in up to two cars,” with a SXM App login for each, said the company Monday. The $34.99 monthly package's “special perks” include passes to SiriusXM events, plus access to live concert video and audio recordings through nugs.net, it said. A less comprehensive Platinum subscription package already was available for $8.25 monthly for the first year, $21.99 a month thereafter. SiriusXM reports Q2 results Tuesday.

SiriusXM becomes standard on BMW Mini models sold in the U.S. starting with model 2022 vehicles, said the companies Tuesday. Mini owners receive a 12-month subscription to SiriusXM’s All Access package with the purchase or lease of a new vehicle. It’s part of a recent agreement with Mini parent BMW and extends through the 2026 calendar year, they said.