XM Canada Awards $50,000 to Two Canadian Bands at the Second Annual Verge
Music Awards

    
    Dan Mangan and Alexisonfire Take Home Artist of the Year and Album of the
    Year
    

TORONTO , Sept. 23 /CNW/ - XM Canada (TSX:XSR), the country's leading satellite radio company, awarded $25,000 each to Dan Mangan and Alexisonfire at The Verge Music Awards as part of its continuing support, promotion and celebration of emerging Canadian talent and musicians.

The Second Annual The Verge Music Awards, named for The Verge, channel 87 on XM satellite radio, is dedicated to featuring Canada's cutting-edge indie music scene. Last night at the acoustic oasis The MOD Club, XM Canada awarded Artist of the Year to Dan Mangan and Album of the Year to Alexisonfire for Old Crows/Young Cardinals, as voted by fans.

Dan Mangan , from Vancouver , BC has released two EPs and two LPs since 2003, and is receiving rave reviews from critics for the August release of his sophomore album Nice , Nice , Very Nice . Alexisonfire, a five-piece post-hardcore band from St. Catharines, ON released their fourth album Old Crows/Young Cardinals, giving fans a slightly different sound but keeping true to their signature music.

"There is a lot of talent in the Canadian indie and alternative music scene and XM Canada will continue to support and promote our fellow Canadians through The Verge Music Awards and with The Verge channel, both dedicated to fostering Canadian talent and providing a national and international platform," says Jeff Leake , Music Programming Director of XM Canada . "We are ecstatic to award last night's winners with cash prizes that will financially help them in their future projects and help them to continue to grow as musicians."

The Second Annual The Verge Music Awards, as well as the amazing performances by top Canadian bands Metric, The Weakerthans and Hey Rosetta!, were broadcast live-to-air across North America on XM Satellite Radio on The Verge, channel 87, and sponsored by Nike.

For more information on programming and subscriptions, visit www.xmradio.ca

About Canadian Satellite Radio Holdings Inc.

Canadian Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (TSX: XSR) operates as XM Canada and is Canada's premium digital audio entertainment and information company with the best signal coverage across the country. With 130 digital channels of choice, XM Canada offers Canadian listeners the most unique and original Canadian and international programming, including commercial-free music channels, exclusive live concerts and sports coverage, and the best in talk, comedy, children's and entertainment programming. A free seven-day trial of XM Radio Online is available at http://www.xmradio.ca/freetrial/. Visit www.xmradio.ca for programming and subscription information.

XM Canada is the satellite entertainment leader in the Canadian automotive market with long-term factory installation agreements with manufacturers that own close to 60 per cent share of the domestic vehicle market. XM's industry-leading products are available at shop.xmradio.ca, and at retailers nationwide.

XM programming is available by subscribing directly through XM Canada and is also available as streams of commercial-free XM music channels on TELUS Mobile Radio and Rogers Wireless Radio on Demand. XM Canada is the exclusive music channel provider on Air Canada's flights and is available in select Avis Budget Group rental vehicles.

To find out more about Canadian Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (TSX: XSR), visit our website at www.xmradio.ca/about/.

    
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For further information: Cohn & Wolfe, Nell Crichton/Lorena Cordoba, [phone] Ext. 4085/4089, [email protected], [email protected]