Listeners of Sirius XM Radio are getting $2 fees added to their monthly satellite radio bills, in what amounts to a price increase. Sirius XM, whose talk show celebrities include Howard Stern, is passing along performance royalty fees paid to singers, musicians and recording companies.

In approving the deal, the Federal Communications Commission barred the combined company from raising prices for three years. That means Sirius could only collect the royalty fees through a separate surcharge, which the FCC allowed the company to start charging after a year, or July 29, 2009.

Sirius began charging customers in August. The company said it started notifying them of the charge by e-mail and postal mail in mid-June.

The fees go back to the late 1990s, when the recording industry won the right to collect royalties for performers as their songs play over satellite, Internet and cable radio. Currently, there is a fight to make broadcast radio stations pay the same fee.