Roku: Receiving ads with Plus subscription

markimark8 — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 15:18:15 GMT

I subscribed today to try to see if a technical issue I was having creating stations was related to my free plan somehow, it wasn't, but I thought you know nice to not have ads, so I'll keep subscription for a month and see. Now I only want to listen to artists on a station, because the algo is not very good at selecting the matching audio to what the theme of the station is, so I go to try 'only artists' which maybe this will help, and i discover I must watch an ad or upgrade to Premium, are you kidding me, I've never seen a platform think it's a good idea to keep showing ads to paying customers, NEVER. Pandora must be having some financial problems if this is what is needed to keep the lights one.

Honestly, today I spent way too much time just so I can listen to bird sounds only, I couldn't create a new station, I get completely out of scope style music, some crazily off selections for my 'bird sounds' station, and not I still have to watch ads to try to figure out how to only listen to bird sounds cleanly. I'm starting to wonder why I committed myself to use this app, even after find Rolu version having limitations and issue, but now i realize that is not Roku, it is foundational problems with Pandora, can anyone say offshore development...

Re: I'm going to still get ads after I subscribe, are you nuts?

TannerPandora — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 15:17:57 GMT

Hi @markimark8

Welcome to community!

Thanks for taking the time to share your experience. I'm sorry your first day with Pandora Plus has been such a frustrating one.

I also understand why being asked to watch an ad after upgrading to Pandora Plus would be confusing. The main difference between our subscriptions is that Pandora Plus provides ad-free personalized radio listening, while Pandora Premium includes additional on-demand features and more control over exactly what you want to hear.

For example, our Plus subscription removes ads from your regular radio listening. However, if you select a feature that's available with Premium, playing a specific artist or song, or selecting Artist-Only Mode, you may be offered the option to watch a short ad to temporarily access Premium features without upgrading your subscription.

Hope this helps to explain the Plus experience more.

I'd also like to help with the trouble that originally brought you here. You mentioned that you weren't able to create a new station and that your bird sounds station is playing selections that don't seem related to what you want to hear.

With creating a new station, was this happening on your Roku or a different device? When you try to create a new station, what happens? For example, do you receive an error message, or does the station simply not get created?

For the station you're having trouble with, could you confirm if the name? Along with a couple of examples of the artists, tracks, or other audio you're hearing that doesn't seem to fit.

Those details will give us a better understanding of what's happening so we can investigate further.

Thanks for your help!

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Roku: Receiving ads with Plus subscription

Re: I'm going to still get ads after I subscribe, are you nuts?