post Re: Broaden station songs in My Collection

How to broaden the songs that play on a station

Just_A_dude — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 15:17:53 GMT

I've had pandora now for, gosh 8-9 years? First time posting...

i would seriously think about upgrading to pro if this one particular issue wasn't present, so I figured I would ask the community to see if i'm overlooking something

I have a station built on one artist, with many similar artists added..

The initial artist has 25 albums, yet I hear maybe four of their ~300 songs
The same can be said for the 'similar' artists [each with more than 4 albums each, yet 2-4 songs ever played]

I have many stations setup like that as I enjoy numerous genre's of music.

Listening to just that station, or any other, and even trying to use 'shuffle station' option, is the same result.

Is this perhaps a licensing limitation with pandora, or am I assuming to much from the service?

Moderator Edit: Edited title for clarity

Re: Broaden station songs

AdamPandora — Mon, 28 Oct 2024 12:49:31 GMT

@Just_A_dude Can you please provide me with some example stations you are listening to (whether individually, or ones you include in Shuffle Mode) when this happens?

Thanks for working with me on this.

Re: Broaden station songs

Just_A_dude — Tue, 29 Oct 2024 16:17:23 GMT

Below is an example of a station, and the artists within. Included is the history I've recorded in the last year or better:

garbage Radio

Garbage
Sneaker Pimps
Metric
Republica
The Cardigans

Garbage: ~62 songs
>Songs heard pandora
-Stupid Girl
-Control
-I think i'm paranoid

Sneaker Pimps: ~20 songs
>Songs heard on pandora
-6 Underground
-Spin Spin Sugar

Metric: ~40 songs
>Songs heard on Pandora
-Gold Guns Girls
-Gimmie Sympathy
-Help I'm Alive
[only heard songs from one of their 9 albums basically]

Republica: ~26 songs
>Songs heard on Pandora
-Ready to Go
-Drp dead Gorgeous

The Cardigans: ~50 songs
>Songs heard on Pandora
-Erase/Rewind
-My Favorite game
-Lovefool

Additional examples which leads me to believe of a license issue:

Artist Halsey
I've heard like 10 of her songs alone, yet other artist very little.

Artist The Prodigy
Somewhere around 12 of their songs [though they do have many more never played]

Artist KMFDM
Somewhere around 10 of their songs, yet they have over 80 songs in their discography..

Re: Broaden station songs

AdamPandora — Tue, 29 Oct 2024 18:53:19 GMT

Thanks for following up, @Just_A_dude.

I recommend utilizing the various Modes options on your stations if you are looking to get more variety in the songs that are playing.

For example, selecting Deep Cuts will tune your station into playing less familiar songs by the artists on your station:

For more information on Pandora Modes, check out this help page article: Pandora Modes

Hope this helps!

Re: Broaden station songs

Just_A_dude — Tue, 29 Oct 2024 20:44:36 GMT

Ah ok that may be what I'm looking for!
However.. I don't see that option for the 'shuffle station' option. If I select deep cuts within each station, would the shuffle also use the 'deep cuts' ?

Re: Broaden station songs

AdamPandora — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 11:19:15 GMT

@Just_A_dude Unfortunately, Modes are only available when listening to individual stations - not when listening in Shuffle.

I recommend upvoting this existing thread with a ❤️ if you are interested in seeing it added to the service: Ideas: Allow Modes in shuffle

I hope this helps clarify.

Re: Broaden station songs

Just_A_dude — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 13:30:37 GMT

Done, though that was suggested 5 years ago..
Guess I could make one HUGE station with all of my artists and deep cut that

Thanks for the help!

Pandora is turning one of my favorite bands into the list of my hated ones

juanpsosa — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 14:40:44 GMT

Pandora always repeats the same songs over and over. For example if I choose one of my favorite bands like Marillion radio, Pandora always plays songs from only 2 albums from the first era of the band (1980s). For people like me that enjoys more the 2nd era of the band (1990s to recent) I get frustrated.

And for all the bands and artists I choose it happens the same. I need more variety and even suggestions to know new bands.

Re: Pandora is turning one of my favorite bands into the list of my hated ones

AdamPandora — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 15:19:45 GMT

@juanpsosa I moved your post over to this existing thread: How to broaden the songs that play on a station

I recommend utilizing Pandora Modes if you are looking to see more variety in the tracks that play on your stations.

Check out the accepted solution for more information.

Hope this helps!

Re: How to broaden the songs that play on a station

juanpsosa — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 15:34:48 GMT

I tried the solution of the deep cuts, but it only works with individual stations, not the shuffle option. You should have an option in the profile to listen to all the bands catalogues or only the hits.

Re: How to broaden the songs that play on a station

AdamPandora — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 15:42:27 GMT

@juanpsosa Thanks for following up.

No option for Modes in Shuffle:

I recommend upvoting this existing thread with a ❤️ if you are interested in seeing it added to the service: Ideas: Allow Modes in shuffle

Listening to an artist's catalog or their top hits:

Artist Only or Crowd Faves Mode would be good a good option for that.

For more information on each of the available Pandora Modes, check out this help page article: Pandora Modes

Hope we continue to see you around the community!

Re: How to broaden the songs that play on a station

juanpsosa — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 15:54:13 GMT

Nope, none of those modes work. Even the newly released mode because Pandora doesn't play any song from the band I chose. This is why I don't subscribe to any music streaming service. All of them are the same

Re: How to broaden the songs that play on a station

AdamPandora — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 16:24:48 GMT

@juanpsosa It sounds like you would actually most benefit from Pandora Premium if you are looking to stream content this way.

This service combines our industry leading radio service with on-demand listening.

With Pandora Premium, you have the option of picking and choosing the exact songs or albums you want to play by an artist.

You even have the option of shuffling through all of their songs that we have in our collection.

You can learn more about upgrading from our website.

Alternatively, you can start a complimentary session simply by searching our library for a song or album, and clicking play. This will trigger a short advertisement, after which you can enjoy content on-demand.

Ad-supported Pandora and Pandora Plus are designed to introduce you to new music through the artists and songs that you already know and love. You can type in your favorite artist or song and music that is similar to your selection will play on your station.

While Pandora stations will learn what you like and don't like based on Thumbs feedback, it's not possible to predict exactly which song will play next. Only Pandora Premium offers users that level of control.

Hope this helps!

Re: Pandora is turning one of my favorite bands into the list of my hated ones

butterflyhoney — Fri, 13 Dec 2024 14:06:14 GMT

Hi @AdamPandora I agree with the users above. I have pandora premium and am considering canceling it bc the algorithm is either terrible or getting worse! I get the same few songs from my preferred artists on every new station I create (from different, unique song seeds). It doesn’t even suggest a variety of artists ‌😪‌ just the same artists it happens to already know I like (I like more artists! But once the algorithm knows I like a song or an artist that’s allllllllll it plays ‌😩‌‌😩‌‌😩‌‌😩‌) yes I use the different station modes ! It still finds a way to autoplay those same 50-100 songs on each station mode across multiple stations

Moderator Edit: Format

Re: How to broaden the songs that play on a station

Just_A_dude — Sat, 05 Jul 2025 14:36:22 GMT

Hopefully I am allowed to Necro my own post regarding

@AdamPandora

The 'Deep Cuts' does work SO much better for playing songs not normally played

However.. I now hear less popular songs over..and over

Same scenario, I made a channel with ~30 artists or more
I hear about 5 'new to me' songs a day, but then I'll hear some of the 'deep cuts' I've heard already in the last week

So while I am hearing a better selection of my artists, I'm still getting a far small cut of the entire discography. I presume my artists in total should have a pool of ~10k songs, yet I'm hearing ~400 at best

I know this is a community 'help' forum, but I think an upgrade to the algorithm is needed at large