post Re: "Start Station From Song" starts wrong version of song in My Collection

"Start Station From Song" doesn't play the song

kenlancaster — Wed, 25 Jun 2025 16:14:21 GMT

When I use the Start Station from Song feature in the web interface, it doesn't start by playing the song I selected. Instead, the first song played is a different (apparently randomly-selected song), typically by the same artist.

To me, "Start Station from Song" implies that the first song played will be the song you selected. Is that not how it's supposed to work?

Re: "Start Station From Song" starts wrong version of song

AdamPandora — Wed, 25 Jun 2025 16:14:01 GMT

@kenlancaster I understand that it's frustrating not to hear the song that you've started a station with, but there's no way to control when or how often particular songs will play on free Pandora or Pandora Plus, so it's not possible to create a station and hear that track play right away (though it could happen by chance). Because of our licenses, we have to limit the predictability of a certain song or artist from playing on those services.

That said, for complete control of what you hear on Pandora, try Pandora Premium. It combines our industry leading internet radio service with on-demand listening and easy playlist generation.

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.

Hope this is helpful. Thanks so much for listening to Pandora!

Re: "Start Station From Song" doesn't play the song

zsquire — Sun, 01 Mar 2026 04:23:29 GMT

I have a related issue where the song(s) I create the station from are never actually played on the station. I understand they can't be played on command, but they haven't come up on the station in months (and there are a large number of other songs which I have heard repeatedly).