Classical pieces split into multiple tracks

[mattspringer]

Most classical pieces are entire individual tracks, or individual movements are entire individual tracks.  e.g., a symphony in several movements would have one track per movement.  However, some long pieces like Appalachian Spring, or several Mahler Symphony movements, are long enough that some recordings have the individual pieces/movements split into subtracks.  Pandora does not recognize the several tracks that comprise a single movement; rather, it just plays individual tracks (usually the first one in that multi-track movement).  It's awful; a Mahler symphony movement will start playing and all of a sudden in the middle, bam!, you're listening to the beginning of a totally different piece.  Some performances have intact movements and others don't.  Pandora should only choose recordings in which movements or individual pieces are not subdivided, to prevent this from happening.  If there is not a realistic algorithm to do this, then some human should curate the collection and remove recordings that are in subdivided tracks. (I've also heard Jupiter from The Planets start in the middle of the piece, at the slow section.)

mod edit: changed title for clarity

[AlyssaPandora · Accepted solution]

Hey there, @mattspringer. 👋

Thanks so much for your feedback about this. I completely understand where you're coming from. I moved your post over to the My Collection space to keep the community organized.

Pandora radio stations are caught in a complicated set of licensing rules that were designed for the world of pop songs and ignore the realities of how Classical music is presented by the record labels. One rule prevents us from playing a number of consecutive tracks from the same album.

Unfortunately, many labels choose to divide longer classical movements into separate tracks. We are required to treat each track as a separate "song". The result is as you describe. We are torn between offering portions of fine performances of outstanding music and not offering those works at all.

Pandora radio stations are caught in a complicated set of licensing rules that were designed for the world of pop songs and ignore the realities of how Classical music is presented by the record labels. One rule prevents us from playing a number of consecutive tracks from the same album. Unfortunately, many labels choose to divide longer classical movements into separate tracks. We are required to treat each track as a separate "song". The result is as you describe. We are torn between offering portions of fine performances of outstanding music and not offering those works at all.

As a solution, you may consider upgrading to Pandora Premium, which combines our radio service with on-demand listening and allows you to create custom playlists. Premium allows you to find and listen to individual pieces or complete albums without the restrictions noted above.

Use this link to learn about the many benefits of upgrading.

That said, we are continually working on ways to present classical music on Pandora radio stations in a more appropriate manner.

On that note, we now have a station dedicated to full classical works that you can check out here.

[mattspringer]

Thanks, some comments: First, the solution to the problem of longer individual movements and pieces being divided into multiple tracks and you being prohibited from playing multiple tracks has a simple solution that I suggested: avoid those performances in the first place.  I know from experience with Pandora that for each performance that splits pieces into fragments, there are other performances of the same piece that keep them intact.  I just went through the Mahler symphonies last night, searching for them in Pandora "add variety" with Apple Music open in a different window so that I could view which performances were subdivided, and removed any seed pieces from my classical station that were subdivided, replacing them with recordings of intact pieces.  Similarly, Pandora content includes for full recordings of Appalachian Spring and Jupiter, and recordings of fragments of those pieces.  The problem will go away if you curate your offerings in a way that rejects the ones that are fragments.  I am pretty confident that none of your listeners want to listen to fragments of music that just stop suddenly in the middle.  

By the way, the complete classical performances station was my solution for a while but I gave up, because only rarely is a complete piece played despite the name, and the station is really annoying because while it takes thumbs up and thumbs down, it doesn't take seeds/suggestions like regular stations do, and despite hundreds of thumbed up pieces, it fixates on about 20 of them and plays them over and over again, requiring frequent "I'm tired of this track" clicks but doesn't take suggestions for diversifying content.  

And I tried Premium in the past and downgraded because it was over bloated and required too complex of a navigation, and the interface that surrounded cover art with a field of the cover's predominant color ruined the aesthetic intent of the cover art.  Haven't checked it out recently but I want something that just works without me having to put in too much effort and lets me see the cover design the way the artist intended.

[davehein]

Music Choice on Comcast has two classical channels. One is lighter works, and it often plays individual movements. One is called “Masterpieces” and generally plays complete works, including multi-movement works. How do they beat the rule that limits you to no successive tracks? Granted, your potential audience is the whole world, while theirs is limited only to Comcast subscribers. They still have a pretty public potential audience. I would be happy to upgrade if that gave me access to a complete work station with a real range of programs.

Hint: Maybe. MC uses a lot of really old recordings, which may make a difference in copyright  enforcement. Recordings by Stokowski have to have been made a LONG time ago!

[AlyssaPandora]

Hey there, @davehein. 👋

I completely understand where you're coming from. However, our licensing may be very different than Comcast. 

In the meantime, Premium allows you to find and listen to individual pieces or complete albums without the restrictions noted above. You can also create playlists or check out some of our curated Classical playlists.

I do see that you're upgraded to a free trial of Plus right now, if you're interested in upgrading to Premium instead, let me know and I can private message you.

You can view the differences and benefits of Plus and Premium subscriptions here. 🎧

[eggman2]

I have upgraded to Premium and still cannot figure out how to add a COMPLETE album of a Beethoven piano concerto despite you comment above. The site is very confusing. Thank you for any assistance.

[AdamPandora]

@eggman2 What is the name of one of the albums you are having trouble adding to your collection?

Let me know.

[eggman2]

Beethoven piano concerto no. 1. 

I went to the “checkout complete album list” only to be told that it was not available. 

[AdamPandora]

@eggman2 Would it be possible to send me a screenshot of what you are seeing?

Thanks for working with me on this. 🤝

[Johnny0634Cash]

Does the total number hours X persons listening 👂[i.e., ratings] matter.

advTHANKSance. 

FYI, he was still recording in 1977 (he was 95!).

[Harrykarr]

It would help me to have a profile setting to play all the movements of a composition as one piece.  I can accomplish this with a Playlist but many times I play radio stations.  

[AdamPandora]

@Harrykarr I moved your post over to this existing thread: Classical pieces split into multiple tracks

Check out the accepted solution for more information around this.

Hope this helps explain.