Explicit Content filter is not working

[FrostLab]

Both of these were experienced while listening on my Samsung Galaxy Note 9 on the station I've called "Dubstep/Electronic (MINE)" while using the standard "My Station" mode.

Artist: Distrikt

Title: Breathe Life (original)

 

Artists: Datsik & Flux Pavilion

Title: Crunch

I couldn't find the setting in my profile to double check that it hadn't been inadvertently disabled, but I know I've never purposefully set it to allow explicit content, so it's pretty messed up that this keeps happening.😑 It's like people are trusting tags when curating this stuff instead of actually listening to the music or some such thing. This is also one of the many reasons I refuse to pay for any other service tier.

A previous response to one of my responses advised that yall can't look into this if the incident is too old, but it didn't give a threshold.  So, how old is too old to report, plz?

Edit(2023-8-31): I've since found & double-checked my profile setting & confirmed that it is indeed set to NOT allow explicit content. It'll be nice when it functions reliably.

Also, I've still not received an answer about the time threshold. It'll also be nice when we can get folks who can be less laser-focused on a single part of multi-part post/thread responding to/answering inquiries.

[AdamPandora]

@FrostLab I've passed your feedback along to our curation team for further investigation.

Thanks for your patience in the meantime.

[AdamPandora · Accepted solution]

Pandora Update 08/11/23:

Hi everyone! 👋🏽

Something to keep in mind is that the explicit filter removes explicit language but not content on your stations. This means that you still may encounter adult themes and situations.

It can also be confusing because we will swap the "clean" audio for the explicit version when the filter is turned on, but it will still show the album art of the original album (which may show as "explicit"). So you will see the artwork with the parental advisory label, but you're hearing the edited version of the song. Also, some radio edits are very brief, so you may end up hearing the first and last part of a word which can often sound explicit.

Lastly, the explicit filter will only apply to your stations; it doesn't apply to podcasts or any on-demand content. You can identify podcasts or songs with explicit language by a red "E" label in the episode/song title.

---

If that isn't what's happening, can you give me a little more feedback so we can take a look into this?

The next time this happens, please thumb down the explicit track(s), and make sure to grab a screenshot(s) of the now playing screen.

Once that is done, can you please follow up with the requested info below?

• The device you are using to stream Pandora:
• The name of the station where this occurred:
• The name(s) of the artist(s):
• The title(s) of the explicit track(s):
• Confirmation that you were able to give the explicit track(s) a Thumbs down:
• Were you listening using a Pandora Mode like Crowd Faves, Discovery or Deep Cuts?:
• A screenshot of the explicit track that plays on your station:

Thanks for working with me on this. 🤝

[wilsonposters]

@AdamPandora 

This is the second time I'm having to contact Pandora due to an obviously explicit track playing despite the explicit filter being enabled.

My five-year-old likes music with a beat, and we'll let him listen to Pandora radio with his own account through a Family plan.

Today, we heard a track playing on his iPad with repeated uses of the "F-word". In fact, the track in question is called "The F-Track".

Last time I contacted the team about this issue, I received a response that "the content moderation team would look into it." How is it that this isn't just a very basic text-match string excluding explicit content, when Pandora even shows these explicit words in the lyrics within their system? This isn't some suggestive innuendo, or something having to do with cover art; it's literally the F-Word repeated throughout the song. It seems pretty basic to exclude tracks which lyrics are unambiguously explicit such as this one, so why isn't that happening?

I'm really discouraged and disappointed, as we loved the idea of letting our young kids safely explore different musical genres and styles using Pandora Family, and have trusted that the explicit filters would be at least somewhat reliable. But given these obvious misses, my confidence in the platform has been lost. Is there any reasonable explanation for this or ways to prevent this from happening? Without such a thing, I'll be forced to find another music platform for my family with more reliable content moderation systems.

• The device you are using to stream Pandora: iPad
• The name of the station where this occurred: Autoplay
• The name(s) of the artist(s): Showtek
• The title(s) of the explicit track(s): The F-Track
• Confirmation that you were able to give the explicit track(s) a Thumbs down: Yes
• Were you listening using a Pandora Mode like Crowd Faves, Discovery or Deep Cuts?: Autoplay
• A screenshot of the explicit track that plays on your station:
  
  

[FrostLab]

This^ played t'nite on my mobile, saying "...the most f***ed up thing..." as part of the first phrase spoken(thankfully it was toward the beginning). Despite the stars I used for that quote, the F-bomb was NOT censored at all, so if someone tells you the edited/censored version was played to me t'nite, they're wrong & need to go and listen to it again, or they're lying. 🤨

Considering the screenshot contains/displays the answer to all those things U asked us to provide, minus the device on which it's playing, d'you still need us to provide all those details?(song name, artist, station, mode, etc...)

As can be seen in the screenshot, this played during the ad-free hour I enabled via ad(wish these were offered more often). I dunno if that also affects the filtration of explicit content, but it'd be pretty pathetic if it was one of those exceptions(in which our preference therefor was ignored) considering it's supposed to be a taste of what we should expect to get via paid tier service.

[FrostLab]

Re: "Also, some radio edits are very brief, so you may end up hearing the first and last part of a word which can often sound explicit."

If you can tell what's being said, then it's not censored, it's it? Case in point: "F**k U" is no more a mystery than "macaroni and ch**se", no?  It is just as asinine to consider a piece of audio to be 'clean'(or 'unprofane') when you can so easily decipher the filth by ear as it is to accept the above text in my 'example' as adequately "censored." At the very least, one should have to use the context of the sentence heard to figure it out. A properly censored **** will, in and of itself, give no clues as to what it is.

In short, for those of us trying to enjoy music without profanity, incomplete editing thereof is akin to *coughing* while saying it, which we all know doesn't actually cover anything. Editors need to stop trying to see how much they can get away with & just acknowledge that not everyone wants to hear, nor will consider acceptable, certain references.

Re: "Lastly, the explicit filter will only apply to your stations; it doesn't apply to podcasts or any on-demand content..."

As can be determined in all my posts in which I've included screenshots across this & other threads, I only listen to my stations. Does the ad-unlocked hour applied to my channels mean that what's played for the duration is considered "on-demand"?🤨 If so, that needs to change as is just as off-base as the weak edits being considered properly "censored".

[jondotcom]

@Pandora I've cancelled my Pandora Family subscription due to the lack of attention to this matter.

[Soundmn_2]

Asus zenfone 9

My Hard Rock - Clean

My station

Thumbed down

I prevail

Self destruction

[FrostLab]

• Device: Computer
• Station: "Dubstep/Electronic"
• Artist(s): Silva Hound
• Track(s): Addict (feat. Michael Kovach & Chi-Chi)
• Can give track(s) Thumbs down: Yes
• Mode: "My Station"

As one can see in the above screen shot, the lyrics contain UN-EDITED "I don't give a dam*" (star censor attempt to conform to guidelines).  This is considered unacceptably explicit language, thus this piece of music shouldn't have played.

[Beau2]

How do you keep them from playing in playlists?

[AdamPandora]

@Beau2 The explicit filter will only apply to songs that play on your stations; it doesn't apply to playlists you create, or those created for you by Pandora. Also, It doesn't apply to podcasts.

When you're curating playlists or searching for podcasts, you can identify explicit tracks by a red "E" label. To keep explicit songs or podcasts from your collection, avoid adding those with that label.

Hope this helps explain.

[FrostLab]

• The device: Windows computer system
• The name of the station: R&B (MINE)
• The name(s) of the artist(s): Brian McKnight
• The title(s) of the explicit track(s): Every Time You Go Away
• Thumbs down: Yes, despite the screen shot above being taken prior the downvote.
• Were you listening using a Pandora Mode like Crowd Faves, Discovery or Deep Cuts?: Just "My Station" mode.

This was within the last 10 minutes or so.

[FrostLab]

• The device: Windows computer system
• The name of the station: Will Smith (MINE)
• The name(s) of the artist(s): Nelly, Diddy & Murphy Lee
• The title(s) of the explicit track(s): Shake Ya Tailfeather (Radio Edit) (feat. Nelly & P. Diddy)
• Confirmation that you were able to give the explicit track(s) a Thumbs down: Confirmed
• Were you listening using a Pandora Mode like Crowd Faves, Discovery or Deep Cuts?: "My Station" mode

[FrostLab]

• The device: Windows computer system
• The name of the station: Will Smith (MINE)
• The name(s) of the artist(s): DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
• The title(s) of the explicit track(s): Girls Ain't Nothing But Trouble (1988 Extended Remix)
• Confirmation that you were able to give the explicit track(s) a Thumbs down: Confirmed
• Were you listening using a Pandora Mode like Crowd Faves, Discovery or Deep Cuts?: "My Station" mode

[FrostLab]

Says "Stay the H*ll away..."

• The device: Windows computer system
• The name of the station: Michael Bublé (MINE)
• The name(s) of the artist(s): John Mayer
• The title(s) of the explicit track(s): Gravity
• Thumbs down: Yes, despite the screen shot above being taken prior the downvote.
• Were you listening using a Pandora Mode like Crowd Faves, Discovery or Deep Cuts?: Just "My Station" mode.

[AdamPandora]

@FrostLab Thanks for reporting these. 

[FrostLab]

• The device: Windows computer system
• The name of the station: Adam Young(Owl City) (MINE)
• The name(s) of the artist(s): AJR
• The title(s) of the explicit track(s): Maybe Man
• Thumbs down: Yes, despite the screen shot above being taken prior the downvote.
• Were you listening using a Pandora Mode like Crowd Faves, Discovery or Deep Cuts?: Just "My Station" mode.

[AdamPandora]

Thanks for the additional report, @FrostLab,

[kwoolite]

This happened to day while listening on Safari browser on an apple labtop

Station Is "Indie Chill Radio"

 

[AdamPandora]

Thank you for reporting this, @kwoolite.