Explicit Tracks now Censored

[AdamPandora]

Hi everyone!

We've noticed reports about explicit tracks now playing as censored versions of your favorite tunes.

We try to buy unedited versions of all music and comedy we acquire, but sometimes a clean version is all that's available. This is particularly common with movie soundtracks and best-of collections.

Sometimes our licensing for certain content may expire. Other times we get the radio edit of a track before we get the original, and the tracks are indistinguishable from one another from a database perspective.

For that reason, Pandora might select a clean track from one of these sources instead of a nearly identical track from another album. This is an unfortunate reality of the record business: sometimes songs that are not identical are labeled as identical.

Finally, the lyrics preview will always display "clean" lyrics. If you'd like to view the full, uncensored text, click Show more or See all lyrics.

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To report any tracks that were once explicit but are now censored, please provide the following info:

• 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 censored track(s):
• Confirmation that you were able to give the censored track(s) a Thumbs down:
• Were you listening using a Pandora Mode like Crowd Faves, Discovery or Deep Cuts?:
• A screenshot of the censored track that plays on your station:

Once we have this information, we can report it to our curation team for you.

Thanks for your help, and see ya around the community!

[Scrybka]

Ok sounds good thanks

[caravone]

Like the other posters, the song had been thumbed up for years and just now started playing a censored version.

• The device you are using to stream Pandora:  Chrome on MacBook Pro
• The name of the station where this occurred:  Korn Radio
• The name(s) of the artist(s):  System of a Down
• The title(s) of the censored track(s):  Suite-Pee
• Confirmation that you were able to give the censored track(s) a Thumbs down:  yes
• Were you listening using a Pandora Mode like Crowd Faves, Discovery or Deep Cuts?:  no
• A screenshot of the censored track that plays on your station: 

[AdamPandora]

@caravone Thanks for reporting this.

I've passed your feedback along to our curation team for further review.

If notice any other tracks that are marked explicit, but are still playing the censored version, please make sure to grab additional screenshots and add those to this thread.

[djd6321]

I have this same problem. Previously unsensored versions are now sensored. The song basically being muted for 2 seconds is very annoying - like in System of a Down's "Sugar". It's especially noticeable when entire 90 second segments are cut from the song - like Disturbed's "Down with the Sickness".

[AdamPandora]

@djd6321 To clarify, are censored versions of tracks also replacing the explicit versions on your My Thumbs Up playlist?

Or is the issue that when playing your regular radio stations, songs that once played the explicit version are now only playing censored versions?

Let me know.

[djd6321]

The 2 songs I reference above were not Thumb Up (I dislike that the system automatically creates a Thumbs Up playlist every time I thumb up a song & I end up deleting the playlist anyway. I do not want playlists, I just want the radio. If I want a playlist, I will manually add the songs that I want. But I digress.) Anyway - the 2 songs mentioned above were not thumbs up. However, I do not have a full accounting of all the songs that played the "Clean" version and if they were thumb up on not. 

But that should not matter - if you have the option to filter out explicit content, you can utilize the same principal to filter out edited content. It's simple programming, and the code is already there, you just have to inverse it. 

And I have not thumb down the edited versions because I do not know how your system works. I like the song, but not the edited version. If I thumb down the edited version - will that remove the explicit version from ever being played?

[AdamPandora]

Thanks for following up, @djd6321.

I moved your post into this existing thread: Explicit Tracks now Censored

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

(Giving the edited version of the track a thumbs down will not prevent the explicit version from playing again)

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 censored track(s):
• Confirmation that you were able to give the censored track(s) a Thumbs down:
• Were you listening using a Pandora Mode like Crowd Faves, Discovery or Deep Cuts?:
• A screenshot of the censored track that plays on your station:

Thanks for working with me on this. 🤝

[caravone]

Also, "Sugar" from System of a Down (same album) -- as mentioned in another post

[AdamPandora]

Hey, @caravone.

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 censored track(s): Sugar by System of a Down
• Confirmation that you were able to give the censored track(s) a Thumbs down:
• Were you listening using a Pandora Mode like Crowd Faves, Discovery or Deep Cuts?:
• A screenshot of the censored track that plays on your station:

Thanks for the help with this!

[cdz2534]

Station: Thug Radio

Artist: Slim Thug

Song: Ride on 4s

Album: Serve & Collect [Explicit]

Heavy censoring destroys flow of the song entirely. Can recall very clearly that song was uncensored for a long time.

[AdamPandora]

Thank you for reporting this, @cdz2534.

I will check in with our curation team about this so they can further ingestigate.

[Dom91]

The songs for the album cult of static by static x are no longer explicit, but still labeled as explicit. 
I’m using an iPhone 12, I can thumbs down the songs that are affected. They are on Metallica radio, not using any modes. Thank you

[AdamPandora]

Thanks for reporting this, @Dom91.

I will pass your feedback along to our curation team so they can further investigate.

[Keysean2]

The dj khaled song go hard ft Kanye and t-pain all of sudden is censored 

@AdamPandora 

[AdamPandora]

Thank you for reporting this, @Keysean2.

I will make sure to check in with our curation team about this. 

[Keysean2]

Now cocoon by the migos is censored pls fix it 
@AdamPandora 

[AdamPandora]

Thanks for reporting this one as well, @Keysean2. 🤝

[BD34Life]

There are so many songs that are all playing censored now…it’s very frustrating especially when working out, just doesn’t hit like it should. List from last session, but been noticing for a while - started down thumbing the songs because I thought that it was giving both versions, but seems that is removing from my list entirely…ugh. 

Savage Remix (feat Beyoncé) - Megan thee Stallion

Press - Cardi B

Formation - Beyoncé 

Let me Blow Ya Mind (feat Gwen Stefani) - Eve

This is off my John Legend channel (heavily edited over the years) but also my Beyoncé channel. There’s been a LOT more songs too, I’ll try to keep a list from now on and post. 

[AdamPandora]

Thank you for reporting these, @BD34Life. 🤝

[FarmerGarza]

And when you go to un thumb them you get a message saying "an unexpected error occured". But when you go to unthumb a different explicit song that has not been censored yet, you can. But of course I re thumb it and think,,,"wth seriously!?" I've read a lot as well saying if it's mainstream or something blah blah, I listen to Tech N9ne, Insane Clown Posse, Rob Zombie, Wiz Khalifa and there are songs that are constantly getting censored even when hardly any of these artists had songs in the mainstream. Idk, it's extremely annoying. I've used Pandora since 2008 or so, please explain.