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!

[AdamPandora]

@Phoenixsdragon Thanks for sending that over.

I've passed your feedback along to the engineers who are currently looking into this.

Thanks for your patience in the meantime.

[Jaze]

Either tracks are being randomly swapped out with their radio edits– their censored versions– or Pandora is uploading radio edits with no distinction in the title. Songs I have recently encountered with this issue include "Flashing Lights" by Kanye West and " Free the Ruler" by Earl Sweatshirt. 

[AdamPandora]

@Jaze I moved your post over to this existing thread: Explicit Tracks now Censored

To clarify, are explicit tracks that you have previously given a Thumbs Up to now playing again but censored?

If so, the next time the censored version of that track plays with the Thumbs Up icon highlighted, can you please grab a screenshot and send that in a reply to this message?

Also let me know the name of the station you were listening to when the censored versions of those tracks play.

Thanks for the help.

[Jaze]

(1) I have had the issue where explicit tracks that I have previously given a thumbs up to are now playing again but censored with the thumbs up icon highlighted. I also have a separate but related issue where that happens with the thumbs up icon not highlighted. (2) This is happening on my station titled "Nights Radio". 

[AdamPandora]

Thanks for following up, @Jaze.

The next time the censored version of that track plays with the Thumbs Up icon highlighted, can you please grab a screenshot and send that in a reply to this message?

(Please note you won't be able to attach images via email - you will need to open this Community link in a web browser in order to provide attachments)

Thanks for working with me on this.

[Ashlyhudanich1]

 this entire album is now censored. 

I am streaming from my Samsung Galaxy S22.

The station is Tyga Radio.

Tyga & YG

Thumpin / Boachella

I was not listening using a pandora mode.

 

[AdamPandora]

@Ashlyhudanich1 I've passed your feedback along to our engineering team so they can further investigate.

Thanks for your patience in the meantime!

[maxzakh]

I am still finding censored music on my stations, sometimes they're not labeled as clean.

[Jaze]

My phone does not seem to be able to send a screenshot on this website, and I don't have a computer. However I am still experiencing this issue with the track "Free the Ruler" by Earl Sweatshirt and I imagine the other track I reported, "Flashing Lights" by Kanye West, has not been fixed either. Again the issue occured on my station "Nights Radio" playing in the default "my station" mode. 

I also would rather not have to thumbs down the censored tracks, as I know the algorithm would not be able to differentiate why I am giving the tracks a thumbs down, which would hinder the algorithm's curation. 

Moderator Edit: Merged comments

[AdamPandora]

@maxzakh To clarify, are explicit tracks that you have previously given a Thumbs Up to now playing again but censored?

If so, the next time the censored version of that track plays with the Thumbs Up icon highlighted, can you please grab a screenshot and send that in a reply to this message?

Also let me know the name of the station you were listening to when the censored versions of those tracks play.

Thanks for the help.

[AdamPandora]

@Jaze You should be able to attach a screenshot even from your mobile device.

When replying, do you see the icon shown below? If you tap on it, you should see the option to go to your photo library, and find the screenshot you are looking to attach:

Thanks again for working with me on this.

[Riala4]

• The device you are using to stream Pandora: motorola one 5G UW ace
• The name of the station where this occurred: Eclectic Mix
• The name(s) of the artist(s): see screen shots below
• The title(s) of the censored track(s): see screen shots below
• Confirmation that you were able to give the censored track(s) a Thumbs down: I have not tried this for fear of not getting the track back once the problem is fixed.  
• 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:

 while this track is not thumbs upped, it plays so often I haven't had the need to thumbs it up.  When it first started playing though it was explicit, but now it is censored.

I would like to add that this did not become an issue until I added Animaniacs to the mix.  It's not the first "children's music" I've thumbs upped on this station, but I was wondering if the addition caused the station to default to censored despite my Explicit setting:

[AdamPandora]

@Riala4 Thanks for the detailed report.

I have escalated your feedback to our engineering team as well.

Thanks for your patience in the meantime!

[AdamPandora]

@Riala4 I wanted to provide a follow up on this.

After further investigation, it looks like those censored tracks are playing on your Eclectic Mix station because of a Children's seed that was added to it: Animaniacs (Children's)

Here is a screenshot of where I am seeing the additional seed that you added to your station: 

You can delete the bad seed by editing your station.

To delete that bad seed from a computer:

1. From My Collection, visit your station list.
2. Click on the name of the station you'd like to edit. This will take you directly to the station's "backstage page." 
3. Hover the mouse over the station seed you'd like to remove and select Delete.

To delete that bad seed from a mobile device:

1. From My Collection, visit your station list.
2. Tap on the name of the station you'd like to edit.
3. This will start your station, so tap the the Thumb icon in the upper right corner of your screen to continue to the station's backstage page.
4. From the station's backstage page, tap on the Edit icon (the small pencil to the left of the play icon) to edit your station, and scroll down to Station Created From.
5. Remove this "bad seed" by tapping the small (X) beside that item.

Hope this helps!

[Jakelly72]

Several biggie albums..don’t even say the word gun anymore..get your stuff together 

[AdamPandora]

@Jakelly72 To clarify, are explicit tracks that you have previously given a Thumbs Up to now playing again but censored?

If so, the next time the censored version of that track plays with the Thumbs Up icon highlighted, can you please grab a screenshot and send that in a reply to this message?

Also let me know the name of the station you were listening to when the censored versions of those tracks play.

Thanks for the help.

[BBo]

Hello, 

I listen to Eminem radio frequently, and I've noticed that Bad Meets Evil songs that weren't previously censored now blank out profanity. Not even in a way that you can't tell what's being said, it just cuts audio for a moment and it's super jarring. This wasn't the case a couple weeks ago. My settings allow explicit content. I would prefer to hear the bad words, is there a setting I can change to get my swears back? Or is this a site change which I should be asking to be reverted? I haven't noticed this change for other artists, neither Eminem nor Royce da 5'9" have profanity omitted. 

[TannerPandora · Accepted solution]

Hi @BBo 

Welcome to community!

I moved your post over to an existing thread: Explicit Tracks now Censored

I've let our curation team know that the edited tracks of Bad Meets Evil are playing over the explicit tracks. In the meantime, I would thumb down the edited version, it won't affect the other songs from playing on your station and will only apply to those specific tracks.

Thanks!