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How Pandora works

cliffc42
Underground

Hey Pandora... Sorry, but your help files and support lists are useless to me, a brand new user. Where is the part that corresponds to "Pandora for Dummies"? You know, that defines and EXPLAINS different parts of the platform like station, my collection, playlist, podcast, genre, my thumbs up.  For example, what the hell is a Station? Is it like SXM stations with a prearranged playlist that you listen to  but cannot modify? Such as 60's on 6, Willie's Roadhouse, Marguraitaville, etc? Where is your list of all the stations so a user can browse? If you can add to a station, how do you do it?  And similar questions for the other Pandora components mentioned above...

If there is no single place to get this info, why not? If it does exist, pray tell me why the subcsriber is not easily pointed to it.  Please, I hope that a Pandora rep answers this post...

Moderator Edit: Changed format and title for clarity 

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1 Solution

Accepted Solutions

AlyssaPandora
Community Manager
Community Manager

Welcome to community, @cliffc42!  

I moved your post here as it fits best in My Collection board. 

How Pandora Works:

Pandora offers three ways to listen: free ad-supported Pandora, Pandora Plus, and Pandora Premium. Each option offers access to our industry-leading radio and podcast service.

As an ad-supported or Pandora Plus listener, you can access stations designed to introduce you to new music through the artists and songs that you know and love. You can type in your favorite artist or song and Pandora will do the rest. Music that is similar to your musical tastes will play in your station.

When listening to stations, you are able to rate music by giving it a Thumbs Up (meaning you like it and want more music like that on your station) or Thumbs Down (meaning you don't like it, or don't want music like that on this particular station). When you give a song a Thumbs Down, that song will never play again on that station. You can find out more about Thumb feedback here.

We use a similar, personalized approach to help you discover podcasts and recommend new ones to you. Thumb up podcast episodes you love, and weโ€™ll recommend more podcasts like it! Thumb down episodes you donโ€™t like, and weโ€™ll tune our recommendations accordingly. Pandora Premium subscribers can enjoy the same service along with the ability to listen to music on-demand and create custom playlists.

++

My Collection and Content on Pandora:

To start listening from a mobile device, enter a search term, and filter your results by ArtistSongsStationsPodcastsPlaylists, or Albums.

If you search for an artist, tapping the artist's name in your search results will bring you to a page where you can view and play their radio station, Latest Releases, or Top Songs and Albums.*

If you search for a song, tapping the song's name in your search results will bring you to a page where you can play the song, share the song, or start a station.*

If you search for an album, tapping the name of the album in your search results will bring you to a page where you can Play or Share the album, or (if it's available) start a station off that album.*

If you search for a station or genre, tapping the name of the correct search result will bring you to a page where you can collect, play, or share that station.

If you search for a playlist, tapping the name of the correct search result will bring you to a page where you can view and play the playlist.* Pandora Premium subscribers can also CollectDownload and Share those playlists.

If you search for a podcast, tapping the podcast or episode name will take you to a page where you can collect, play or share the podcast or episode.

*Pandora Premium listeners may have additional options. Free and Pandora Plus listeners will need to watch a short advertisement before they are able to listen to songs, albums or playlists on-demand.

You can also use Browse to view personalized recommendations.

++

There's a great article that breaks down My Collection here.

You can also edit your stations using this helpful article

Hope this information answers your questions!

Alyssa | Community Manager
Join the discussion in Community Chat
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View solution in original post

17 Replies

AlyssaPandora
Community Manager
Community Manager

Welcome to community, @cliffc42!  

I moved your post here as it fits best in My Collection board. 

How Pandora Works:

Pandora offers three ways to listen: free ad-supported Pandora, Pandora Plus, and Pandora Premium. Each option offers access to our industry-leading radio and podcast service.

As an ad-supported or Pandora Plus listener, you can access stations designed to introduce you to new music through the artists and songs that you know and love. You can type in your favorite artist or song and Pandora will do the rest. Music that is similar to your musical tastes will play in your station.

When listening to stations, you are able to rate music by giving it a Thumbs Up (meaning you like it and want more music like that on your station) or Thumbs Down (meaning you don't like it, or don't want music like that on this particular station). When you give a song a Thumbs Down, that song will never play again on that station. You can find out more about Thumb feedback here.

We use a similar, personalized approach to help you discover podcasts and recommend new ones to you. Thumb up podcast episodes you love, and weโ€™ll recommend more podcasts like it! Thumb down episodes you donโ€™t like, and weโ€™ll tune our recommendations accordingly. Pandora Premium subscribers can enjoy the same service along with the ability to listen to music on-demand and create custom playlists.

++

My Collection and Content on Pandora:

To start listening from a mobile device, enter a search term, and filter your results by ArtistSongsStationsPodcastsPlaylists, or Albums.

If you search for an artist, tapping the artist's name in your search results will bring you to a page where you can view and play their radio station, Latest Releases, or Top Songs and Albums.*

If you search for a song, tapping the song's name in your search results will bring you to a page where you can play the song, share the song, or start a station.*

If you search for an album, tapping the name of the album in your search results will bring you to a page where you can Play or Share the album, or (if it's available) start a station off that album.*

If you search for a station or genre, tapping the name of the correct search result will bring you to a page where you can collect, play, or share that station.

If you search for a playlist, tapping the name of the correct search result will bring you to a page where you can view and play the playlist.* Pandora Premium subscribers can also CollectDownload and Share those playlists.

If you search for a podcast, tapping the podcast or episode name will take you to a page where you can collect, play or share the podcast or episode.

*Pandora Premium listeners may have additional options. Free and Pandora Plus listeners will need to watch a short advertisement before they are able to listen to songs, albums or playlists on-demand.

You can also use Browse to view personalized recommendations.

++

There's a great article that breaks down My Collection here.

You can also edit your stations using this helpful article

Hope this information answers your questions!

Alyssa | Community Manager
Join the discussion in Community Chat
Check out: New community badges
Share yours: Q: What holiday song could you listen to on repeat?

cliffc42
Underground

Hello Allyssa-

Thanks for the reply. It does help me to understand the function of stations and the category of My Collection.

I still think that collating that information, along with other critical features of the Pandora platform  that relate  to definitions and navigation would be very helpful for the newbie, especially those who are not part of the Millennial generation. Perhaps call it a "Primer" or "Getting Started" and put it right out there on the first page that a subscriber sees when they first log on.

Anyway, just a thought...  

 

Moderator edit: format

Pogopaul
Underground

U not the Lone Ranger. I ben member for 5-6 yrs & still do not know anymore than 1% pf how to navigate/operate

system, in larg part 'csuse of what u say. No help available!! Pandora is one of 1st online companies to install p[olicy of "No visible empl;oyees." I know, costs, etc. I have been beggin on net for years for help...none comes.  I've learnd

, a thing or two from Utube, but they hav no ob;iogation to be thoro. Recnetly I added 12 new "reords?"  "Stations?"..."Albums?"  (6 yrs & still don't know lingo!!). To the site where all of "collection" lies. When I checked, only 6 were there.  IN nite or 2 I stumbled across a "site" I had nevr seen before. Same art/motif as all Pandora. Shock!! There were other 6 new picks, + 7-8 singles, all to my taste, but I had not put them there. I have not ben able to find that new site since, nor hav I been able to find anybody to help me find it!!! Frustrated, like U  & PaulPogo. Oh yes, if u do find a site that seems promising for help, it will be writen by advanced computr folks and I read entire article & don't learn a thng cause of lingo bearier. I sympthasize some: If u had a club with tens of thousands,or millions, of members, it would take an army of peoiple to staff phones. But, Pand has not after all these years put togethr a comptrhensive tutorial, or, been of any help at all!! I suspct part of this is company policy, as they can sit back & laff at all ;the floundrs out here. I've known reastaurant owners of very popular quality, even expensive places, who have deliberately created an "organized chaos" as part of their "cool charm<
etc. Most of us luv the free music so much, we don;t quit. or go elsewhere. Pandora, by ignoring this base need on part of members, r leavin door open for competition.  PogoPaul    "GOOD LUCK!!!"


@cliffc42 wrote:

Hey Pandora... Sorry, but your help files and support lists are useless to me, a brand new user. Where is the part that corresponds to "Pandora for Dummies"? You know, that defines and EXPLAINS different parts of the platform like station, my collection, playlist, podcast, genre, my thumbs up.  For example, what the hell is a Station? Is it like SXM stations with a prearranged playlist that you listen to  but cannot modify? Such as 60's on 6, Willie's Roadhouse, Marguraitaville, etc? Where is your list of all the stations so a user can browse? If you can add to a station, how do you do it?  And similar questions for the other Pandora components mentioned above...

If there is no single place to get this info, why not? If it does exist, pray tell me why the subcsriber is not easily pointed to it.  Please, I hope that a Pandora rep answers this post...

Moderator Edit: Changed format


 

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mred
Local Performer

Amen!  I would very much appreciate a comprehensive, well-organized user's manual.

AlyssaPandora
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi, @mred. ๐Ÿ‘‹

Thanks so much for your feedback about this. I completely understand where you're coming from.

The best place to start for a written guide would be on our help page here.

If you have specific questions for using Pandora on a particular device, feel free to let me know and I'll be happy to help. ๐Ÿ˜„

 

Alyssa | Community Manager
Join the discussion in Community Chat
Check out: New community badges
Share yours: Q: What holiday song could you listen to on repeat?
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fbennett66
Local Performer

how it work

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AdamPandora
Community Manager
Community Manager

@fbennett66 I moved your post to this thread as @AlyssaPandora has provided some good tips how Pandora works in her message above. 

You can also check out our help page as that would be a good place to start for any general questions you might have. 

Hope this helps! ๐Ÿ˜„


Adam | Community Moderator
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New music alert! Picks of the Week (12.2.24)
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Miles0911
Local Performer

I don't think your answer is responsive to the question. If I am reading the question correctly, the writer is asking for an explanation of the difference between collections, playlists, thumbs up, stations, songs, and so forth; and the usefulness of each one. I, too, have looked everywhere for this information and found nothing. It seems really strange that Pandora does not seem to understand the need for a complete discussion of the interrelationship between collections, playlists, etc.,

Alyssa: I disagree. The place to start is for Pandora to provide its subscribers with a comprehensive, well-organized user's manual. The "help" page is useless for this purpose.

mod edit: format

AlyssaPandora
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi, @Miles0911. ๐Ÿ‘‹

Thanks so much for your feedback and for taking the time to express your thoughts. Rest assured, your voice has been heard. I've shared the feedback on this thread with the appropriate party. At this time, we do not have a comprehensive listener guide / manual for Pandora. However, I'm happy to answer any specific questions you or any of our listeners may have about how the service works. 

Feature Requests:

Hope to see you around the community more often! ๐ŸŽง

Alyssa | Community Manager
Join the discussion in Community Chat
Check out: New community badges
Share yours: Q: What holiday song could you listen to on repeat?
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hihanyusong
Local Performer

How do you post a music in pandora music, can you give me some pictures explanations 

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TannerPandora
Moderator
Moderator

Hi @hihanyusong! Thanks for posting to community.

I moved your message from our Feature Request board to our support forum under How Pandora works.  Pandora Radio is designed to introduce you to new music through the artists and songs that you already know and love. You can type in your favorite artist or song and music that is similar to your selection will play on your station.

For more information on how Pandora works, please check out the accepted solution here

If you'd like to post station(s) or playlist(s) to community, click here for steps. 

If you'd like to submit music to Pandora for consideration you can find the guidelines and instructions for submitting music here.


Tanner | Community Moderator

> Follow us on Twitter
@PandoraSupport

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lann
Local Performer

Where do I  find  My Collection?

New to this-- how do  I  set  up my playlist? Individual  artist.

Now how do I  start choosing  my songs? 

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TannerPandora
Moderator
Moderator

Hi @lann! Thanks for posting to community. I've merged your posts into an existing thread: How Pandora works

I see that you just created your account, welcome to Pandora! I would recommend checking out the accepted solution here for some great tips on how to get started. 

Let us know if you have any questions! 


Tanner | Community Moderator

> Follow us on Twitter
@PandoraSupport

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SherriLynn
Local Performer

Tune in to here a specific band and have to skip 30 to 50 songs before a song by the artist I chose to listen to.  Fix it!!!

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TannerPandora
Moderator
Moderator

Hi @SherriLynn Welcome to community.

I've moved your post over to an existing thread that I hope will help to explain how Pandora stations work - How Pandora works.

Pandora stations are designed to introduce you to new music through the artists and songs that you already know. When creating a station based on your favorite artist or song Pandora stations will play music that is similar to your musical tastes.

To expand your experience, I suggest using Modes. With Pandora Modes, you can take your stations in a variety of directions*.
 

  • Artist Only: Only songs from the artist headlining your station. (Please note: You may hear songs from other artists if you have added variety to a station.)
  • My Station: The station you already know and love
  • Crowd Faves: Plays whichever relevant songs are the most popular
  • Discovery: Surfaces artists who donโ€™t usually play on this station
  • Deep Cuts: Delve deeper into the discographies of the artists on your station
  • Newly Released: The newest releases from the artists featured on your station

**Not all Pandora Modes will be available on every station

Free listeners and Pandora Plus subscribers will be able to view an advertisement in order to initiate a complimentary Premium Access session to listen to Artist Only Mode. Those that do will also have access to Pandora Premium's other features during their Premium Access session.

Click here to view the Accepted Solution.


Tanner | Community Moderator

> Follow us on Twitter
@PandoraSupport

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Abbey15
Local Performer

So, Pandora has no free plans anymore?   

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AlyssaPandora
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hey there, @Abbey15. ๐Ÿ‘‹

Welcome to the Pandora Community! I moved your post over to this existing thread to keep everything organized: How Pandora works

Please check out the accepted solution for more details about how Pandora works. 

Looks like you've created a free Pandora account recently. The free version of Pandora is supported by advertisements. You can find out more about how tier options here: What is the difference between ad-supported Pandora, Pandora Plus, and Pandora Premium?

Hope to see you around the community space more often. ๐ŸŽง

Alyssa | Community Manager
Join the discussion in Community Chat
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Share yours: Q: What holiday song could you listen to on repeat?
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