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How do I make Pandora play more new songs and artists?

DaveL
Opening Act

I use Pandora from an iPhone. I have a Pandora Plus subscription

I've been using Pandora since its very beginning. I have a custom station that consists of a very long list of my favorite artists from multiple genres. This is the only station I ever play. In the past, I loved Pandora's song choices. It introduced me to many new artists who have become my favorites.

Over time, it seems that most of the songs Pandora plays come from a very small list. Although my custom station consists of over hundred artists, whose combined songs number in the 10s of thousands, it usually plays just a few of the same few songs. Most of the songs played were previously played in the past few days. Only a very few are songs that I never heard before, or are songs that Pandora last played a long time ago.

I used to use the "My Station" mode. About a year ago I switched to "Deep Tracks" mode. Initially this was great since Pandora gave me a whole set of new songs that it hadn't played for me before. But over time, Deep Tracks developed the problem described in the previous paragraph of too limited a selection of songs.

Is there anything I could do to persuade Pandora to give me a broader selection of music without having to frequently change stations? Would upgrading to Premium help?

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AdamPandora
Community Manager
Community Manager

Thanks for following up, @DaveL.

I've taken a look at your My Music station, and I think the problem here is that you've added an excessive amount of seeds to one station. Adding variety to a station doesn't narrow the song pool that Pandora chooses from, nor does it increase your chances of hearing a particular song or artist. Rather, it opens up your station, which can make for some undesirable matches. I would suggest editing this station to remove those extra seeds. As a general rule, stations seem to work best with no more than 3-4 seeds added.

To edit your stations on a computer, first make sure you're signed into your Pandora account. Then:

  1. Click on the name of the station you'd like to edit. If the station is not available from your Now Playing page, click on the My Collection button first, sort your collection by Stations, and select the name of the station you'd like to edit. This will take you to a station details page which shows you information about your personalized station.
  2. You can remove a station seed from your station by scrolling down to the Station Created From section. You can delete a particular seed by tapping the ellipsis (or three dots), or by hovering over it and selecting Delete.
  3. To delete a Thumbed track, scroll down to the Thumb History section of this page. By default, this section will show your Thumbed up tracks first. If you'd like to see your Thumbed down tracks, click on the Thumbs down icon. Next, either select the ellipsis next to the Thumb or hover your cursor over the name of the track to reveal a hidden menu. As before, select Delete.


You also might find that Pandora works best if you create multiple stations with different artists or songs. From there, you can utilize our shuffle feature to hear a variety of musical styles in one listening session. Shuffle plays a one-song set from a random station that you've included in your mix and then moves onto another song (from a different station). This is significantly different from listening to a single Pandora station.

If you need help using or editing your Shuffle, let me know.

Hopefully this will help you to get the most from your Pandora experience. 


Adam | Community Moderator
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AdamPandora
Community Manager
Community Manager

@DaveL Nice to see you around the community!

Upgrading to Pandora Premium will not actually make any changes the the Pandora algorithm or the stations you have in your collection.

However, it would allow you to play music on demand.

With Pandora Premium, you'd be able to pick and choose the specific songs you want to play. So if you were looking to mix in newer songs and artists, you'd be able to create custom playlists, and add the new songs and artists you were hoping to hear during your listening session.

Check out this page if you are interested in learning more about Pandora Premium.

This being said, it sounds like you are dealing with a station that has a large number of artists who have been added to the station.

I'm happy to take a closer look - what is the name of the station you are having trouble with?

Let me know.


Adam | Community Moderator
New to the Community? Introduce yourself here
New music alert! Picks of the Week (1.6.25)
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DaveL
Opening Act

Hi @AdamPandora 

Check out my custom station "My Music". Pandora only plays a few songs from each artist in the station, even though must of those artists have recorded hundreds of songs.

Thanks for the help!

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AdamPandora
Community Manager
Community Manager

Thanks for following up, @DaveL.

I've taken a look at your My Music station, and I think the problem here is that you've added an excessive amount of seeds to one station. Adding variety to a station doesn't narrow the song pool that Pandora chooses from, nor does it increase your chances of hearing a particular song or artist. Rather, it opens up your station, which can make for some undesirable matches. I would suggest editing this station to remove those extra seeds. As a general rule, stations seem to work best with no more than 3-4 seeds added.

To edit your stations on a computer, first make sure you're signed into your Pandora account. Then:

  1. Click on the name of the station you'd like to edit. If the station is not available from your Now Playing page, click on the My Collection button first, sort your collection by Stations, and select the name of the station you'd like to edit. This will take you to a station details page which shows you information about your personalized station.
  2. You can remove a station seed from your station by scrolling down to the Station Created From section. You can delete a particular seed by tapping the ellipsis (or three dots), or by hovering over it and selecting Delete.
  3. To delete a Thumbed track, scroll down to the Thumb History section of this page. By default, this section will show your Thumbed up tracks first. If you'd like to see your Thumbed down tracks, click on the Thumbs down icon. Next, either select the ellipsis next to the Thumb or hover your cursor over the name of the track to reveal a hidden menu. As before, select Delete.


You also might find that Pandora works best if you create multiple stations with different artists or songs. From there, you can utilize our shuffle feature to hear a variety of musical styles in one listening session. Shuffle plays a one-song set from a random station that you've included in your mix and then moves onto another song (from a different station). This is significantly different from listening to a single Pandora station.

If you need help using or editing your Shuffle, let me know.

Hopefully this will help you to get the most from your Pandora experience. 


Adam | Community Moderator
New to the Community? Introduce yourself here
New music alert! Picks of the Week (1.6.25)
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DaveL
Opening Act

This made a big difference! Thank you.

AdamPandora
Community Manager
Community Manager

Happy to hear it, @DaveL. ๐Ÿ˜Ž

Enjoy the music!


Adam | Community Moderator
New to the Community? Introduce yourself here
New music alert! Picks of the Week (1.6.25)
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