New stations include tracks from old stations

[phanofthepan]

Hi.

It seems that when I create a new station the playlist frequently includes songs from my other stations' seeds or thumb-ups, more frequently than I would expect if for example the same sation was created by a new user with no stations.

This is not what I want. I want each station to be totally independent from my other stations and history.

Am I just imagining this cross fertilization? (I strongly doubt it based on experience.)

Is there any way to create a truly independent station?

Thanks!

Moderator Edit: Edited title for clarity

[AdamPandora · Accepted solution]

@phanofthepan Sorry to hear that your stations aren't playing the way you want them to.

Pandora stations adapt with every song to try to find the right music for you. It does this by using a combination of the detailed information in the Music Genome Project, the station seeds and Thumbs feedback you have given along with feedback given by other listeners under similar conditions.

There are a number of variables that come into play when selecting the next song:

• The complete range of musical attributes for all of the songs we have by the artist you used to create the station. For example, for a station based on Brian Eno, you might hear rock songs and ambient music. You might try creating a station from one of the artist's songs instead (e.g. Lucky Star by Madonna). This should make the station much more specific.

• The type of feedback you've given on the station (all the Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down ratings) and any additional artist or song seeds you've added to the station. Pandora lumps all this together and tries to determine what the best musical match is based on our musical analysis.
• Also, if you are creating a new station based off a similar artist or song you already have in your collection, it is possible that the new station may play similar tracks.

To improve your stations, here are a couple of things to try:

1. Thumb down tracks that do not fit. This will prevent that song from playing again, and Pandora will learn more about what you don't want to hear.
2. Make sure each of the thumbs-up you've given fits in with the type of station you are trying to create. If not, then remove that thumbs-up rating from the station page.
3. When listening from a computer, a mobile device or the Sonos app, you can access Pandora Modes to customize your station experience. You can pick different modes like Crowd Faves, Discovery and Deep Cuts.

Hope this helps!

[phanofthepan]

Thank you for the response, even though you carefully avoided answering my questions directly.  😉

I went ahead and cancelled my subscription. The cross fertilization is just too strong and prevents me from crafting stations the way I want to. I recommend an enhancement to allow independent stations to be created. Until then, so long and thanks for all the fish!

[rocketqueen563]

I have at least 15 stations with different genereas of music, i choose one and they keep meshing together. I really want to keep the different types of music seperate. Does anyone know how to fix this? i am a paid subscriber

[AdamPandora]

@rocketqueen563 Thanks for sharing your experience with the Community.

I recommend checking out the accepted solution to this thread for instructions on how to craft your stations into playing more of the music you want to hear on them.

Hope this helps!

[rocketqueen563]

If I thumbs down a track only on one station, it won’t go across all of them? 

[AdamPandora]

@rocketqueen563 No - Thumbs are station specific, so please feel free to Thumb Up and Thumb Down accordingly. Giving a Thumb rating on one station will not affect any of your other stations.

Hope this helps clarify.

[tonyguinta]

Adam, I read the details in the accepted solution and they all make sense, except it seems that most recently that Pandora prioritizes previously liked songs from other stations more than trying to find new songs for the new station. I believe that this is a recent change to the algorithm, but previous to this it didn't seem to work this way. 

I have used the thumbs down button to help create a station that's more like what I want, but whenever I create a new station, I have to thumbs down many songs from other stations I have created. This is annoying. I would rather that Pandora not consider songs that I have liked or disliked before especially since they might have been station-specific.

When I create a new station it would be ideal if Pandora instead looks for new songs that I haven't either liked or disliked. The whole point of creating a new station is that I want to hear new music, not necessarily the songs that I've heard before. Those should be included as they would for any user, but they shouldn't be prioritized based on my previous likes or dislikes. 

I also wouldn't want Pandora to think that because I disliked a song in a particular station that I wouldn't want to hear it in another station.

[tonyguinta]

It sure seems that Pandora does prioritize liked songs from other stations too much when creating a new station. It doesn't seem to start a new station with a blank slate. 

[MariaPandora]

Hi @tonyguinta,

Glad to see you around the community.

In order to look into this further, we will need specific examples of this happening.

If this occurs again, can you please reply back with:

• the name of the new station you were listening to
• the name of the liked song(s) that played on the new station, that you feel is bleeding over from one of your older stations
• the name of the older station where these songs were originally given a Thumbs Up on

Thanks for working with me on this. 

[rocketqueen563]

This happens all the time on stations that I have made for myself. They constantly cross over no matter how many times I dislike or like a song 

[AdamPandora]

@rocketqueen563 If you are listening to stations based off of similar artists or genres, it is possible to have some crossover in the music that plays.

This being said, I'm happy to look into this further if you'd like.

I'll just need you to reply back with the information @MariaPandora requested in her message above:

If this occurs again, can you please reply back with:

• the name of the new station you were listening to
• the name of the liked song(s) that played on the new station, that you feel is bleeding over from one of your older stations
• the name of the older station where these songs were originally given a Thumbs Up on

Thanks for working with me on this.