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.