Out of place tracks on Connected Radio

[MusicFan0690]

While I am happy to see this issue being addressed, I'm not excited to hear it's not only my problem.

There is no reason Pandora should have started to blend all of the artists I listen to into ALL of my stations. 

Example, last night I started a self created station based on the song Connected by Stereo MC's, the first song that played was by Gordon Lightfoot.......really? I skipped it, but the next 3 songs were also from artists I would associate with 70's easy listening or pop.  I double checked my station, nope, just based on the one song.

I'm finding this issue across all of the stations I listen to often. It started with only being an issue after having the station on for the whole day in the house, I get it, it's trying to keep things fresh, but it's become a much larger problem and enough for me to leave Pandora, again!

And trying to get help here is really limited to this community, more fluff canned responses, copied and pasted again.......and again.

Moderator Edit: Edited title for clarity

[AdamPandora · Accepted solution]

@MusicFan0690 Thanks for writing in and sorry to hear your stations aren't working the way you'd like them to.

I've taken a look, and I'm not seeing that you're rating songs with Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down on your Connected Radio station:

Pandora stations adapt with every song to try to find the right music for your stations. Without Thumb info, however, Pandora has to guess what songs you like or don't like, which can often lead to the problem you've described.

Keep in mind, Thumbs are station specific, so please feel free to Thumb up and down accordingly. Giving a Thumb rating on one station will not affect any of your other stations.

This also means that you can use Thumbs to craft the sound you are trying to achieve and vary the playlists from station to station. For example, you might want to give a song you like a Thumb Down if you think it will bring in a certain type of music you'd prefer to not have on that station. Don't be afraid to rate songs (you can always edit your stations later if you don't like the direction your station is going or if you'd like to mix things up).

Finally, you can use Pandora Modes to customize your station experience when you're listening from a computer, mobile device or the Sonos app. You can pick different modes like Crowd Faves, Discovery and Deep Cuts. Be sure to Thumb Up songs you liked to inspire similar songs to play.

If you continue to experience issues with out of place tracks playing on this station after using your Thumb ratings, please follow up with the information requested in this thread: Hearing out of place tracks on station

Let me know if this helps!

[MusicFan0690]

This isn't about specific songs, it's playing artists that are completely outside the genre of what is being requested. I went back years ago and "un" thumbed all tracks so that the stations didn't get too narrowed down. That was a long time ago long before we had many of the options we have now.

Are you saying that when listening to one genre of music, unless I'm thumbing down tracks that I don't think should have ever been included with that station, I'll continue to get artists completely different than what I've requested? 

Your move to AI inspired music selections seems to be an enormous failure from the users standpoint.

[AdamPandora]

@MusicFan0690 I completely understand your frustration — it’s definitely disappointing when your station starts playing music that feels way outside the sound you were expecting. Thanks for taking the time to share your experience and for following up with those details.

To clarify your question, yes, giving Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down ratings is the best way to make sure your station reflects the specific sound you want. Pandora uses your Thumbs to learn your individual taste — not just the general genre of music you start from. Without those ratings, the station relies more heavily on broader similarities or what’s trending across listeners, which can sometimes lead to artists or songs that don’t feel like a match for your intent.

If you start rating songs and still notice out-of-place tracks after that, please check out this thread for more detailed troubleshooting: Hearing out of place tracks on station.

Once you’ve had a chance to try that, I’d be happy to take another look at your Connected Radio station to help fine-tune it even more.

Thanks again for sticking with it — I know how important it is for your stations to play the music you actually want to hear.