RESOLVED 03/10/22: Featured Tracks don't fit the station they play on

[spiffus]

Hi, I noticed an issue today and am trying to figure out how to fix it.

I'm a Pandora Plus subscriber (not Premium, in case it's relevant to my post), and I've curated several stations over the years with the Thumbs feature. One of the reasons I pay for a monthly subscription is because I prefer the Pandora format over other streaming services, and that the Music Genome Project does a great job in determining what music to play on my stations.

Unfortunately, my oldest and favorite station has been incorrectly bombarded with wildly unrelated content today via the "Featured Tracks". I'm more than happy to listen to new music from artists who pay to promote their music, but seriously, is it not possible to match the Featured Tracks with the actual Music Genome of the station? What's the point of curating a station and hearing completely unrelated music on it? I have no interest in hitting Skip or Thumbs Down for 10-20 songs in a row. There's no reason that my station, which is based on the Bee Gees and related Thumbs Up, should be playing instrumental piano or modern country. I have other stations for that.

Is there any way to fix this, or am I going to have to not play my favorite station until the Featured Tracks on it go away?

Thanks.

Moderator Edit: Edited title for clarity

[AdamPandora]

@spiffus Thanks so much for your feedback.

Featured Tracks help artists get feedback on their new music. These artists/songs are still being served up by our algorithm in the same way other artists are - based on your listening activity and thumbs.

Pandora monitors listener sentiment on Featured Tracks very closely, and always reserves the right to stop featuring a track based on that feedback.

Hope this helps explain!

[mossflowerwoods]

 I have calm traditional Irish channel that i have listened to for years. Today "featured tracks" start playing and now all I get is explicit punk rock songs and techno tracks. Can I get my original channel back please? 

[AdamPandora]

@mossflowerwoods The next time it happens, please give the out of place track that plays a thumbs down and write us back with the following:

• The date/time the out of place track(s) played
  
• The name(s) of the out of place artist(s) on the station.
  
• The title(s) of the out of place track(s) that played.
  
• Were you able to give the out of place track(s) a Thumbs down?
  
• Were you listening using a Pandora Mode like Crowd Faves, Discovery or Deep Cuts?

Also if possible, please grab a screenshot of the out of place track that plays, and send that in a reply to this message.

Thanks for the help!

[spiffus]

Hi Adam,

Thanks for your reply!

While I understand that Featured Tracks help artists get feedback on their new music, I'm still not sure how classical piano pieces, country music, soul/R&B, or heavy metal ended up on my station based on the Bee Gees. I do have stations with those types of music, but not the one in question. That's my main issue with the Featured Tracks I heard. If they were in the appropriate station, I might very well give a Thumbs Up on them! But, I don't want to hear classical piano pieces in that station, so I can either give it a Thumbs Down, skip it, or bear with it. If I give it a Thumbs Down, because it's on the wrong station for me, that might send the message that I don't like the song at all, when in reality, I just don't like it on that station. 😃

Is it possible that the Featured Tracks play on the most listened-to station(s) per user? If so, that would explain why I heard them where I did. When I switched stations to a lesser-used station, I did not hear any Featured Tracks.

Thanks again for your help!

[BethG1]

Hi, my Louis Armstrong station has been bombarded with contemporary Christian music, spa piano music, and modern Latin music. I’m getting up to 12 “featured tracks” in a row. Fix this fast, or I switch to your competitor. I have been a loyal subscriber for years. 

[rose11]

Agreed! Pandora, please stop adding random, unrelated "featured tracks" to my carefully curated jazz station that I've been listening to and refining for years. This is ridiculous. Either turn off this feature altogether, or give your users an option to do so! 

Hi there, this isn't being addressed adequately. Stations that folks have created and curated are being bombarded by "featured tracks" that have no connection to the stations whatsoever ("featured" comedy, rap, and metal tracks on my jazz station). It's a feature that needs to be turned off by you, or you need to give your users an option to turn this feature off asap. Otherwise you are going to start losing subscribers! 

Moderator Edit: Merged posts

[Jmyers9812]

What happened to my RATT station.  You are playing total different artists on it.  Never heard of these people.  Some aren’t even in english.  I paid my money, and I lose my stayion

[mireya]

I also noticed that today around noon. My classical crossover station was getting all sorts of unrelated music, even gangster Mexican rap at one point (I am Hispanic and can tell the difference). I am also sick of doing the thumbs down to so many songs!! I just closed Pandora earlier as I was wanting my usual music to help me work, but instead I had a distraction. I just logged in again and the same thing. 

Pandora: PLEASE FIX THIS. We know what featured tracks are and how they work, so the response given is fully irrelevant and avoidant of the issue at hand. IF you are doing featured tracks, PLEASE have them be far in between (NOT 10-20 in a row) AND RELEVANT to the station being listened to. I have been a paid Pandora subscriber for more than 10 YEARS and NEVER has this stupidity happened before. I hope you fix it soon and go back to being cool and awesome. 

[LanceL]

FIX THIS!!!!! My classic jazz station, which I’ve had for years, now is playing garbage gangster rappers and explicit hip-hop, with 6+ “featured tracks” for every ONE of my actual station! FIX THIS NOW or I cancel my subscription. 

[mossflowerwoods]

Thanks for the quick reply. I opened up Pandora and thumbed down tracks until it wouldn't let me skip anymore. The following are the out of place tracks:

Composure by Fully Bad

Night to Silence by ERAA

See the Moon by The North Mississippi All Stars 

Icemill by Icewear Vezzo

Echos of the Comet by Inner Contemplation

Filled with the Power of the Wind by Serene Calm

3:30 by Kali Sade

  

 

 

 

 These were played around 10:15 cst. On the standard station that I've listened to for years.  

[AdamPandora]

@spiffus Thanks for the detailed report on this issue.

I've gone ahead and escalated your feedback over to our engineering team so they can help look into this further.

Thanks for your patience in the meantime!

[AdamPandora]

@mossflowerwoods Thanks for following up with that information.

I've gone ahead and escalated your feedback over to our engineering team so they can help look into this further.

Thanks for your patience in the meantime!

[AdamPandora]

Pandora Update 03/10/22:

Hi, everyone! 👋

Our engineering team is aware of the issue with some Featured Tracks not fitting the station they are playing on.

Keep an eye on this thread as we will be posting an update when the fix has been released.

We appreciate your patience in the meantime!

[AdamPandora]

@Jmyers9812 I moved your post over to this existing thread: Featured Tracks don't fit the station they play on

Your feedback has now been added to the ticket we have open with the engineering team who is looking into this.

Thanks for your patience in the meantime!

[AdamPandora · Accepted solution]

Pandora Update 03/10/22:

Hi again, everyone! 👋

Our engineering team is aware of the issue with some Featured Tracks not fitting the station they were playing on.

We believe this issue is now resolved and will be closing this thread from future replies.

If you continue to receive Featured Tracks that do not fit the station they are playing on, please create a new thread in the My Collection space and provide the following:

• the name of the station you are listening to
• a screenshot of the Featured Track

Thanks!