Songs on customized playlist are replaced with live versions

[Richmond99]

A new trick from Pandora: now they're editing my playlists for me. This is how: they're deleting studio versions of songs I've added and are replacing them with cheaper (and much worse) live and out-take versions.  Making my playlists--which I've spent tons of time editing--increasingly useless.  Yet another way Pandora have found to express their contempt for their subscribers.

Moderator Edit: Edited title for clarity

[MOHLovesAlaska]

@Analogmusicman, here is the link to the song. Heart Full Of Soul. , this was found in the album "The Jeff Beck Years. The song was recorded after Eric Clapton left the band and was replaced by Jeff Beck. Take care and stay safe. 

[AdamPandora]

@Analogmusicman I'm showing your account is currently upgraded to Pandora Plus - not Pandora Premium.

The ability to create customized playlists is only an option for Pandora Premium subscribers.

To clarify, did the live version of that track play on one of your collected radio stations? If so, what is the name of the station you were listening to?

Or did this happen after you initiated a Premium Access Session in order to create that customized playlist? If so, what is the name of that playlist you created where the original version of that track was replaced with the live version?

Let me know.

[Analogmusicman]

yes,I'm not yet a premium member,but I thought (incorrectly I guess) that my playlist created under a "premium session" would be treated as if I were an actual premium member. My playlist,VOL1, was working just fine for awhile,then this happened. I'm just guessing,but,might this have occurred because there are multiple versions of that song? If that's the case, this should be looked into.

Analogmusicman

[AdamPandora]

@Analogmusicman That is correct - your playlist should still be treated the same if you created it during a Pandora Premium Session.

Can you please do me a favor and send me a screenshot of the live version of that track that is showing on your playlist?

Thanks for working with me on this. 🤝

[Analogmusicman]

---

@AdamPandora wrote:

@Analogmusicman That is correct - your playlist should still be treated the same if you created it during a Pandora Premium Session.

Can you please do me a favor and send me a screenshot of the live version of that track that is showing on your playlist?

Thanks for working with me on this. 🤝

---

here's the screenshot! is that what you needed?

[AdamPandora]

Thanks for sending that over, @Analogmusicman.

I went ahead and created a ticket with our engineering team so they can help look into this further.

Thanks for your patience in the meantime!

[Analogmusicman]

Ok,I did some snooping and here's what I found: remember I said I couldn't find the original version of "heart full of soul" anymore? Well,I MAY have found it. I was looking through all the Yard bird's albums and there's one from the 60s called "greatest hits". Here's the kicker,when I tried to open it I got a message saying something like " songs on this album are only available for radio station playback " and of course I was kept from even seeing what's on the album. Interesting huh?

[AdamPandora]

@Analogmusicman I believe @MOHLovesAlaska was able to provide us with the link to the correct version of that track here.

If you are unable to view this track, please send me a screenshot of what you are seeing.

[Analogmusicman]

NO,NO,NO Adam this is just one of the several LIVE versions of Heart Full of Soul. (but tnx to @MOHL anyway for his efforts) After seeing what I saw with that Greatest Hits album, I'm thinking now this is a copyright issue that's behind all this. (other people have seen this too) and I'm no copyright expert. (far from it) I have never heard of a copyright matter that can't be fixed with cold.hard. cash. This is speculation of course, copyright may have nothing to do with it. Perhaps Pandora just doesn't want to spend money getting the correct copyright that would let us put certain studio songs onto playlists. (more speculation) If that's the case, spending some money now could avoid problems later. Get my drift?

[Analogmusicman]

I went to the internet and found the Yard bird's greatest hits album (around  '68) and yes the original version of heart full of soul is definitely on there. Pandora should explain why that album can't be accessed on their platform.

[AdamPandora]

@Analogmusicman I see what you are saying.

I believe you are referring to how this album is currently labeled as Radio only: Greatest Hits

Although the majority of the songs in our collection will be eligible to be played without restrictions, you may encounter a portion of songs that are unavailable or labeled "Radio Only" due to our current licensing restrictions. In the meantime, you can create a station that will play similar songs and artists, based on an artist or a particular song.

We are continuously working on increasing the amount of songs which can be played on stations, on-demand, or offline. Our intention is to provide enough music you enjoy to avoid any inconvenience around this.

Hope this makes sense. Let me know if you need any further assistance.

[Rubeus]

I have been a premium Pandora sub. for longer than I can remember and I can verify this behavior and it has been getting worse, or at least if feels like it.  In the old days I almost always got the songs I wanted.  Now it will only play what I assume to be less expensive, or royalty free versions of the songs.  It is unfortunate regardless of the reason, but I regretfully am about to change to another service for the exact same price in hopes of better content.   I feel bad as I believe the service I am going to change over to has an unfair advantage in the market.   I would even be willing to pay a little more per month to keep Pandora, if it were to play the A+ versions of the tracks. 

[AdamPandora]

@Rubeus To clarify, do you add the studio version of specific tracks to one of your customized playlists, and then notice that they are eventually replaced with a live version?

If so, can you please do me a favor and send me a screenshot of the live versions of these tracks that are currently showing in your playlist?

Thanks for working with me on this.

[Jangs71]

I recently added a song that was a studio version of a popular artist. It was changed to a “kids” version with children singing. I deleted that version and again added the studio version by the actual artist. Today the children’s version was back. I’ve been a premium member for many years. I’ve recently downloaded a new music app and will probably be switching. It’s happened periodically through my time but it’s getting significantly worse. Live music switched in, completely different versions and now completely different artists. From previous posts it appears to “be an error” but has been happening to multiple people for multiple years. 

[AdamPandora]

@Jangs71 I definitely understand your frustration.

To clarify, do you add the studio version of specific tracks to one of your customized playlists, and then notice that they are eventually replaced with a kids version?

If so, can you please do me a favor and send me a screenshot of the kids versions of these tracks that are currently showing in your playlist?

Thanks for working with me on this. 🤝

[mikemorse55]

this is getting old with pandora replacing good versions of songs to crappy ones. i am about to cancel my subscription. i hope they fix this soo

i have had it with pandora replacing great versions of songs with either live or horrible versions of songs in my playlist. i am about to cancel my subscription if this keeps happening. pandora fix this issue PLEASE. songs should not be changed if we have a custom playlist. pandora used to be great.

[AdamPandora]

@mikemorse55 Can you please do me a favor and send me a screenshot of the live/different versions of these tracks that are currently showing in your playlist?

Thanks for working with me on this. 🤝

[Listener1983]

You're right. I won't be renewing my subscription. I already started building my Playlists on YouTube music. Much better music app all around and they don't play with your lists.