Station doesn't play artist it was created for

[hillbillyjack]

I've been digging around in the support group for the last 30 minutes and can't find the answer to this question.   I'm sorry if its been asked before.   At any rate, I've created a number of stations based on particular artists.  Some of them are ok, but others seem to want to play anybody and everybody except the artists I want to hear.  I'm lucky if i get one song a day from the right artist.  I've tried to train it by thumbs down-ing the the unwanted stuff but then it will say "not loving this station?  try another"  or words to that effect. I would love the station if it would play what it's supposed to.  Any way to remedy this?

Moderator Edit: Edited title for clarity

[AdamPandora · Accepted solution]

@hillbillyjack Nice to see you around the community. 👋🏽

I understand that it's frustrating not to hear the artist that you've seeded a station with, but at this time, listeners have limited control over when or how often particular artists or songs will play on Pandora stations.

That said, you should be able to 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 Artist Only, which will play only tracks from the artist headlining your station (unless you've added variety to your station, in which case it will play tracks from those artists as well).

Please keep in mind that Artist Only mode will only exist on relevant stations.

Hope this helps explain! 

[mdingel]

I have the same problem with my Dream Theater station not playing Dream Theater. It used to...

This is a bad business model - forcing people who were happy with your product to upgrade.

[AdamPandora]

@mdingel I moved your post to this thread to keep the community tidy.

I had our support team take a look at your Dream Theater station, and they mentioned you have added a large number of seeds to the station.

Here is a screenshot of what they saw:

If you want to hear more songs by the actual artist, then you might try removing the other artist and song seeds in that station.

To edit your station from a computer:

1. Click on the name of the station you'd like to edit. If the station is not available from your Now Playing page, click on the My Collection button first, and then select the name of the station you'd like to edit. This will take you to a station details page which shows you information about your personalized station.
2. If you'd like to edit your station's name or description, click on the small pencil icon to the left of the play button. (If that's not available, select the ellipsis, or three dots, and then Edit Station.)
3. Otherwise, you can remove a station seed from your station by scrolling down to the Station Created From section. You can delete a particular seed by selecting the ellipsis and tapping Delete, or by hovering over it and selecting Delete.

You'll also find your Thumbed Up or Thumbed Down tracks in the Thumb History section of this page. By default, this section will show your Thumbed Up tracks first. If you'd like to see your Thumbs Down, click on the Thumbs Down icon.

To delete a Thumbed track, either select the ellipsis and select Delete or simply roll your cursor over the name of the track to reveal a Delete button. Now you should hear more of that particular artist on the station.

You can also use Pandora Modes to customize your station experience when you're listening from a computer, mobile device or the Sonos app. Pick from different modes like Artist Only which will play songs exclusively by the main station artists.

For complete control of what you hear on Pandora, you may consider upgrading to Pandora Premium. It combines our industry leading internet radio service with on-demand listening and easy playlist generation.

I hope this helps. Hope we continue to see you around the community! 😎

[mdingel]

Thank you - I'll give it a shot

[hillbillyjack]

It explains but I don't see the point in seeding a station if its still going to play random stuff.  For instance, I have a James Taylor and Alison Krauss station.  Very first song it played today was ZZTop's "give me all your lovin'" then followed that with "I heard it through the grapevine by CCR. They are not even remotely related.  When i click on Artist Only, it runs an ad, which I upgraded to Pandora Plus to get rid of and then gives me only a short session. 

This has me rethinking my paid subscription. Didn't get me much. 

[BillMcCutchan]

Just downloaded the app and signed up today.  I wanted to use the app to check out particular artists, so I searched for Jaime Wyatt.  In two hours it played 2 Wyatt songs and then I discover "deep cuts" and in next 45 minutes got only 1 more.  Is there a way to increase that ratio - like play just Jaime Wyatt or at least play a majority?

[AdamPandora]

@BillMcCutchan I moved your post to this thread since you were running into a similar issue.

I understand that it's frustrating not to hear the artist that you've seeded a station with, but at this time, listeners have limited control over when or how often particular artists or songs will play on Pandora stations.

That said, you should be able to use Pandora Modes to customize your station experience when you're listening from a computer, mobile device or the Sonos app. 

You mentioned trying out the Deep Cuts Mode, however I believe you will most benefit from using the Artist Only Mode.

Artist Only Mode will play only tracks from the artist headlining your station (unless you've added variety to your station, in which case it will play tracks from those artists as well).

Please keep in mind that Artist Only mode will only exist on relevant stations.

Hope this helps! 😄

[BillMcCutchan]

Thanks.  Is "artist only" a premium option, or where will I find it?  There's no option like that on my screen that includes "my station" and "deep cut" mode.

[Trampey11]

If I start a new colony six radio, why can't I only hear the new colony six?

Moderator Edit: Format, Edited title for clarity

[AdamPandora]

@BillMcCutchan Unfortunately, not all Pandora Modes will be available on every station.

If you aren't seeing the option for an Artist Only Mode on that station, then you likely won't be able to utilize that option.

With that being said, I am going to pass your feedback along to our curation team so that they can further investigate why that option isn't appearing on that station.

[AdamPandora]

@Trampey11 Nice to see you around the community. 😄

I understand that it's frustrating not to hear the artist that you've seeded a station with, but at this time, listeners have limited control over when or how often particular artists or songs will play on Pandora stations.

For more information, check out the accepted solution to this thread.

Hope this helps! 

[Qwerty77]

I  just started listening to the Grateful Dead radio a week ago, and it seems like it rarely plays the Dead. It mostly plays bluegrass, which I don't dislike, but it's not really what I was expecting.

[AdamPandora]

@Qwerty77 I moved your post to this thread since you are running into a similar issue.

I understand that it's frustrating not to hear the artist that you've seeded a station with, but at this time, listeners have limited control over when or how often particular artists or songs will play on Pandora stations.

For more information, check out the accepted solution to this thread.

Hope this helps! 😁

[80s-Rock]

I added Motley Crue to one of my stations for added variety and similar music. 

Now my station does just that, except it didn't add Motley Crue to my my playlist at all???

I'm sure there is a simple solution to this?

[AlyssaPandora]

Hey there, @80s-Rock. 👋

Nice to see you around the community! To keep the community space organized, I moved your post over to this thread: Station doesn't play artist it was created for

Stations with Added Variety:

Looks like the station you're mentioning has a large amount artist seeds added as variety.

Adding variety to a station doesn't narrow the song pool that Pandora chooses from, nor does it increase your chances of hearing a particular song or artist. Rather, it opens up your station to a lot of variety, which can make for some undesirable matches. I would suggest editing this station to remove those extra seeds. As a general rule, stations seem to work best with no more than 3-4 seeds added.

You may find @AdamPandora's post to be helpful as he shares some tips about stations with several seeds.

++

Please also check out the accepted solution on this thread regarding how often Pandora plays artists on stations.

Keep in mind that you can also create up to 250 separate stations, so you might find that Pandora works best if you create multiple stations with different artists or songs. From there, you can utilize our shuffle feature to hear a variety of musical styles in one listening session. Shuffle plays a one-song set from a random station that you've included in your mix and then moves onto another song (from a different station). This is significantly different from listening to a single Pandora station.

Hope this information is helpful. 🎧

[vic9999]

My station is not playing any of my liked songs or the two bands based on the station. The station is made up of Tool and Silverchair and it has not played a Tool, Silverchair,, or any other like songs in over 50 plays. It's only playing random songs my station has never played before.  This is happening on my android only. If I login and play my station on my computer the station I created play correctly. Can anyone help? 

[AlyssaPandora]

Hey there, @vic9999. 👋

To keep the community space organized, I moved your post over to this existing thread: Station doesn't play artist it was created for

Something to note, Pandora accounts follow the email address, not the device or phone number. You can sign into the same Pandora account on any computer or supported device, as long as you use the same email address and Pandora password. This applies to both free and paid Pandora accounts. The stations are the same as long as you're logging into the same account.

• Please check out the accepted solution for this thread here. 
• You can also find tips to improve your stations in this helpful article.

I hope this helps clarify. Thanks so much for posting on the Pandora Community!

[shiznit182311]

I've added multiple artists to my Papa Roach radio and have thumbs upped about 400 songs and all of a sudden the station is ONLY playing new music, none of my existing liked songs. I'm also pretty sure that it's also playing songs that I have previously thumbs upped, but they are no longer thumbs upped. It's like I have to start all over again. I don't know how to fix it. Please help!

[AdamPandora]

@shiznit182311 I moved your post over to this existing thread: Station doesn't play artist it was created for

Not hearing music from seeded artists:

I've taken a look at your account, and I think the problem here is that you've added an excessive amount of seeds to your Papa Roach station. Adding variety to a station doesn't narrow the song pool that Pandora chooses from, nor does it increase your chances of hearing a particular song or artist. Rather, it opens up your station to a lot of variety, which can make for some undesirable matches. I would suggest editing this station to remove those extra seeds. As a general rule, stations seem to work best with no more than 3-4 seeds added.

To edit your stations on a computer, first make sure you're signed into your Pandora account. Then:

1. Click on the name of the station you'd like to edit. If the station is not available from your Now Playing page, click on the My Collection button first, sort your collection by Stations, and select the name of the station you'd like to edit. This will take you to a station details page which shows you information about your personalized station.
2. You can remove a station seed from your station by scrolling down to the Station Created From section. You can delete a particular seed by tapping the ellipsis (or three dots), or by hovering over it and selecting Delete.
3. To delete a Thumbed track, scroll down to the Thumb History section of this page. By default, this section will show your Thumbed up tracks first. If you'd like to see your Thumbed down tracks, click on the Thumbs down icon. Next, either select the ellipsis next to the Thumb or hover your cursor over the name of the track to reveal a hidden menu. As before, select Delete.

You might find that Pandora works best if you create multiple stations with different artists or songs. From there, you can utilize our shuffle feature to hear a variety of musical styles in one listening session. Shuffle plays a one-song set from a random station that you've included in your mix and then moves onto another song (from a different station). This is significantly different from listening to a single Pandora station.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Songs previously thumbed up no longer reflect that:

I'm happy to look into this as well.

Please continue to Thumb Up tracks as you normally do, and if that same track plays again on the same station without the Thumbs Up icon highlighted, please grab a screenshot of that and send it over to me.

Thanks for working with me on this. 🤝