add variety doesn't ever play the artists that have been added

[apoythres]

I'm playing Pandora on my iphone x with a station I created.  I have gone and added several additional artists (add variety).  They show up on the listing - but none of their music plays.  They play on my PC, but never on my phone.  Why is that and how do I fix it?

[AdamPandora]

@apoythres 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. 

Keep in mind that you can 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.

Hopefully this will help you to get the most from your Pandora experience.

Thanks for being a part of the community! 🎶

[apoythres]

I wouldn't think adding variety would narrow the pool, I think it would increase it - thus adding variety.  However, the variety has not changed.  I get the same songs over and over.  Just like the radio!  LOL!  That's why I started listening to Pandora more - for the increase in variety.  If adding variety doesn't actually add variety, then what is the point?

One other question.  Why can I not choose the 'Tune your station' options on my cell phone - only on my windows desktop?  I'm enjoying the 'deep cuts' but can't choose that on my phone.

[AdamPandora]

@apoythres Pandora Modes is not available for all stations, so it's possible that is why the feature is not showing when streaming Pandora on your phone.

What is the name of the station Pandora Modes is missing on?

Let me know.

[apoythres]

Carly Simon Radio, Johnny Mercer Radio, Rodgers & Hammerstein Radio – all stations I created.

[AdamPandora]

@apoythres Pandora Modes should be available when streaming those stations on your phone.

Can you please do me a favor and send me a screenshot of the Now Playing screen when listening to one of these stations on your phone? 

Thanks for all your help wtih this. 

[apoythres]

I couldn't figure out how to attach a screen shot - the picture was always too big.

At any rate, one of my student assistants figured out how to display the 'tune your station' options on my cell phone.  I also updated the Pandora app and now at the top of the screen where it says 'my station' I can select deep cuts, discovery, crowd faves.  So that seems to be solved.  Also, I'm not sure if updating the app or selecting 'deep cuts' made a difference, but I'm getting much more variety - so that's a plus.  Thanks for your help.

[amoebob]

I have created a station from one artist, Unders, and then used the Add Variety feature to include additional artists, most of which are very different from the original artist, such as Patrick Watson. Over and hour and many skips later, I had only heard dance songs, the genre of the source artist. It felt like my additional variety artists were being ignored. I changed the mode of the station to artist only. It played through the Unders songs in the catalog and then reset the mode of the station back to the default, removing the artist only option. I would like a single station to meander through songs that each relate to a different one of the variety artists. How can I configure my station to do this?

[AdamPandora]

@amoebob I moved your post to this thread as I provided some helpful information around how adding variety works in my message above. 

With all this being said, our support team has confirmed that your account is currently upgraded to Pandora Premium. This subscription allows you listen to music on demand, as well as create customized playlists where you can pick and choose what songs you want to listen to.

I recommend setting up some customized playlists as this would be the quickest way to get the music you actually want to hear. 

To create a playlist from a mobile device:

To create a new playlist from the My Collection screen:

1. Go to My Collection, sort by Playlist, then tap + New Playlist.

2. Enter a name for your playlist and tap Next.

3. Use the search bar to find your favorite songs or albums to add to your playlist.

To create a new playlist from the Now Playing screen:

1. Tap the ellipsis (three dots) below the album art.

2. Select Add to Playlist.

3. Choose which playlist you'd like to add the track to, or create a new playlist off of this by tapping + New Playlist.
    

To create a playlist fom our website:

To create a new playlist from My Collection:

Filter your collection by Playlists and select + Create Playlist.

To create a new playlist from the Now Playing screen:

1. Click the ellipsis (three dots) below the album art to reveal a sub-menu.
2. Hover over Add to Playlist and select New Playlist.

Finally, you can create a playlist from most songs or albums by clicking that ellipsis as well.

*If you need help building your playlists, you can ask Pandora to help by using the Add Similar Songs button.

Thanks for being a part of the community! 🎶

[billgordon18900]

I have a similar situation with a station I curated with Pandora Plus. I have 17 seeds in the station and hundreds of thumbs up. But Pandora seems to play a much greater variety when listening to this station on my I-Mac then when I'm listening to the same station my I-phone 7 either directly or in the car on Apple Car-Play. It's puzzling. And it seems I'm not alone. Any thoughts on how this could be?

[AdamPandora]

@billgordon18900 Here are some things you can do to improve your stations:

1. Listen using Pandora Modes when listening from a computer or mobile device, you can access Pandora Modes to customize your station experience. You can pick different modes like Crowd Faves, Discovery and Deep Cuts.
2. Put tracks on the shelf: If you get sick of a track but don't want to give it a Thumbs Down, you can put it on the shelf for a while. To do this from the web, hover your mouse over the album art and select "I'm tired of this track." Pandora Premium listeners should click the ellipsis (3 dots) next the album art to see that option.
3. Edit your station: In some cases, it might actually help to remove Thumbs Up ratings in the station to mix things up.

Running through these steps should increase the variety of the station pretty quickly during your listening sessions. 

Hope this helps!

[Tino7903]

I have the same exact issue, why have stations at all then? If I add variety, I want to hear that artist/song etc. 

[mjames757]

That is just lame!  It makes adding artist fro variety rather pointless.