Amazon Alexa: Can't give thumb ratings with Premium

[rodsman]

I just upgraded to the premium level and now I cannot provide a thumbs up or down (on my amazon devises) Why is that happening and can I get the functionality back? I appreciate having noo commercials but not being able to set up a station I used to with the free version does not make sense to me. Thanks.

Moderator Edit: Edited title for clarity

[AdamPandora]

@rodsman I moved your post over to the Other Devices space.

Thumbs are only available when you're listening to stations and when listening to certain Featured Playlists.

They will not be available on other on-demand content like albums, however.

It looks like you were recently streaming content on-demand, which would explain why you did not have the option to provide any thumb ratings.

Make sure you are listening to one of your collected stations on your amazon devices, and you will see the option to provide thumb ratings again.

Hope this helps explain!

[rodsman]

Hi and thanks for reply; however, I'm still a bit confused on this point.  I was listening to one of my "created" stations and couldn't provide an up or down thumbs.  Are you saying that I cannot do an up or down thumbs on playlists that I have created?  I'm not sure what you mean by "collected" stations?  Also, I noticed that when I shuffle my created stations I can do a thumbs up or down?  How is that different than listening to one created station?  Thanks.

Sorry one other point. It seems that my created stations are only playing music from the artist of that station. Before upgrading, I would hear music from different artists depending on up or down thumbs. With the premium account, is that how created stations work now? Again, that won't really work for me. If this is true then I would just assume to terminate my premium upgrade. How do I do that if my response and this reply are how the premium upgrade work? Sorry but I thought I would be able to do everything the way it had worked for me and that upgrading would just get rid of commercials.

Moderator Edit: Merged posts

[TannerPandora]

Hi @rodsman!

Can you let me know the name of the station(s) you were listening to when trying to thumb on Alexa? Can you also let me know the exact voice command used and what Alexa said?

As Adam mentioned, thumbs are only available on Stations and not available for any on-demand content, such as playlists, albums or songs.

In the meantime, you can log into your Amazon account to view what Alexa thinks you said, in order to report feedback to Amazon directly. This is referred to as your "Utterance History report."

To view your utterance history report, click this link from a computer and log into your Alexa account. Or from a mobile device launch the Alexa app, tap the Menu icon, select Activity and then More under Pandora activity.

From here you'll be able to view what Alexa thought she heard, as well as listen to a recording of what you said. If she didn't do what you wanted, be sure to let Amazon know by selecting No.

Pandora stations are designed to introduce you to new music through the artists and songs that you know and love. Checking your recent play history I see that you've listened to a few stations mixed in with some on-demand content.

If you feel a station was playing only one artist more frequently, let me know the name of the station and I'll have a closer look.

[rodsman]

Hi tannerpandora, I think I figured out what the issue was.  When I asked Alexa to play an artist, it would only play that artist and wouldn't allow for a thumbs up or down.  However, when I asked for Alexa to play the artist's station then it would play the artist and other similar artists which is what I would have expected to happen.  I could also now asks for ups and downs.  Does that sound right to you? I still have the premium account and so no commercials and everything else seems to be working as I expect.  Please let me know what you think about this specific situation.  Thanks.

[TannerPandora]

HI @rodsman! Yes, that sounds right to me! The perils of having a Premium subscription. 🤣😄

Alexa can be tricky and I find it best to use the exact name of a station or playlist when using voice commands. Sometimes Alexa can get confused with what it will playback. For example, Request a station: "Alexa, play [artist] radio on Pandora.". The 'radio' part can be helpful.

Pro-tip, if you have a playlist and station with a similar name and you find that Alexa gets confused. I would rename the playlist to be something different.