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Amazon Alexa: Doesn't play requested playlists

mayvalley
Underground

When I ask Alexa to play a NEW playlist that I create in Pandora, she will usually respond by playing another playlist with a different name (not from my collection) but will sometimes respond that the playlist can't be found. I've tried many different playlist names, Alexa hears each one accurately (by checking the voice history) but the problem still occurs. This issue has been occurring for several months and I can't play any NEW playlists on my Echo device. Older playlists in my collection are played back correctly when I ask Alexa to do so. The last of these was created around Christmas-Time 2020 (a Christmas mix). Any playlist created after this doesn't work. My first thought is that the year change (from 2020 to 2021) has caused a problem. My Alexa app is up-to-date, and I've reset the Pandora skill/relinked Amazon/Pandora accounts multiple times. I am a paid-up Premium subscriber.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Dave

Moderator Edit: Changing title for clarity

Labels (2)
27 Replies

Malaras
Underground

Sorry to Necro... But...Still an issue

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H4mmerDown
Local Performer

Is this issue EVER going to be fixed? 

I'm a Systems Engineer by both graduate education and trade, and it astounds me that no DevOps team can track down this issue yet... unless they simply don't care. 

Given the massive loss in streaming Market Share that Pandora has suffered with the rise of Spotify, Amazon Music Unlimited, Apple Music, etc. you would think that someone at Pandora would be interested in trying to keep customers from switching streaming providers.  But alas, a 2-year-old connectivity issue persists due to apathy.  In the meantime Echo has no trouble playing any new stations I make on any of those other services I just listed, only with Pandora - makes me think the problem lies with Pandora's end - and if not, why would Pandora not be trying to fix it anyway to correct the perception that their streaming service is sub-par?

Tdwimsatt
Local Performer

So, this has been going on for 2 years?! I am having the same issue. It started a couple of months ago and I contacted Amazon. I got the usual advice: remove and add the skill back, power cycle the devices. Maybe it's Amazon's way of getting everyone to switch to their streaming service?

I have been a paid Pandora subscriber for several years and am not happy about switching but I will if necessary. 

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skibunny
Underground

@TannerPandora  You responded in May 2021.  This is clearly happening again for two months now....October 2022.  Where is the resolution? 

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ThePunkMaister
Local Performer

The only way to circumvent this 💩 is to use the oddest and most uncommon name for your Playlist. It's not ideal but it works. Alexa however will only play the Playlist sequentially and won't shuffle songs.

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reneex13
Local Performer

I have been successfully playing my Pandora playlists of any name I give them since I got my alexa enabled speakers. UP UNTIL about 2 months ago. Now she can’t find any of my pandora playlists.  I’ve tried the obscure name thing and that doesn’t seem to work for me either. Anyone else find a resolution as of January 2023? I have tried this in both of my paid and unpaid accounts. 

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Kilad
Local Performer

I am having the same issue. Alexa says she can not find the playlist on Pandora. She repeats the name correctly. Sometimes she will play something non related to what was requested other times just say she cant find the playlist. Alexa is hearing and repeating my request correctly. 

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CookMc42
Local Performer

POSSIBLE WORK AROUND? Open Alexa app, Devices, Echo and Alexa, Find and open the device(Echo) that you want to play audio on. See Bluetooth Connections, Connect a device +. This should allow you to find your phone.

If you see your phone's name already there and it is Connected then go to next step.

Go to your Phone, Bluetooth, and search for the Echo device. Connect/pair to it. 

This should allow you to listen to your Pandora playlist on your Amazon device.

Note: I believe this bypasses the 'Pandora Skill', so you probably will not be able to speak your playlist to Alexa. 

I am controlling my playlist directly within Pandora App. This also allows me to shuffle the songs.

I had try these steps a couple of times as I was troubleshooting. Try the respective Bluetooth connections in reverse if it doesn't work as stated above.

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