Does Pandora "push" certain artists?

guy48065 · Sep 9, 2014

I created a Clash channel and I'm liking the eclectic mix of mid-70's thru 80's punk, new wave, ska, euro-pop, etc. Just one nagging problem -- Pandora wants to force - feed me mega doses of Adam Ant. I'm talking doubling - down most times. I thumb-down every time and still one of his songs will pop up 20 minutes later, day after day after day.

I have never up- thumbed him, added as a seed, etc. .. so what gives?

Previous to this I had a classic rock-ish channel that played Credence 3 times an hour. I don't get it.

mikedt · Sep 9, 2014

Perhaps he's trying to revive his career with help from his record company.

Adam And The Ants is "post punk" I think they call it, so presumably he's coming under the same genre as The Clash.

Credence Clearwater are "classic rock", so I suppose they're likely to be played in a classic rock station.

Don't know how Pandora determines the frequency of who gets played, maybe certain artists are plugged and favourited, like what happens with DJs and radio stations.

breadnatty08 · Sep 9, 2014

I've learned a lot of these "radios" that apps come up with is SO different from app to app. For example, my buddy at work always uses Pandora for a radio station but I always use Google Music (since I have All Access), and the stations are VERY different.
The other day I had a Florence and the Machine station on and Katy Perry kept coming on. :rolleyes:

TBO, I've no idea how they determine stations, but I guess that's what the skip feature is for.

guy48065 · Sep 10, 2014

I've read articles describing how Pandora has a team of musicologists analyzing every song ever recorded for structure, chord progression,yadda yadda but I suspect that's all BS. About the only thing Adam Ant has in common with The Clash is the decade they shared and the VERY general classification of "Alternative Rock". Black Flag once met Adam & the Ants at some gig and were quoted as saying "Black Flag KILLS Ants"...yet they co-exist on my Clash channel.

I suspect 90% of recordings don't get the full "Over 400 different musical attributes..." analysis and instead get maybe 2.

mrsmumbles · Sep 10, 2014

I get pushed a ton of Bob Dylan & Donovan. I like them both but they don't fit as much on my trad folk channel.

RazzMaTazz · Sep 11, 2014

The Clash is one of the greatest bands of all time, and Adam Ant put out a pile of crap with one bubble-gum hit, so it sure seems odd that they'd feed you Adam Ant. Joe Strummer is probably rolling in his grave. It's hard to imagine that any financially-unbiased recommender system (audioscrobbler) would feed you much Adam Ant.

If you read the following article, you can see how the different streaming apps are financially motivated to stream certain artists. Sounds like Pandora may be working for the clampdown.
Who’s Screwing You Worse: iTunes Radio, or Pandora? - Digital Music NewsDigital Music News

Hadron · Sep 11, 2014

RazzMaTazz said:
Sounds like Pandora may be working for the clampdown.

:rofl:

mrsmumbles · Sep 11, 2014

I don't think Pandora will give you any album or artist that's out of print so I agree Pandora is pushing things you can still buy.

guy48065 · Sep 11, 2014

I can see why Pandora might have certain artists in "heavy rotation", but what good is a "thumbs down" button that behaves like a temporary skip?
That's not how "interactive" is supposed to work.

mikedt · Sep 11, 2014

guy48065 said:
I can see why Pandora might have certain artists in "heavy rotation", but what good is a "thumbs down" button that behaves like a temporary skip?
That's not how "interactive" is supposed to work.

It's not supposed to have set playlists and certain artists in heavy rotation, they're not Clear Channel or whatever. It's supposed to be Music Genome Project isn't it.

But then I suppose commercial interests take precedent..."working for the clampdown", and if someone is paying them to play Adam And The Ants, then everyone gets to hear Adam And The Ants, regardless if they like them or not.

Think Pandora is bad, see some of the things I get in my streams...and the Baidu Music app does singalong lyrics of course.

Made in China

guy48065 · Sep 12, 2014

That's the point. I don't know what the "400 attributes" are they evaluate songs for but I would think most rock music (for example), regardless of genre, are going to share most of those 400. If Pandora is going to ignore my votes then they're no better than any other service that "feeds" me music I have no direct control over.

I've also read many complaints their album library isn't that large--and I've noticed I get bored quickly with each channel I create because of the song repetition.

I think it's time I check out some alternatives like Slacker. I have ecletic tastes but have always avoided "commercial" music. Example U2: Loved their first album (Boy), saw them in a bar when they were promoting it, lost interest when their 2nd album started being over-exposed on the radio. Very disappointing to read in the links that Pandora and Itunes Radio only play "sellable" songs. It's always about the money, isn't it...

Does Pandora "push" certain artists?

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