# Pandora radio question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 24, 2009, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandora-radio-question/518785 "2009-11-24T16:17:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandora-radio-question/518785/1 "2009-11-24T16:17:28Z")
I am new to Pandora and I said I wanted to hear music like 10,000 Maniacs. I am pretty surprised they think only groups with female singers sound like 10,000 Maniacs - to me that’s kind of dumb. Does Pandora do this kind of thing for other groups or artists? ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandora-radio-question/518785/2 "2009-11-24T16:18:33Z")
Sorry - mods, can you move this to Cafe Society? I picked the wrong board by accident. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandora-radio-question/518785/3 "2009-11-24T16:43:35Z")
Click on the “why was this song selected” button for a few of the songs, and see what the defining attributes are. My guess would be that, whatever attributes they give to 10,000 Maniacs, they skew highly towards bands with female vocalists. BTW, I’ve found that a Pandora station based on only a single artist gets very repetitive, very quickly. What I like to do is set up a half-dozen artist-based stations, and do a “quick mix” of those stations. ---
**Author:** ![duality72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duality72/32/3910_2.png) [@duality72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duality72)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandora-radio-question/518785/4 "2009-11-24T17:56:53Z")
What **kenobi** said, but I would also give it a couple of weeks thumbing up/down songs before worrying too much about this one station. As you do that, the station will become more selective about what it chooses for you and will probably move in a direction more to your liking. As far as variety, I also use the multiple artist-based stations with quick mix method **kenobi** suggests, but another alternative is adding more artists or songs to a single station. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandora-radio-question/518785/5 "2009-11-24T18:29:47Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Sorry - mods, can you move this to Cafe Society? I picked the wrong board by accident. Well, wouldn’t that be opening Pandora’s b… Never mind. 'Tis done. 😉 Ellen Cherry Game Room Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Driver8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Driver8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Driver8)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandora-radio-question/518785/6 "2009-11-24T18:37:13Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > BTW, I’ve found that a Pandora station based on only a single artist gets very repetitive, very quickly. What I like to do is set up a half-dozen artist-based stations, and do a “quick mix” of those stations. I’ll say! Also, apparently I am easily replaced by an algorithm because its predictions about what I like are too good - my attempts to use it to expose me to new music I might like are thwarted by it constantly playing stuff I have already purchased. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandora-radio-question/518785/7 "2009-11-24T20:29:56Z")
they did play 1 non-female song - Jack Johnson I will do the mix idea. ---
**Author:** ![Brainiac4](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brainiac4/32/3534_2.png) [@Brainiac4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brainiac4)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2009, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandora-radio-question/518785/8 "2009-11-27T21:30:16Z")
The underlying technology of Pandora is the Music Genome Project. They analyze music for characteristics (the stuff you see when you click on the “why is this song playing” link) and then use the feedback you give them to determine which characteristics are most important to you. The key to making Pandora work is to be kind of ruthless with thumbs-down for any given station. If something is not right, don’t just skip it, dislike it. It won’t prevent that song from being played on any other station you have, and doesn’t mean you dislike the song, just that it does not belong on that station. **duality72** is right - multiple seeds for a station is very helpful in providing variety. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2009, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandora-radio-question/518785/9 "2009-11-28T02:49:24Z")
> [@Brainiac4](#): > > The key to making Pandora work is to be kind of ruthless with thumbs-down for any given station. If something is not right, don’t just skip it, dislike it. It won’t prevent that song from being played on any other station you have, and doesn’t mean you dislike the song, just that it does not belong on that station. If you do like the song but would rather hear it on a different station, use the move to another station function. That will automatically give it thumbs-down on the current station and a thumbs-up on the one you move it to. ---
**Author:** ![luvtinayothers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@luvtinayothers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/luvtinayothers)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2009, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandora-radio-question/518785/10 "2009-11-28T10:07:30Z")
Another Pandora question: I’ve noticed that Pandora plays waaaay too many live versions of songs (at least when I’m listening to 60’s, 70’s, 80’s classic rock type music). It seems like it’s more than a 50/50 mix of live to studio. How do I get it to stop playing so many live versions of songs? I don’t want to thumbs down the songs because I like those songs, I just want the album version, not the live one. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2009, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandora-radio-question/518785/11 "2009-11-28T16:51:02Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > Well, wouldn’t that be opening Pandora’s b… Now how often does a Mod win the thread? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Brainiac4](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brainiac4/32/3534_2.png) [@Brainiac4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brainiac4)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2009, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandora-radio-question/518785/12 "2009-11-29T16:33:53Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > If you do like the song but would rather hear it on a different station, use the move to another station function. That will automatically give it thumbs-down on the current station and a thumbs-up on the one you move it to. I did not know about that - thanks for the tip. 🙂