What are the Google Assistant commands for Pandora?
Google Assistant is Google’s virtual assistant that allows users to interact with devices and services through voice commands or typing. It can be used to get information, control smart home devices, play music and more. Pandora is an internet radio and music streaming service that allows users to listen to personalized radio stations based on artists, songs, or genres they input. Pandora utilizes musicological analysis called the Music Genome Project to scan and classify music into hundreds of attributes to recommend music tailored to each user.
This article will provide an overview of the available voice commands users can leverage with Google Assistant to control and interact with Pandora, allowing easy hands-free listening and music discovery.
Play Music on Pandora
You can use your voice to play music on Pandora via Google Assistant in a few different ways:
To start playback on Pandora, say “Hey Google, play Pandora”. This will resume playback from where you last left off in the Pandora app. Alternatively, you can request a specific Pandora station by name – “OK Google, play [station name] station on Pandora.”
To begin playback of your liked songs station, say “Hey Google, play my thumbs up playlist on Pandora.” This will begin playing all the songs you have liked within the Pandora app.
“Hey Google, play Pandora” – Starts playback from your last session
“OK Google, play [station name] station on Pandora” – Starts a specific station
“Hey Google, play my thumbs up playlist on Pandora” – Plays your liked songs
Sources:
https://help.pandora.com/s/article/Pandora-on-Google-Assistant
https://community.pandora.com/t5/Other-Devices/Google-Home-Use-voice-commands-while-controlling-music-from-app/td-p/82535
Pause and Resume
To pause music playback from Pandora on Google Assistant, simply say “Hey Google, pause the music” or “OK Google, pause Pandora.” The music will stop playing. To resume playback, say “OK Google, resume” or “Hey Google, continue playing Pandora.” The music will start playing again from where you left off. You can use these commands to pause and resume playback hands-free at any time.
According to Pandora’s help article on Google Assistant integration, you can also say “Hey Google, pause” or “OK Google, play Pandora” to pause and resume playback (source). The Google Assistant will understand commands to pause and resume Pandora playback.
Skip Tracks
To skip tracks when listening to Pandora on a Google Assistant-enabled device like Google Home or Nest, you can use voice commands like “Hey Google, next song” or “OK Google, skip.” This will advance you to the next song in the playlist or station you are listening to.
To go back to the previous track, you can similarly say “Hey Google, previous song” or “OK Google, go back.” The Google Assistant will return to the start of the song that was playing before the current one.
According to Pandora’s own instructions, other variants like “Hey Google, skip this song” or “OK Google, play previous track” also work.
Some Pandora users on community forums report occasional issues getting voice commands to skip tracks to work properly. If you run into problems, try unlinking and relinking your Pandora account in the Google Home app to refresh the connection.
Like and Dislike Songs
You can give feedback on songs playing in Pandora by using the “thumbs up” and “thumbs down” voice commands. To like the currently playing song, say “Hey Google, thumbs up this song.” Google Assistant will give the track a thumbs up in Pandora. You’ll see the thumbs up icon next to the track name in your app. Pandora uses your thumbs feedback to fine tune your station [1].
Similarly, you can say “Hey Google, thumbs down this song” to give the current track a thumbs down. This tells Pandora not to play that song as much on that station. Thumbs down enough songs, and Pandora will stop playing that track on the station altogether. You can view your thumbs history and remove thumbs in the Pandora app under Settings.
Adjust Volume
You can use voice commands to adjust the volume when listening to Pandora on a Google Assistant-enabled device. Here are some of the key commands:
To increase the volume, say “Hey Google, turn up the volume on Pandora” or “Hey Google, turn Pandora up.”
To decrease the volume, say “Hey Google, turn down the volume on Pandora” or “Hey Google, turn Pandora down.”
To mute the volume, say “Hey Google, mute Pandora.”
To unmute the volume, say “Hey Google, unmute Pandora.”
You can also specify the volume level with a number from 1 to 10. For example, “Hey Google, set Pandora volume to 5.”
The Google Assistant will respond and adjust Pandora’s volume accordingly. Keep in mind that the maximum volume may depend on your specific device.
Get Song Info
You can ask the Google Assistant for details about the song currently playing on Pandora. Some examples of commands you can use include:
“Hey Google, what song is this?” – will tell you the name and artist of the current track.
“Hey Google, who sings this song?” – will provide the artist name.
“Hey Google, what’s playing?” – will provide the song title and artist.
“Hey Google, what is the name of this song?” – will give you the track name.
“Hey Google, who is this artist?” – will tell you the artist of the current song.
You can also ask for more specific details about the track, like “Hey Google, when was this song released?” or “Hey Google, what album is this song from?” The Google Assistant will do its best to provide extra information about the currently playing Pandora track.
This allows you to easily get song info without having to look at your phone or speaker display. Just ask the Google Assistant mid-song and it will fetch details about the artist, track name, album, and more from Pandora.
Search Pandora
You can use voice commands with the Google Assistant to search for songs, albums, artists, and more on Pandora. Here are some examples of voice commands you can use:
To search for a specific song, say “Hey Google, play [song name] on Pandora.” For example, “Hey Google, play Yellow by Coldplay on Pandora.”
To search for an album, say “Hey Google, play the album [album name] on Pandora.” For example, “Hey Google, play the album Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd on Pandora.”
To search for an artist, say “Hey Google, play [artist name] on Pandora.” For example, “Hey Google, play Adele on Pandora.” This will start a Pandora station featuring that artist.
You can also search by genre or for playlists by saying “Hey Google, play [genre] music on Pandora” or “Hey Google, play playlist on Pandora.”
Pandora’s integration with the Google Assistant makes it easy to queue up whatever you want to listen to hands-free. Just use your voice to search Pandora’s massive music library for songs, albums, artists, and more.
Playlists and Stations
There are several commands for controlling playlists and stations on Pandora with Google Assistant, including:
Play a specific playlist: “Hey Google, play my playlist on Pandora.”
Play a saved or thumbprint radio station: “Hey Google, play my [station name] station on Pandora.” For example, “Hey Google, play my Today’s Hits Radio station on Pandora.”
Create a new station based on an artist or song: “Hey Google, play [artist or song name] radio on Pandora.” For example, “Hey Google, play Coldplay radio on Pandora.”
Add music to a playlist: “Hey Google, add this song to my playlist on Pandora.”
Like or thumbs up a song: “Hey Google, thumb up this song on Pandora.”
Dislike or thumbs down a song: “Hey Google, thumb down this song on Pandora.” This helps train Pandora’s recommendation algorithm.
You can manage your Pandora playlists and stations at pandora.com or in the Pandora mobile app. Google Assistant allows convenient voice control for accessing your Pandora content.
Conclusion
With just your voice, you can get the most out of Pandora using the Google Assistant. By saying simple commands, you can play or pause music, skip tracks, like and dislike songs, adjust the volume, get song info, and navigate playlists and stations.
While the commands above cover the basics, you can explore more ways to control Pandora hands-free on your Google Assistant-enabled device. Check the Pandora or Google Assistant help guides for updated voice commands as they are added. Pandora and Google Assistant work hard to continually improve the hands-free listening experience.
At the end of the day, voice commands with Pandora and Google Assistant make listening to music easier and more convenient. So sit back, relax and let your voice be your remote.