Thank you! I've been wanting to have a station based on Justifide (now known as Reform the Resistance). And now I can :)

I'll be able to make a Micheal W. Smith station too.

So will we have the option to make stations that exclude CCM specifically?

Oh wow! Can we get a Jewish-only station next??! Maybe then we can get a Vegan-artist station....

I see the point the Christians are trying to make, but Pandora is about "music", not the message of the lyrics.

Also, I would like to have the option to exclude any religious-loaded content from my stations.

Thanks,
I'll enjoy and appreciate all that effort!

So, I guess it kind of works like the "Holiday music" playlist feature?

By the way, is there any way to get *around* this feature? For example, I want to make a station based on a Christian band, but I don't want it to play only CCM? Same goes for "Holiday"...

WOW!!!!
That is great!
i'm so happy that we are getting more christian music on Pandora. It's what we need to keep more in touch with the Lord Jesus!

Thank you Tim Westergren, and most of all THANK YOU God for allowing this to happen. I pray that you keep letting this happen so many may know you! In Christ's name... AMEN
-ROSA-

I was just wondering if I could find some Praise and Worship to play while I'm doing housework! Thanks!
To those who made negative comments, They can choose not to listen to this, just as I can choose not to listen to or watch things I don't like on tv. That is what makes Pandora Great!
thanks again -

Your music provides me with lots of pleasure and I am very grateful for that. However, for the past couple of months you will play a few seconds of of a song and skip to another one I know that you must have a reason for doing that but will you appreciate your letting me know why you do this. Thanks

You know, that's really cool. I like that I can chose a christian artist for some urban music and not have it switch to an x-rated song. As a person trying to watch what I listen to, it's absolutely awesome to be able to so easily filter out songs that are gonna be filled with lewdness (though it is sad that it will still cut out lots of other good music, but hey, I'm willing to live with that for now). All in all, Thanks a whole lot. Very cool.

This feature is another step in the right direction, but I do wish that you could leverage such features to create filters in a much more general fashion than the ad hoc way you have done for CCM and Holiday. I have stations that I'd love to limit to female vocals or humorous lyrics, and that is impossible right now.

(Oddly less relevant to this discussion is the music of the small genre of Pagan recording artists - station-search for "Pagan Pride" to find my station and related stations on the topic. I'm generally satisfied with the station as it stands, and have no problem with the fact that there are a few explicitly Christian, Hindu and Buddhist tracks which play on it.)

I'm sorry I failed to make the Oakland meet on the 7th - I had the stomach flu and it did not seem prudent to go out that night. Keep up the great work.

Nice. I do have a weakness for Joy Electric, maybe there's more like them.

Seconding the suggestion for a pagan option, though. There aren't that few, if something like this exists: http://www.paganradio.net/index.php

My only wish is that pandora made across the pond so i could use this great feature!!!

Christian music is not a style of music. I understand if you set up a gospel section (that's a style) but most CCM is knockoff music of what's already been done in secular music (secular music being music for the sake of making music). there's no new ground there or, in my opinion, reason to create a genre. I guess I just don't want to be making a station that has Pedro the Lion in it or Sufjan Stevens and all of a sudden Petra and 2nd Chapter of Acts sneaks in because they happen to have the same message. or i'm making a station with R.E.M. and U2 and I get Adam Again and The Choir because they sound similar. I mean, how do you differentiate that?

Everything kaqitsune said. Thank You. As for all the negativity, too bad, God never changes! Pray you do. Pandora is awsome!

Apologies for the very belated response here. I'll try to address the many points raised. As always we appreciate the feedback.

John Dill - fair question. If there was listener demand, and the genre represented a real addressable catalogue large enough to make for Pandora style stations... we'd most definitely do it.

If you launch a station with a non-CCM song, you won't hear any. This is really the overwhelming preference of our listeners.

Kagitsune - to make a hybrid station pick a secular song by the CCM artist, and a CCM song. That station will mix it up.

BLDawley - I go back again to the appetite of listeners. This really reflect a common desire of folks who like CCM. Our CCM delineation is in the lyrical message.

Thanks all. Tim (Founder)

Stranger than fiction? No doubt. Discovered Pandora while seeking audio of Larry Norman's "The Rock That Doesn't Roll." (my wife & I are planning nontraditional funeral services.)- Go figure... - Tim Tobin

The music is great I can put on a quick mix as soon as I get to work and know I am only going to hear my kind of ecclectic mix. But some times like today the songs seem to be broken up or having trouble playing through. Not often but sometimes, what causes that?

Hi Kris - I'll have our Support team email you.

Thanks,
Lucia

I'm really glad that you guys are adding more Contemporary Christian music. I was one of the ones who emailed and asked, thanks for listening! And to the people who asked to exclude it...just click the thumbs down sign, just you would to any song you didn't like...no big deal.

Hi, My name is Elaine and I just had to let you know that I am so beside myself with excitement of the quality of music I can listen to from this website. Just knowing that by the click of a mouse you have all type of music at your finger tip is phenomenal.
I am loving the quality of gospel I can now listen without interruption.
WOW! THUMBS UP.

Great choice.... I love Pandora!!! I am so excited to have found it and feel like my musical side has been brought back to life...thank you! I am happy that you have chosen to offer Christian music..I like all kinds of music and this faith based option is something I will chose as an option....Jennifer Knapp would be someone I would base a station on.

Thanks for your comments Margie, Elaine and Holli.

It's great to hear that you're enjoying the music and finding our site useful!

As a Christian I am pretty disappointed by the over all response of "We love this feature, don't really care what other folks say, but we'll pray for you!", saddening.
I too greatly enjoy and grew up on christian music, and there are some really great Christian artists out there that are relatively well known: Chevelle, Switchfoot, P.O.D, Anberlin, Flyleaf.. and loads more that are unknown or up and coming so its great to see more of this music becoming easily available.
Ultimately, I like a certain style of music, why would I want to limit music in that style whether it is well made or specifically made to worship God? If I enjoy music by Switchfoot, why would I want to hear music by Michael W. Smith (though he is incredibly talented he's not my style)just because he shares a religious viewpoint? Apparently Miley Cirus (aka Hannah Montana) is a "Christian Artist", so I don't really put too much stock into what falls under the CCM as defined by religious groups.
In the end I just want to ensure I will still enjoy the same quality of stations *not being* limited to Christian music (I like Prodigy just as much as Joy Electric/Bros Martin, and I love that my stations pick up on that), so the statement made on how this works seems a little unclear to me, can you clarify that 1) If i create a station based off a christian artist, I will only get christian music 2) if I create a station off a secular artist it will *not* play christian artists (or will it?) 3)If I add a secular artist and then a christian artist I will get both?

Hi Becs -

Thanks for your comments.
You are correct on all counts...

1. If you start a station from an artist whose work is primarily Christian-themed, you will get a primarily Christian-themed station.

2. If you start a station from an artist who does not perform Christian music, you will not get Christian music on that station.

3. If you create a station from 1 Christian artist and 1 secular artist, your station will feature both styles.

4. If you start a station from an artist who performs half Christian and half secular music, you will get a station that's about half-and-half.

I hope that's clear -- enjoy the music!

i love, Love, LOVE this sight! Today was my first time on...what a great mash up idea.

Los Boricuas y Otros latino nos gustaria escuchar un poco de salsa Cristiana o como se conse por los creyentes de Musica Sacra.Gracias y su musica es muy buena y bariada estoy my complacido Gracias.

thanks for this feature, I really think it's in the right direction, so many times i wanted something inspirational to listen to and found it hard to create a station that didn't go off in other directions away from my intent of praise. As for all those that complained, you don't have to listen too it, you know.. Pandora isn't not just hear for those that hate religion or spirituality. It's here for all to enjoy... Too me the holiday music is steered away from the intent of the real message of the holidays and this fills thats void..

Thank you so much for this feature. I was SO excited when I discovered this feature yesterday (I wasn't getting on here as often because I couldn't listen to Christian music (especially Christian rock or hip-hop) without getting death metal or hip hop songs about slappin' some hos (okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration but I'm sure ya'll know what I'm talking about). I also appreciate that it isn't just a mash-up of all Christian music, but that it is separated by the musical type as well. For instance, my station created around Skillet gets me Switchfoot, Seventh Day, etc., and not just anyone who is marked as a "Christian artist."

So good job, and THANK YOU!!!

I know this is an old blog, but I was exploring on Pandora and just found it this morning. I am very surprised and disappointed at all the negativity in people's comments. I think this is excellent feature, thank you to Pandora!!!!

I like lots of different genres, but here's an example of why I would want to use this Pandora feature: I like hip-hop and rap, but I find the lyrics and the messages that most hip-hop songs send absolutely appalling! It's not the type of music that I dislike, it's the lyrics and the messages. I love Christian hip-hop and rap and the messages, that's why I listen to it. So if that answers any of anyone's negative comments...

Great features, thanks again to Pandora!!

Wow! I never even knew the "Holiday" feature existed, and now I find out about this almost half a year after it's come out! I've got to start paying better attention! Definitely something I'm going to explore!

What's more, this post is the #1 hit on Google for "christian music genome". How do I know? Because that's how I found myself here, searching for - unfortunately - the one feature that Pandora doesn't seem to have included in this update.

That is, to create a "CCM" only stations based on non-Christian music. There's a few non-Christian bands that I like for whom I have not yet found a Christian analogue and I'd really like a way to discover that kind of music quickly and smoothly.

With the current setup as it's described in this thread, it would seem that this is doable, but more painful than it could be. I would have to start a station by seeding a Christian artist (who may not really sound like the one I'm looking for) in a along with the non-Christian group I'm trying to match up. Then I'd have to go through the process of weeding out all the Christian artists that don't sound like the non-Christian seed, and the non-Christian artists that sound like the Christian seed which doesn't match the sound I want.

Maybe - for Pandora's more general purposes - this would be taking the whole "CCM feature" a little too far, but I think it would be something very nice to see.

Besides that, I've only got one minor gripe about this feature. That is the usage of the term (I'm hoping only in labeling, and not in function) "CCM". There are a lot of Christian artists out there (Demon Hunter, Disciple, Living Sacrifice, and Soul Embraced are a few) who definitely don't fit the dictionary - or at least Wikipedia - definition of "Contemporary Christian Music" and I hope they aren't excluded from the "CCM" side of this feature because of that.

Thanks for all the work you guys put into this. Keep it up!

@Iszi--wow, that sounds really complicated! I think I'm starting to wrap my head around what you're saying. If you enter an artist like Demon Hunter, you won't get exclusively Christian music but you want to enter in an artist like Black Dahlia Murder and potentially get Demon Hunter, right? This will take some patience, my friend. Your method sounds like it would work though, so good luck!

-A

I really hate entering a Christian band like Relient K and having the station be saturated by Christian artists whose music sounds nothing like the band (or song) I have based the station around. This feature drives me up the wall. There should be a feature to turn it OFF for good.

This was a very good choice--I was not expecting Pandora to do this, so it was a pleasant surprise. It doesn't make sense to lump Christian music with secular as most of the other CCM listeners I know don't like having both secular and Christian music in the same playlist.

Smart move!

I believe that Pandora has moved in a good direction with adding CCM tags to songs. Knowing that all music can influence your emotions in a positive or negative way ( based on your view of neutral ) so that you can screen those desired effects. If you don't believe that music can effect your mood/emotions/thoughts then google "effects of classical music"

Thanks!
This was the most amazing idea ever. My friends and I (in high school) love listening to the Christian bands on Pandora and now I see why the play lists work out so well. I actually checked to see if Pandora was a Christian buisness.

1 how can i tell if a song or artist is classiied as "CCM" by your service?

2 If a station is classified as CCM will it still match songs played musically with the 'defining' songs and thumbs up and down?

the lack of response is disheartening.

@Dan -- There's no way for a Pandora user to definitively identify whether an artist is tagged as "CCM" or not. However, artists that play exclusively CCM music will be identified as such by Pandora.

On to your second question, CCM seeded stations should stick to CCM music. If you come across an example of a CCM seeded station that is playing non-CCM music please let us know at pandora-support@pandora.com. Thanks and hope you enjoy the music!