Pandora "That song"(2016) :1:00 (USA)

Pandroa wants you to know that that song is important. What's that song? You know. The one that matters. In order to communicate this, they casted a bunch of "authentic" looking people who try to articulate what that song means to them and why it matters. But it comes across as a Grad student's idea of deep. All of the regular people they asked can't put it into words. From the goth chick to the tatted out guy who's had a rough life to the college student, etc, all they do is babble on and on and none of it has any substance. It's like the harder they tried to cast people who look cool, the less I care.
Also, I don't know who these people are, or what their stories are, or what songs matter to them. So I can't relate to them at all, especially when they aren't really able to say anything of substance about the music they supposedly love so much. Music makes you feel. It like, moves you. Oh Rly? Thanks for sharing.
The only story of any kind is the guy with the tats who says music takes him back to a better time. We see him crying at the end of the spot. That's the first authentic moment I care about. But of course we never get to know the guy or his story, so all the hard work going into authenticity is taken away in an instant. How much more relatable would it have been to hear that guy's story?
If I wanted to hear what a bunch of hipsters think about music, I could just ask the rest of the creative department.
I do agree that the next song matters, as Pandora is still trying to own that powerful statement. But because the next song matters, is exactly why I don't use Pandora. In the past they've done everything possible to attempt to lower the already paltry royalty rates that artists receive for their music, which in turn caused a huge backlash from the artists. They've been unsuccessful in running their business, which is also why their stock has fallen 42%. CEO Tim Westergren has returned at the helm, most likely in an attempt to right most of the wrongs. Like Chris Castle says over on Music Tech, If he doesn't fix it soon, Pandora may have its own "Enron moment."

Client: Pandora
Agency: twofifteenmccann
Chief Creative Officer: Scott Duchon
Executive Creative Director: Adam Reeves
Creative Director: Ezra Paulekas
Art Director: Sean Flores
Copywriter: Ben Wolan / Matt Bunnell
Director of Integrated Production: Alex Spahr
Senior Producer: Kacey Hart
Group Account Director: Charlie Byron
Senior Account Executive: Anne Cathcart

Production Company: Smuggler
Director: Henry-Alex Rubin
Director of Photography: Ken Seng
Line Producer: Leah Fleischmann-Allina
Executive Producer: Drew Santarsiero

Editorial: Stitch
Editor: Dan Swietlik
Assistant Editor: Weston Cadwell
Producer: Ben Bragg
Executive Producer: Mila Davis

Colorist: Tim Stipan
Company: Efilm

Mixing: Lime Studios
Original Music: Cliff Martinez

Snr Digital Producer: Eryn Lovich
Digital Producer: Amanda Punzalan
Art Director: Nicole Birch
Copywriter: Bri Hand
Interactive Art Director: Ken Macy
Digital Video Assistant Producer: Brandon Chen
Digital Video Editor: Carson Bell/Ivan Shumaker

Head of Strategy: Gabrielle Tenaglia
Strategy Director: Janene Lin
Strategist: Paige Robertson