Pandora AMP gives artists and labels more to work with than streams and listener data. One of its more interesting tools is the Curated Program, also known as a Pandora Story.

A Pandora AMP Program lets you build your own listening experience using music already available on Pandora, then add your own commentary between the songs. Think playlist, radio show and artist commentary all living in the same place.

Here’s how to create one.

What is a Pandora AMP Program?

A Program is a playlist or curated station created through Pandora AMP, short for Artist Marketing Platform. You choose the music, organize the experience and, if you want, add spoken Voice Tracks to give listeners some context along the way.

You could use a Program to:

• tell the story behind an album or group of songs
• share music that influenced a new release
• introduce listeners to artists you love
• talk about the writing or recording process
• build a themed listening experience around your artist or label

The point is not just to make another playlist. The commentary gives listeners a reason to hear the music through your perspective.

Before you start, make sure you have Pandora AMP

If your artist profile has already been claimed in Pandora AMP and your music is spinning on Pandora, Curated Programs should be available from your AMP profile.

If you haven’t claimed the artist yet, start with our step-by-step guide to claiming your Pandora AMP account.

1. Choose a Playlist or Curated Station

When you create a Program, Pandora gives you two basic formats: Playlist or Curated Station.

A Playlist gives you control over the order of the songs. That makes sense if the sequence matters to the story you’re telling or you’re building something around a smaller group of artists.

A Curated Station works more like Pandora radio. You supply a larger pool of music, and Pandora plays it in a less predictable order. Pandora currently requires Curated Stations to contain at least 80 tracks from multiple artists and releases and will show you the requirements inside AMP before you can publish.

For most artist-focused Programs built around an album, influences or a particular story, a Playlist will probably be the simpler place to start.

2. Give the Program a reason to exist

Before adding 40 songs because you like them, decide what the Program is actually about.

Maybe you’re walking people through the music that influenced your new album. Maybe every song reminds you of a particular tour. Maybe you’re introducing fans to artists from your label.

A clear idea makes choosing songs easier and gives you something worthwhile to talk about between them.

3. Add your tracks

From your curator profile in AMP, click the blue Create button and set up the Program. From there, search Pandora’s catalog by song, artist or album and add the tracks you want.

If you’re creating a Playlist, you can arrange the tracks in the exact order you want listeners to hear them.

If you’re creating a Curated Station, Pandora will help you keep track of its programming requirements while you build it.

Use your own songs. Use songs from friends. Use songs that inspired you. Anything can work if there’s a reason it belongs in the conversation.

4. Record your Voice Tracks

A Voice Track is spoken commentary that you add inside the Program. It can introduce the whole Program or play before or after a particular song.

This is where the feature gets interesting.

You can explain why you chose a song, tell a story about the recording, introduce another artist or give listeners some context they wouldn’t get from simply looking at the track list.

You don’t need to sound like a radio announcer. In fact, please don’t. Talk like yourself.

A phone can be perfectly capable of recording the message as long as the audio is clean and understandable. Just make sure you export the recording in a file format Pandora accepts, such as MP3 or WAV, before uploading it.

Keep in mind that Voice Tracks are different from Pandora Artist Audio Messages. Artist Audio Messages are short promotional or personal messages that can play around your music elsewhere on Pandora. Voice Tracks are commentary built specifically into a Curated Program.

5. Add a call-to-action when it makes sense

A Voice Track can also include a call-to-action (CTA), meaning a button that gives the listener something to do next.

That might lead to more information about the artist, an album, a tour or something else related to what you’re discussing.

There are restrictions. Pandora does not allow a Voice Track to send listeners directly to competing music services. However, a bundled smart link, meaning one page that gives listeners several music-service choices, can be allowed when Pandora is included as one of the destinations.

As always, don’t add a button just because you can. Give people somewhere useful to go.

6. Finish the Program details

Give the Program a clear title and description. Pandora lets you add custom cover art and search terms that help listeners find the Program.

Put the important information near the beginning of the title and description. People should be able to tell what they’re about to hear without solving a riddle first.

You can also set start and end dates or leave the Program ongoing if it makes sense for it to stay available indefinitely.

Once everything looks right, save a preview and listen through it before submitting.

7. Submit it and watch what happens

When the Program is ready, submit it through AMP. Once it processes and reaches its scheduled start date, listeners can discover it through Pandora and you can share its unique link directly with fans.

Pandora also gives creators performance data for their Programs. In 2026, Pandora expanded those analytics to include things such as listening hours, spins, completion rates and adjustable date ranges.

That matters because creating the Program is only half the job. Pay attention to what people actually listen to and use that information the next time you build one.

Program or another Pandora AMP tool?

A Program makes the most sense when you have a story, theme or collection of music that deserves a larger listening experience.

If all you really want to do is introduce a single song with a quick message, Artist Audio Messages may be the better tool.

If your goal is simply to give a qualifying new track some additional exposure inside Pandora, our guide to Pandora Featured Tracks explains that tool instead.

Programs are different because they let you actually curate an experience.

Pick a good idea. Choose songs that belong together. Add commentary when you have something worth saying. Then let the music do most of the work.