Only one artist plays when playlist shuffled

[scenic_runic]

Plan

Free

Country

USA

Device

Google Pixel 4a

Operating System

Android 13

My Question or Issue

I have a playlist containing 579 songs with a run time of over 31 hours. For the past few hours, every time I've shuffled this playlist, only one specific artist plays. This artist makes up roughly 15% of the entire playlist. Even when I skip through the playlist, the same artist plays. I've tried uninstalling & reinstalling the app, clearing cache & storage, and I have done the Spotify recommended quick reinstall AND the clean reinstall. When I shuffle this playlist on the desktop app, I don't have the same issue - multiple artists play in a random order, not just that one artist. Is this issue related to a new smart shuffle update or something?

[Vasil]

Hey @scenic_runic,

This seems like a cache-related issue to me 🙂
To try and resolve it, take a look at this support article and follow the steps under Manage memory usage -> Android.

In case the issue persists, let us know if it occurs only with this specific playlist. If this is so, you can try copying the entire playlist content to a new one by going to the playlist -> the three dots -> Copy to other playlist.

Hope this helps! Keep us posted on how things go.

[scenic_runic]

Thanks for replying. I cleared the app cache as well as the storage as part of the clean reinstall mentioned in the original post, and that did not help fix things. This error is also happening on my other playlists as well, with different artists per playlist - it almost seems like Spotify is taking note of whatever artist is the most prevalent on a playlist and then choosing to play only that artist. I will try copying the playlist next, but you can understand the frustration I would feel having to do this for 100+ playlists in the long run.

[MihailY]

Hey @scenic_runic,

Thanks for your reply.

Rest assured, we're only asking you to copy this one playlist so we can narrow down the root cause of the issue and not suggesting it as a permanent solution for your whole library.

Another thing that's worth checking is whether this happens in Offline mode and/or after removing all apps on this page (you can re-add them later if needed).

Also, let us know the following:

• Is the app playing one artist exclusively when shuffling or there are a few tracks from other artists as well?
• How does your queue look like when this happens?

We'll be on the lookout for your reply.

[11101672060]

Plan

Premium

Country

The Netherlands 

Device

Samsung S24 + PC

Operating System

Android & Windows 11

My Question or Issue

The issue I'm having is when I toggle on Smart Shuffle it keeps on playing just 1 'suggested artist' from outside my playlist instead of adding suggestions to my playlist. 

[scenic_runic]

I understand, thanks for responding. So far, while listening to the copied version of the original playlist in question, I am not experiencing the issue.

As for the other suggestions/information: I am using free Spotify, so Offline mode should not be a contributing factor, as I have no access. I also can't access the queue as a free user, but to the best of my knowledge, one sole artist played exclusively for about 20 songs straight (most of the songs I listened to, and the rest were my hourly skips to see if the error was persisting).

[OscarDC]

Hey @scenic_runic,

Thank you for keeping in contact and for the info shared.

To continue investigating this behavior, it would be great if you could have someone log in with their account on your device - such as a friend or a family member, to see if the issue persists. If not, we'd recommend logging into your account, log out and then log back in to force the sync between your account and your device.
 

If the issue persists, include in your next response the Spotify version you're currently running on the affected device.

Lastly, since we couldn't replicate the behavior on our end, could you record a short video where we can take a better look? You can attach it to your next response by using the Insert Video option in the post editor. You can also upload it to YouTube or Google Drive and share the link with us (make sure the video has the permissions for anyone to watch it).

We'll be on the lookout for your response. 

[11101672060]

Hi, since my topic concerning the same issue has been transferred to this topic I would like to take the opportunity to share a recording of my screen to show you the exact issue although it's very simple. Shuffle works great, but smart shuffle only plays one artist. And this is happening on my android phone and on my windows desktop.  

This is the link to Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CvUHBM30pNarB_r-tX5815yydc_a1x3M/view?usp=sharing

The current artist that keeps on repeating itself through smart shuffle is The Pharcyde. The app keeps on adding the last added album to the smart shuffle playlist. And Yes, I tried all of your "Have you tried clearing cache" suggestions. Nothing seems to work. Please fix this bug, thanks. 

[Yordan]

Hi, @11101672060,

Based on the video you've sent, your playlist contains a lot of songs, so Smart Shuffle might be having a bit of a hard time generating new recommendations. I'd recommend splitting the playlist into a few smaller ones to see if it would help.

Cheers 🤘

[11101672060]

Hi Yordan, thank you for your reply and yes that's correct. That's because Spotify lets me create a playlist with a maximum of 10000 songs. However, I feel like I'm being gaslighted to let ME fix YOUR problem, I noticed this neigt in other posts as well regarding the same issue. If smart shuffle can't handle a playlist with 10000 songs, then smart shuffle shouldn't be an option in this case. So thank you, but I don't I will cut my playlist into smaller lists. So I guess smart shuffle is a nogo for me. 

[Vizienta]

I’m having the same problem. I have the free version of Spotify, and my shuffle will only play the same artist back to back. I’ve already cleared the cache, logged out and back in, and deleted then reinstalled the app. Nothing is working to fix it, and it’s making it impossible to enjoy my music. My playlists are over 20 hours long, I shouldn’t only be hearing one artist at a time. 

It also keeps adding “songs similar to the playlist you chose” but all it does is double songs I already have added to the playlist. It’s extremely annoying. Both of these issues only started after the most recent update.

[Ivelina]

Hey @Vizienta,

Welcome to the thread and thanks for sharing what troubleshooting you've gone over so far.

Is this happening with multiple playlists? Since you're also on the free version as the person that created this thread, let us know if the behavior persists if you copy an entire playlist's content to a new one by going to the playlist > the three dots > Copy to other playlist as previously suggested by @Vasil here. 

Another thing that comes to mind is to ask a relative or a friend also using an account on the free version to log in to your device and test if the same thing happens for them.

Thanks and we're here if anything else comes up in the meantime.

[oj_mills]

Plan

Free

Country

US

Device

Moto G Power 25, Cricket Debut s2, Samsung Galaxy S25

Operating System

Android 16

My Question or Issue

I have so, so many. I wrote a whole @ss essay about this earlier and it got deleted when I tried to send it. Damn, you guys can't even run an online website. Anyways, I don't want to write the whole thing again, so I'm just gonna summarize the issues: 80% of the time, my main playlist only plays one artist, typically Juice WRLD but sometimes other artists. I have over 1,200 songs on the playlist and tons of artists, there is no reason for this to happen. Sometimes it will also only play songs from one album. It also adds songs I have never added or even listened to. (And no, it's not recommendations or in the "We added" section, they were smack dab in the middle of my playlist like I added them myself. When I unadd them, they get re-added as soon as I leave. The worst part is they aren't even songs I would listen to. I listen to 75% rap, and the rest is a mix of R&B, (American) Pop, Rock, and alternative. I don't listen to any K-Pop, and those are the songs they always add. I'm so sick of having to use all my skips on K-Pop songs I've never heard, and that's only on the rare occasions my playlist actually works and doesn't just play Juice WRLD. It's gotten to the point where I had to make a backup playlist that doesn't have Juice in it. Viewing albums is completely wack, it shuffles the order, adds songs that aren't on the album, then removes songs that are on the album. The library is also annoying, as it lists random artists I'm following before any of my playlists or albums. I'm finally just fed up with this f**k @ss playlist glitches. With all the money you make from overpriced subscriptions and giving out 4-5 ads for every 2 songs, you should be able to fix these issues easily. But they've been around for months. Don't try to tell me that it's just me, because I've tried logging out, restarting the app, deleting the app, trying a different phone, everything. Fix this app soon or I'm switching to Apple Music.

[Vizienta]

This happens with every playlist I play, even ones made by other peoples accounts. Copying the playlist to a different one doesn’t fix the problem. The problem only seems to happen on the mobile app. It also will change the queue after every song to continue playing one artist. I opened the queue to skip a song and watched it change the entire list to songs that weren’t even there to begin with, so it seems like this is either an issue with the shuffle, or the queue itself. 

[Ivelina]

Thank you for the response @Vizienta.

So we can take a look at how things look like from your end, it'd be helpful if you could send us a video. You can attach it to your next response via the Insert Video option in the post editor, or if the attachment's too big - upload it to Google Drive and share the link with us (make sure no sensitive info is visible).

Additionally send us:

• Your mobile device's make, model and OS-version.
• The exact Spotify-version you're using.

We'll be on the lookout.