Shuffle Still Doesn't Work 2021

[KevinI97]

Plan

Premium

Country

US

Device

Samsung Galaxy S9

Operating System

Android 10

My Question or Issue

Spotify "shuffle" still doesn't randomize the music. If I open a playlist of 1000 songs and hit shuffle repeatedly, it'll only switch between 5 or 6 songs. This has been an issue for people for over 7 years. How is this not resolved? 

Here's an example: https://youtu.be/T8QyEm-uslA

[Frostman233]

Have had the exact same problem for a while. I probably drove a combined 30-35 hrs. in the last two weeks and with a playlist of 2,500ish songs, I heard the same songs repeat far more than they should have for a "random" algorithm.

[stephendidit]

Same. on road trips lately, i've just resigned myself to listening to
playlist in order since it's the only way i can hear all the songs. the
average user probably isn't in the "music lover" category. it's just a
bummer that the software isn't as flexible as WinAmp was back in the 90s.

[MaximillianC]

I am a new paying subscriber to Spotify.  I am also a paying subscriber to Amazon Music Unlimited and Pandora Premium.  I tried Spotify because I wanted to hear a better variety of music, and got the impression their music suggestion algorithms were better than Pandora (ok) and Amazon Music (terrible).  The matching algorithm definitely seems better, but if the shuffle is completely useless, then that basically counters the better matching algorithm, since Spotify makes me skip through like 20 songs each session to get to the new music.  Seeing that this problem has been going on for YEARS is extremely disconcerting, as that means my hope for this being fixed anytime soon is misplaced.  I will probably be cancelling my paid membership now, after seeing and experiencing this issue repeatedly.  Again, it is counter to the whole reason I was moving to Spotify--to find NEW favorite songs.

[crytalballer247]

Just wanted to reply to this chain regarding bad shuffle logic as it seems to be one of the most recent on the issue that has been around for so long.  I pay for Spotify Premium and it is frustrating especially if you are "old school" like me and just want to have a few very large playlists and have true shuffle (randomness) like an old multi-stack-CD player.

I tried this app on my Android phone (version 9) and it works. It is minimalistic but works well. Great for offline listening like I do a lot.  Sadly only an Android app at this time.  Perhaps iOS people can ask the developer for something on the that side.  Here are the steps that work for me using the downloaded app (Android only):

1.  Install the "Shuffle Playlists - Spotify" app as seen here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.virock.shuffleplaylists_spotify&hl=en_CA&gl=US 

2.  Open the Shuffle app. Login to your Spotify account.

3.  Search for the playlist you want to shuffle on the main screen (or scroll to find it). Click it. It will start to shuffle. May take a while if very large.  Make sure to keep the app awake and not background it if taking a while.

4.  Now go to the Spotify app itself.

5.  Open the playlist you shuffled.

6.  (For me anyway this worked and was needed...) Make sure your list is in "Custom" sorting mode via "Filters button" (found at the top right of the landing screen for the playlist).  This was key to ensure it is in the shuffled order the Shuffle app did for you.

7.  Make sure the actual shuffle option is off on the Spotify player itself.  This is the "intertwined arrows" icon on the left beside the "skip previous button".  Also - DO NOT use the main "Play" button the playlist screen itself.  This is now actually the older "Shuffle button" and will defeat the purpose of the whole exercise (See Step 8 on that)

8.  Play the list from the beginning or any point in the list as it is sorted in the shuffled/Custom order. Do this by clicking one of the songs in the list.  After that you should be OK with the shuffled list.  Remember - make sure "shuffle is off" in the player itself.

Note: You can reshuffle using the Shuffle app as many times as you like. Just make sure to back out of your playlist in Spotify and come back in to get the most recent refreshed shuffled list.

(Techy stuff note...) Not real sure why this is a difficult feature to put directly in the app. I am fairly certain the developer is using the API calls to get the list, and then do a shuffle offline using an algorithm, then forcing that order back to Spotify by resaving the list for you.  The logic is simple and I think works well so far.

Hope this helps the Android people out there.  Perhaps the iOS side will get something like this one day.

[Abhorsen327]

I might have figured out a piece of it as well - at least on the MacOS desktop app, only the first 50 tracks in a playlist are added to the queue initially - I suspect that as a result, only the first 50 tracks are being shuffled as/after they're added to the queue.

[disc_count]

That's an interesting observation and something I've experienced as well. Do you think it could be solved by adding all "liked songs" to queue and shuffling? Not sure how this would be accomplished via mobile but I could definitely try as a workaround via desktop.

[Abhorsen327]

That definitely might be a possible workaround. It would also help explain why there hasn't been any traction on this issue for so long - if the apps are programmed to add to queue and then shuffle rather than vice versa that's a pretty substantial difference in programming.

[disc_count]

Just tried that method. Didn't work. Just played straight through the queue even though the shuffle playback option was selected. Was worth a try...

[notlittlejoe]

Has anyone else noticed that the shuffle is finally fixed?  Mid last week my shuffle finally started working like a totally random shuffle, on all devices.  I'm hearing songs I haven't heard in the years since I've added them.  Even my carpoolers noticed it.  Before I was just getting the same 100-200 songs over and over again.  Hopefully everyone else is getting the same results.  I'be been listening for a few days and haven't gotten any repeats 🙂 

[dveraart]

Yes! It seems to be fixed. Getting much more variety from shuffled playlists, very nice 👍
Came here to see if other people noticed this too.

[PleaseListen2Me]

The idea the mods are referring to has their golden number of 180 votes already, it's been a year and it now has 850+ votes and the idea still hasn't made any progress. It's going to remain stagnant and get ignored, I was wondering why but Laura and David seem to have hit the nail. They don't want to fix it, perhaps because of fixed promotions to some artists. Everyone go to apple music or something until they listen. 

[geezagillard]

yep the power of competition....I suspect there are no actual people behind these repeated responses from Spotify, ..... automated in the name of efficiency

[benblue20]

I have the same problem and I installed Spotify on a brand new machine.

Last time I checked the English dictionary, it read that the word shuffle means at random order. 😂

[user-removed]

"We appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback with us and will make sure to pass it onto the right team, as we always strive to improve your experience."

As with al other Spotify issues - like no 2FA and playing hidden songs via Spotify Connect - they say they are working on it and having ideas/suggestions 'Under consideration', it is never solved.

A lot of empty promises in replies that give the community the idea that Spotify is listening, but in reality they are not.

[Seabass559]

Crazy that Spotify is still dog $#!&. It has good suggestions just horrible, HORRIBLE shuffling and radios. I’ve literally been searching this issue since 2013 and I’ve seen the same thing for almost 9 years. 

[pavlexander]

Got over1000 songs in the playlist and I swear to god I always hear the same ones over and over again. This is either a problem of pseudo random shuffling algorithm or (which is more likely at this point) a targeted campaign to promote certain types of music or tracks. While the first problem could be fixed programmatically with better algorithms, the second problem is created pseudo-intentionally., meaning not going to be fixed as long as it's profitable.

Thinking of ditching my premium plan and go for more honest music experience.

[stephendidit]

Just chiming back in--I think we figured out the root of the problem way up earlier in this thread. I'm still having the same issue as before--I might hear the exact same song multiple times a day, while there are other songs I've never heard at all.

What we settled on is that Spotify queues up X number of songs, and then when it plays those songs, it acts like YOU chose them specifically, assumes you love those songs, and its algorithm then plays them more often because it assumes you want to hear them.

And every time it plays the song, it assumes you love it even more, and it becomes more likely you'll hear it again. And since the queue is limited to X number of songs (40? 50?), you end up stuck with those songs.

It's a self-reinforcing problem, as I recall someone saying.

They probably don't fix it not out of an evil motive--I've got stuff from the 1920s it won't shut up about--but more out of disinterest and general lack of motivation bc it sounds like it would require rewriting a fundamental part of the platform that they probably think is pretty clever, the part they'd probably describe as "intelligent".

This has been a problem for more than 10 years...if I could go back to WinAmp, I would, but it looks like "shuffle" is a feature we're going to be wowwing our grandchildren with legends of, unfortunately.

[NachoBusiness131]

I have over 450 songs, I use shuffle to make the music more varied so I can enjoy all the worlds I like.

I have the weirdest problem, which is whenever Jess Glynne is played, the next song is PROMISED to be Jess Glynne as well. like whenever there is Jess Glynne, they ALWAYS comes in pairs.

[Meatba11z]

At this point the company has to know how bad shuffle is and it’s either neglected or they made it bad on purpose. I don’t want you to take my playlist of songs and offer me your own playlist based off the music I already listen to. I want to properly shuffle my music from my own playlist. Stop making these playlist and trying to make

me listen. Just make my own playlist shuffle through ALL songs. Instead I have a huge playlist that continuously repeats the same songs and albums. Is this something Spotify is making money from, playing songs that are paid to get put into rotation more? Or is it an actual issue they ignore and keep making features nobody cares about instead of fixing the normal features?? Please make this make sense, been dealing with this issue for years and considering changing platforms. 

[Chris_10]

It has been known, atleast here in Sweden that Spotify doesn't randomize like it should due to marketing, revenue, economic gains etc... It's all about money. Artist that market themselves, pay for promotions or albums and songs which are produced by Spotify or studios connected to it are most likely to be played more times. There should be news articles about the "relax" and "meditation" playlists and albums which get suggested also where Spotify really isn't that diverse with its line-up of artists. For the same reasons mentioned before.

This won't get properly solved, because it's a feature Spotify themselves put in. So the algorithm isn't really broken, because it's supposed to work that way. Unfortunately.