Shuffle simply does not work, nor does the queue

[pablolie]

I also find the issues and inconsistencies with playlist shuffle ridiculous. Clearly there is a bug in the shuffle functionality, or it was architected by an incompetent programmer.

Try this: start playing a playlist (50 songs or so) in shuffle... then try adding another playlist to the queue. The latter will be there in "Next in Queue"... *unshuffled*. And the original playlist will only play after the new, unshuffled playlist is done playing. It is ridiculous. Easy to recreate in Windows 10.

[OscarDC]

Hey @pablolie,

Thank you for reaching out to the Community. We moved your post to a new thread because it doesn't fit well with the previous issue.

The behavior you're describing about the play queue is expected. The play queue is designed to add a track to play after the song that is currently playing without adding the song to the playlist. Even if you have a playlist in shuffle, if you add anything to the queue, it won't be affected by the general shuffle rule because it will play up next.

When you add an entire album or playlist to the queue, it will add all the tracks of it in the same order listed. If you want to listen to multiple playlists in shuffle at the same time, we'd recommend creating a folder that contains the playlists you want and playing it in shuffle.

As a recommendation, we have an idea (set as Good Suggestion) already posted by another user to implement an option to shuffle the play queue. If you want this option too, we'd recommend showing your support for this idea by adding your vote with the "Thumbs up" button.

Hope this clarifies things a bit. If something else comes up, don't hesitate to ask.

[kaworu_bloodpaw]

This is expected behavior. Anything you manually add to the queue will be kept in the order you add it.

The only workaround would be to create a playlist that contains both playlists.

If you would like this behavior to change, you're welcome to submit an Idea to the Idea Exchange.

[pablolie]

Thanks for the reply.

I have no idea why a completely un-intuitive implementation decision is "expected behavior". I have yet to see Tesla dismissing autopilot accidents as "expected behavior" and shrug their shoulders... 🙂

It's all about "user experience", folks. I want to play music. The music I want to play naturally ends up in a queue. If I add music to my queue, and I clicked "shuffle" on what I am listening, my intent is very clear. Why the new playlist would show up in something called "Next" (as opposed to the "queue") when I click on "Add to queue" button, and why it is added unshuffled, is a design mystery to me. From a user perspective, having that "queue" and "next" division...

1. Provides zero benefit to any user

2. Is just un-intuitive behavior to any user that just wants to listen to music, rather than work around artificial complexity and design flaws.

The "Add to queue" function should simply add anything to my queue. I see zero benefit in suddenly creating a "Playing Next" list that overrides my overarching intent as a listener. In short, "add to queue" is a misnomer. 

I perfectly understand Spotify also draws revenue from promoting some content, and perhaps the "playing Next" queue-in-a-queue is a way of doing that, but at least Spotify should be honest about that. There's always a lot of mumbo-jumbo and should-shrugging in this forum from Spotify when people ask why there are 2 different queues - the "queue" the user wants and the "Next" that sometimes magically materializes (and which I'd rather not ever see again). I want *one* playing que *I* fully control. Personally, I'd rather pay twice as much to get more user friendly behavior that doesn't force me to do 5 other things to get the behavior that should be natural.

I have been a user for a long time, and yes, I have invested a lot of time in curating my playlists. Which also means I like to keep them focused and I do NOT ever want to mix them all together to overcome artificial design limitations. And Spotify - you better realize that even for those of us with many carefully curated playlists, you're not the only game in town. There are tools to move playlists to another service without this bizarre "intended behavior". I love the service and have been a customer from the start - but I am running out of patience quickly with this "queue" vs "next" silliness and the weak explanations thereof.

[kaworu_bloodpaw]

I understand that some aspects of Spotify seem undesirable or outdated (not sure what word to use there), but at least we've got the Idea Exchange! Voting for and promoting ideas in the Idea Exchange is how Spotify knows to make changes.

I've also used Spotify and the manual queue for so long that I'm used to how it works. Also, I've never used another music streaming software.

I'm not Spotify staff but I can tell you they appreciate the feedback 😎

[pablolie]

Thanks!

I agree it's great to have the idea exchange (try that with AMZ :-D) but that said I think I'd be happier if Spotify just answered "Listen, the whole Queue vs Next thing is something we need for monetization issues, deal with it!" rather than all the mumbo jumbo about it.  

My point is simply that if I have a playing music queue, and see something else I'd like to add and click on something clearly labeled "Add to Queue" (note is not "Add to Play Next (this will result in you losing your original music queue until this addition is played out, and note it will be unshuffled as per design intent"), it simply doesn't make any sense in any way to anyone.

The Dichotomy between "Queue" and "Next" as warrying music queues that "Next" always wins has been the only thing I have provided feedback on, because clearly, after over 10 years on the service, I am not a Spotify hater at all. I love it in fact - other than *that*. :*)

[pablolie]

I got an email update today that asked me to mark this thread as "solved". It is *not*. 🙂

[kaworu_bloodpaw]

@pablolie

Unfortunately, I don't think there's much else that can be done on my part. If you would like this behavior to be changed, I would recommend adding your vote to the Idea that @OscarDC linked above, or finding another/creating your own Idea in the Idea Exchange.

I believe in the meantime if you drag any songs you manually added to your queue down to the "Playing next" section, then toggle shuffle, these songs should shuffle with the rest of your music. I'm still not completely sure what behavior you would like to see.

You can read about the Idea Exchange on our FAQ, here.