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Shuffle mode playing the same songs all the time

Shuffle mode playing the same songs all the time

I have a playlist with 10,000 songs and use shuffle to listen to them. What I realized the past weeks is that the same songs are played over and over again - and not because I listen to this playlist 24/7 but because the shuffle mode seems to not pick songs just randomly but has some kind of algorythm behind to pick certain songs all the time again and again. This is quiet annoying because the reason I use shuffle in a playlist with 10,000 is not to listen to the same songs all the time but to have variety!

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Top Answer
AdamDamon
Spotify Star

Hi @Tom7777777,

 

Thanks for posting in the Spotify Community!

 

Unfortunately, in large playlists (over 150 songs), the shuffle option prioritizes the songs that Spotify perceives you enjoy the most; this is why you might notice that some songs are repeated while listening on shuffle.

 

However, there is currently a Live Idea to have an option for a “true” shuffle, which would play all the songs in a playlist in a random order, and once they’re all played, reshuffle them and play them again. If this is something you’re interested in, I’d recommend adding your +VOTE to this idea; the more votes an idea gets, the likelier it is that Spotify will implement it, and you can read more about how feedback on ideas reaches Spotify here.

 

It will also be useful for you to Subscribe to the idea by clicking the three dots next to its title; that way, you can be sure to be informed of any relevant updates.

 

Let me know if you have any other questions, and have a good day!

203 Replies

Mine does this.  I'm moving to Tidal for lossless and real random playback.  

This whole thread is a joke. I find it extremely hard to believe that my iPod from 2009 can handle a truly random shuffle mode but even the lowest spec smart phone 12 years later cannot. How Spotify isn't losing subscribers hand over fist is beyond me.

After hearing the same artist every third song, I removed it from my liked songs. Guess what, it still played every third song. Also, if this algorithm is supposed to favor songs you regulary listen to, then it doesn't work. I consistently skipped the songs of said artist, because they have gotten annoying. Spotify still seemed to think it's just my thing and I want to keep on listening to those songs.

 

This wasn't exclusive to one specific artist but to the whole "random" music listening experience on spotify, no matter which playlist. I have now switched away from Spotify.

This is a big-deal problem for those of us who have come to love and rely on Spotify. If it’s  not fixed—and soon—I’ll be shopping elsewhere for a music player. 

2022, spotify "dev team" cannot implement shuffle. I'm in IT business for over 14 years. This is the single most absurd comment I've heard in those 14 years hands down.

PlEaSe SpLiT YoUr PlAyLiSt InTo SmAlLeR PlAyLiStS

WHAT? 😄

My shuffle list on my 3500 song playlist is now 20 songs.... And they want to make up reasons about device capability when my playlists used to shuffle through just fine over the last 10 dang years. Spotify, you're full of it. 

Same with me, my playlists only has about 100 songs in it yet it loops the same half dozen songs each time. I have to boost it by selecting a song it hasn't played for a while. Ridiculous and very annoying ....it's making me go off some of my favourite songs as I'm hearing them all the time! 🤦

My understanding is this is the way it is for everyone and Spotify doesn't know how to resolve the issue. VERY DISAPPOINTING.

It seems despite it being a live idea, still nothing has happened for a whole year. I share the same sentiment as Tom, and would hope for any attempt to make this experience better, or at least just an option. I also have a 1000+ playlist, and rarely hear the songs near the bottom, but very much the songs near the top.

 

If "true random" still turns out to not be enjoyable, then at least an option that prioritizes songs that i've listened to less frequently, so it isn't just whatever spotify deems is most popular it plays for me over and over.

Genuine question: Does Spotify get some benefit from prioritizing certain songs over others?  Is one songs royalties cheaper than an others? Is there a financial incentive to prioritize cheaper songs?

 

Not so genuine question: Shuffle seems like a pretty straightforward idea.  To limit shuffle seems counter intuitive.  It seems that it would take more effort to limit it than to just randomize the list.  So my question is this, Did Elon buy Spotify and fire all the devs?  

Jeremey,

It seems like this wasn't a problem when I signed up, my phone, internet connectivity etc. was all worse 7+ years ago, so how has this become an issue? It happens even on my laptop... Surely this should be an opt-in kind of system? Many people's playlists are built over years of adding songs here and there, what is the point in them if we have to chunk them up?

 

I understand that Spotify has to try to innovate to keep their market share, but this is not a good idea, so why force it on people. If people want to keep it, then fine. But can we please get a way out? 

 

I get that this is someone in the office, this is their project, their baby. I get that they care about it. But maybe if people are requesting the ability to have the function disabled then that person needs a chat - get them developing the alternative too? No need for ego, you guys have a great platform, but this is not an improvement; so maybe develop a tool to allow the people that do not enjoy this to have transparent access to their music libraries again?

 

Here are a few ideas:

Why doesn't Spotify recognise when it is using one of those devices and not subject everyone else to it?

OR 

Have spotify pick 150 songs and shuffle those, then, as the preorgnaised shuffle approaches an end, line up another (different) 150 songs. Thus avoiding this problem. 

OR

At least make the time before a repeat not very frustrating (I can't even do a few hours of work without a repeat)

OR

Have an option in settings for 'true shuffle' - AKA shuffle

 

As you said:

Live, love, laugh and listen (to a whole playlist of) music 

I've done some testing. The shuffle function is not limited to 150 songs. It just has visibility to the nearest 100 songs or so, depending on where you are in your playlist. Try it. Scroll to a random song in the middle of your Liked songs or any other list. Play the song, then click Shuffle. It will only find songs close to the first one you selected.

Do the same on your iphone and it will be much closer to true Shuffle, it might have a bias for songs you play more often but at least it considers the entire playlist.

Conclusion: the function doesn't work as intended. That's the definition of a bug.

Wait, some devices can only shuffle 150 songs? My 16gb iPod Nano could shuffle thousands of songs just fine

The device has nothing to do with it. Spotify's shuffle just sucks. Lol

To solve this, the only way is to use some external web product ( tunemymusic e.g.) . It will allow you to export the songs from your playlist into a CSV file. Then you shuffle that list (FOR REAL) using excel. And then, always freely, reimport the CSV into Spotify. It will create a *new* playlist, identical to the original one, but really shuffled. 

does this randomize the list only once? if so, you are left with the same problem. @Reflexbert made a point that I think is right. That spotify will randomize +/- 100 or so songs around the most recent picked song. (https://community.spotify.com/t5/Desktop-Windows/Shuffle-mode-playing-the-same-songs-all-the-time/m-...)

 

tbh, I can't believe your randomizer was created in 2016. It shows just how garbage spotify is. 6 1/2 years at least and still not resolved. fking trash. Imma short the sht out of their stock (SPOT)

Yes it does it once. But I just add new songs to my playlist and reshuffle it from time to time.

I'm planning to write my own autonomous tools to do it directly on my cell.

 

Why apologize to the moderators? It looks like it's gone now, but a moderator posted a link to it yesterday (I have an email with the reply in it)

This seems like a really trivial thing to be able to fix and also to get right. 

I WILL BE MOVING TO YouTube Music as a result of this incompetence. I’ve been a subscriber to Spotify for yours, but this issue has pushed me over the edge. It’s so annoying. 

I'm glad my Google search brought me to this thread. Definitely cancelling our Spotify subscriptions and moving to another platform. This literally wasn't a problem until recently. A Pixel 7 Pro and a Galaxy Note 20 Ultra should be able to handle shuffling songs. Sorry. This is a bullcrap reason. It's not our devices. Also, I have a playlist under 100 songs and it shuffled the same FIVE songs in the same order on repeat when I shuffled the playlist. So not even your explanations on what's happening are true, Jeremy and co.

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