Implement an actual shuffle function

[RoninTheOrigina]

Yes, you read that right.  The "shuffle" function in Spotify is nothing more than a randomizer.  There's a difference?  YES.

RANDOM - Play one song.  The next song can be ANY song in your playlist.  Including the one you just listened to.  Though I've never had this specifically happen, I literally just heard the same song that I heard 2 songs ago.  This is how Spotify's "shuffle" currently functions.

SHUFFLE - Take your entire list, shuffle them (like cards), and play the first song in the shuffle.  Once finished, move that song off the pile.  Once the pile is depleted, shuffle the deck again and start over (maybe pop a message up).

I know enough about programming (not much) to know that shuffling is probably a bit harder than random, but come on.  I may be in the minority, but I don't have a lot of little playlists.  I have one list with nearly a thousand songs in it, because I like all the music, and am rarely not in the mood for one of those songs.  But what I can't stand is hearing the same song over and over again.  I think there may even be songs in my list I haven't heard yet, while I've heard others 4-5 times.

I know it may not matter much, but I would probably lay down the money for at least a year subscription if this feature was implemented.

EDIT: Another user pointed out that I can see what all is queued up in my shuffle by clicking the Play Queue link, and that Spotify supposedly sets up a rolling shuffle of 50 songs.  It would be nice if this range could be expanded to say 50-100% of your playlist.

EDIT 4/6/12: I just dealt with the same song 16 tracks later.  The song played the first time yesterday afternoon.  I went home, listened for a bit on my home PC (just a few songs), then started listening again this morning.  If the list recycles itself after a day, or if you log in from another computer, I see that as an area for improvement.

[takamipolia]

Hey! While I can't disagree with this, Spotify's shuffle algortithm is actually pretty sophisticated. It uses an algorithm called 'Fisher-Yates shuffle'. This algorithm is pretty much awesome as it is, but by the laws of mathematics, there will be times where some songs/artists repeat twice or multiple times in a row. 

Bottom line is, the thing about  "Shuffle" is it's not RANDOM. It's pre-defined by the best shuffling algorithm mankind has created. Hope this somehow clears things up for you 😄

[rednblu]

Do you ever use the "Connect" feature between your mobile and your Windows 10 session?

If you do use the "Connect" feature between your mobile and your Windows 10, there are several heavyUser functions like insert, move, or delete tracks that will break your Shuffle on your Windows 10.

When you break the Shuffle on your Windows 10, you have to reInitialize your Shuffle using only your Windows 10-- as several users have described in previous posts.

And yes!  You have good reason to complain to high heaven about how easily the Shuffle breaks, requiring you to reInitialize it manually!

[lechugoncio]

I think that we need a better random queue 'cause If we listen to our playlist all day , we learn what song comes next and isn't random anymore... And maybe we can get a invert button to start listening music from the end to the start (instead of hearing from the start like always). Thank you!

[Krenick]

That's actually a darn good idea

[theragnauths]

Shuffle does NOT work. I can't believe that this function is so primitive - all it does is shuffle the first 50 or so songs in in the playlist, If these have been ordered by ALBUM, all shuffle does is mix up the songs from that album and the one next to it (alphabetically). Similarly, if the playlist is ordered by song title, you get a load of songs all beginning with a number of A. come on Spotify, you should be doing better.

[rednblu]

    >> . . . shuffles only the first 97 tracks of my playlist.

Your Spotify player is not pointed to your playlist-- It is pointed to some internal copy of the first few tracks of your 9K playlist.

If you turn off your shuffle, you will see that your PlayQueue is not in the same order as your playlist-- so your player is not even pointed to your playlist.

To get your Spotify shuffle to work right, you have to reInitialize your Spotify shuffle by one of the methods described by other users above-- depending on the hardware and software you are using.

Note for the Spotify developers-- You can reproduce this bug of [shufflng only the first few tracks] of a 9K playlist-- To reproduce this bug, use the Web player to Connect, Shuffle, and Listen on some Windows 10 session of the Spotify player.

[whitworth]

Thanks for this. Sorry to be unclear, but could you describe exactly how I initialise properly. I am using Spotify iOS app and casting to a Google Chromecast Audio. Thanks.

[theragnauths]

Absolutely no help whatsoever. You have failed to even understand the basic problem with the Spotify shuffle function.

[Jas18]

I don't like the new shuffle. It just repeats the same songs over and over and not in any random order. I'm annoyed as I have so many songs in my playlist but can never listen to them as the same songs keep showing up. I really hope you change this. 

[casualcourts]

Spotify shuffles when I'm not connected to any speakers, but if I connect to Sonos, only 15 songs are shuffled, after which they play over and over again.