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.

[user-removed]

Yeah, the shuffle algorithm currently sucks.

It was working beautifully until a few days ago, possibly as a result of the last update. Before that, it alternated sweetly between artists just as I wanted. Now it's playing either the same artist several songs in a row or alternating between only two artists (when it has a choice of at least four or more).

Add to this the latest kerfuffle -- when I deliberately select a song, it refuses to play that one but goes to another by the same artist. Even though the selected song is marked with a a green arrow, downloaded and available. It's been doing this since the last update, yes. Curiously enough, every time I ask it to play any Lana Del Rey song, it defaults to Video Games or a certain same Nick Cave song on the same playlist. Which don't get me wrong, I love that song but that's not what I want to hear when I select her song called West Coast. 

[AM0722]

Spotify just needs to go back to what worked before this update. It is frustrating.Please Fix the issue I hate that the songs don't shuffle.

[AlanPalomino23]

Your connection always cuts out in the middle of a song and its not my internet connection because I've check its just fine. Also, please fix the shuffle. Plays the same songs over and over again! Getting sick of listening to the same song every 10 minutes it's so irritating!!!

[GryphonDad]

I know many of your listeners are unhappy with how your shuffle algorithm works. I understand the myths of random selection.

I would be happy if you offered a shuffle option that temporarily rendered a playlist song inactive after I listened to it.

The song would remain inactive until one of three things happened: 1) I listened to all the songs on my playlist; 2) I hit a reset button that reactivated my entire playlist; 3) I added new songs to the playlist.

For example, if I have 1,000 songs on my playlist, your shuffle algorithm would make the first random selection from 1,000 songs. It would make the second random selection from 999 songs. The third selection would be randomly made from 998 songs. And so on.

The pool of songs available for random selection would continue to shrink until I either listened to all 1,000 songs, reactivated the entire playlist or added new songs to the playlist.

Here is an alternate idea.

Automatically drop songs to the bottom of the shuffeled playlist after I listen to them. This way I will not hear a song twice until I have heard all the songs on my playlist.

Your shuffle algorithm is undoubtedly pure and correct mathmatically. It may already do the things I have suggested, given enough time. However, user experience trumps mathmatically purity.

I currently have 1,889 songs on my playlist. Given the way your shuffle algorithm currently works, I hear too many of them repeated too often over the course of my business week. Some repeat the same day.

I would prefer to wait two weeks before I hear the same song repeated.

Thanks for your consideration.

[woofnz]

My two cents worth

This is on of teh most annoying functions of Spotify, to the point where im thinking i might go back to Google Music as they have a shuffle that dosnt repeat the same songs all teh time

[user-removed]

Posting to add to this issue - my playlists continually only shuffle between artist and albums - not songs! I'm disappointed with this issue when playing for a premium service.

[kayteejamie]

I have the most recent Spotify update on my iPhone. Every time I open the app and press shuffle, it goes to the same exact song, which is then proceeded by a queue full of different songs, but the same exact songs in the same exact order every time. I press shuffle again and it goes to another specific song every time, followed by a specific queue of the same exact songs every time again. It has become predictable; I know exactly what song is going to come on each time I press shuffle, and the order of the songs that will follow. It's frustrating to continue to hear the same songs over and over again in the same order unless I manually change the queue or the song. 

[MuffinMachine]

Spotify knows how to create a real shuffle people. This is business, and for Spotify, it's business includes controlling losses. Losses in this case being song royalties. While they seem small (between $0.0006 -0.0084) this cost adds up, and it is part of the overhead in providing the service. Spotify has to control how much of their product we spend. By managing the shuffle playlists, balancing royalty weights, Spotify creates a stable "unit" for it's customer to consume. Stable meaning the unit cost will not fluctuate wildly.

One playlist of 100 songs, at the max Spotify payout equals $0.84 (that's almost 1/9 of what you pay for spotify a month) and a 100 song playlist comes in at $0.06. 

Spotify is likely seeking to balance this cost, while still providing music that is most popular. 

If you want a shuffled playlist, you're going to have to shuffle it yourself guys. Sorry. 

[MuffinMachine]

94 pages of comments and you guys aren't hip to it. 

Spotify knows how to create a real shuffle people. This is business, and for Spotify, it's business includes controlling losses. Losses in this case being song royalties. While they seem small (between $0.0006 -0.0084) this cost adds up, and it is part of the overhead in providing the service. Spotify has to control how much of their product we spend. By managing the shuffle playlists, balancing royalty weights, Spotify creates a stable "unit" for it's customer to consume. Stable meaning the unit cost will not fluctuate wildly.

One playlist of 100 songs, at the max Spotify payout equals $0.84 (that's almost 1/9 of what you pay for spotify a month) and a 100 song playlist comes in at $0.06. 

Spotify is likely seeking to balance this cost, while still providing music that is most popular. 

If you want a shuffled playlist, you're going to have to shuffle it yourself guys. Sorry. 

[ronlepow]

Wow! Very interesting. What other company is out there, and does it right?