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.

[Ker__winning]

This has been my only complaint with Spotify, but this is a big deal to me. When I don't feel like listening to a full album I play my music on shuffle (so I shuffle music often.) This is the worst shuffle feature I've ever experienced. My music sessions are ruined when songs are repeated multiple times even though other songs and artists have not been played yet. I've given you guys multiple chances, but I'm switching to another service...

[yofruitloop]

Whenever I turn my playlists on shuffle, I find that I would listen to a song 3-4 times before some are even played once, and it's always the same songs that get played more often. If there was a way to improve the shuffle feature so it's not constantly playing the same songs and omitting others that would be great!

[stefanbob]

Why hasn't Spotify fixed their shuffle algorithm yet to not repeat the same song over and over again before hearing the others? This is literally the top complaint over and over again in the Spotify reddit and it's still not fixed. Why would anyone in their right mind want to hear the same song 3 times in a row? Why should that ever happen with a SHUFFLE function?

FIX IT

[Mckmccar]

As a premium user, I'm extremely disappointed in the shuffle feature - Not even on my own playlists. When I go to an artist's Spotify library and choose Shuffle, I am given repeated songs from the artist's most recent two or three albums, rather than a true shuffle of the artist's entire catalog. It can't be that hard to truly shuffle a user's selection. Please fix. 

[user-removed]

it played nearly same songs, my songs or someone playlists. i always hear determinate songs. some songs are not played. a few hours later or a few days later it doesnt matter i hear nearly same songs. they should fix it...

[user-removed]

it played nearly same songs my songs or someone playlists. a few hours later or a few days later played same songs in shuffle play. some songs are even not played... i dont like the shuffle play.... 

[LeoJLeBrut]

RESPONSE FROM SPOTIFY: I filed a ticket with Spotify about a) the awful nature of the app's shuffle and b) why are there issues that have been classified as implemented when the feedback strongly indicates that nothing has improved. Here is the response:

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching us out. We understand that the shuffle feature is not playing tracks randomly. We'll be glad to look into this for you.

Spotify's Shuffle feature behaves depending mostly on the number of songs in a particular playlist like most applications. We're afraid that is something we couldn't configure on your account on our end.

In the meantime, we can suggest that you create a new playlist altogether, but containing the same set of songs. If you still notice the same behavior with Shuffle on that new playlist, please try using a different device and check if it will stream in the same order that the previous device did.

We’ll be sure to pass issue with the shuffle feature onto the right folks here at Spotify.

Please feel free to send us another email if you have other questions or the problem still persist.

All the best,

Neovanni

Spotify Customer Support

I'm not sure what to make of this though I'd classify it generally as a non-response. The explanation requires one to interpret garbled English and/or technospeak...as near as I can tell they are saying that the shuffle function doesn't know what to shuffle (if this is the case then one has to ask the question....'then what would you call it?'The suggestion about creating a new playlist that is exactly the same (yeah, all 2000 of songs on my list) strikes me as turning me into part of their development team.

I received this over a  month ago and haven't heard anything further. Someone with the organization got credit for taking care of this issue and closing it. Be careful what you measure.

[rednblu]

                    Now I understand . . . .

LeoJLeBrut brought me a new realization on this awful nature of the Spotify shuffle--
_____________
RESPONSE FROM SPOTIFY: I filed a ticket with Spotify about a) the awful nature of the app's shuffle and b) why are there issues that have been classified as implemented when the feedback strongly indicates that nothing has improved. Here is the response:

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching us out. We understand that the shuffle feature is not playing tracks randomly.  . . . .
______________

Here is my realization--

The current 2016_10_31 Spotify shuffle has never played from any > 1000 track playlist ever in history for anybody for 24 hours without making at least 8 hated repeats.

COROLLARY: No one on the Spotify team has ever played any > 1000 track playlist using the current 2016_10_31 Spotify shuffle for 24 hours without making at least 8 repeats as recorded by last.fm.

Let's see . . . .

Can we find any >> counterExample << ever?

I can think of several--

* Start with a DeDuplicated playlist of > 1000 tracks and play straight through for 24 hours without restarting and without ever having the Spotify shuffle ON.

* Fill the > 1000 track playlist with only tracks that have been tested and verified to always stop play and give you a "This track is not available ... " message.

* One very sad Spotify premium customer once on HalloweenNight played all 1024 unique covers of Eleanor Rigby without ever getting even one hated repeat-- because that is what the customer ordered.

Does anyone have a documented case of anyone ever playing through each and every track of a > 1000 track playlist once and only once using the 2016_10_31 Spotify shuffle?

[jfk3019]

Still replaying songs I just heard. Logging out and in can help, but come on, to have to do this constantly in a day is ridiculous. Maybe switching to tidal or google play will be better for me

[Sardior]

No... and I don't think they want it to work since "shuffle" is the only
option they give non-paying customers. Well, I am now a non-paying customer
"because" shuffle doesn't work. Already gone to another music service that
has a shuffle that works...