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.

[nebolisher]

most important for me is not getting same songs that i got in a list when i create a radio station out of it!!!! 

[mrmaloof]

I'm listening to a really cool song right now. The problem is I just heard it two or three songs ago while listeing to a two hudred or so playlist in shuffle mode.

[kjbllc]

yes please fix this

[hwauters]

I have this problem mostly when shuffling a list on my phone. After I stop listening for a while, the complete playlist seems to be reshuffled into the queue again, instead of it just having the songs I didn't already listen to on this playthrough.

[RKM]

Yes, please Spotify -- I'm losing my mind listening to the same tracks over and over because the "shuffle" does not work well in Spotify.

If we could have an explciit SUFFLE feature that *re-arranged* the playlist, this would be so much better than "shuffle play" mode.

This has become so bad, I've ripped my spotify tracks to MP3's and I'm currently using this as an alternative until Spotify fixes the problem.  The entire reason I use a tool like Spotify is to avoid listening to the same music over and over .. and due to this glaring shortcoming in Spotify, that is exactly what Spotify does not do properly.

[moignon]

I agree with OP.  

I just read on reddit to turn off "repeat" to improve shuffle.

I will try, but I guess both should be working usually...

If it doesn't work, I'll have to stop my premium account to switch on other platform with best result !

Dev' have some work to do.

[sadamcg]

I added 6 songs to a playlist 15 days ago and they have never been played on the shuffle setting. I listen every night for a few hours and regularly hear other songs playing that I added months ago.

[zxplod]

AGREED!!  PLEASE ADD THIS FUNCTIONALITY!!  The current spotify shuffel DOES NOT WORK!!

[Sustain]

Signed - Got the same issue here.

[Robbums]

Another problem I have noticed with the shuffle feature, particularly on iOS devices, is that when shuffled, certain songs tend to be picked first over and over agian. For example, I have a playlist that has about 200 songs, but the same 3-5 songs are typically played first (why "Dancing in the Moonlight" so much?)

Furthermore, I notice that certain songs almost always play one after another. For example, almost every time "Can't Stop" plays, I hear the same song by the Limousines play after it.

I know iTunes creators had the same problems with their "Shuffle" feature because it was not a true shuffle, just a random number generator in which each song is assigned its own number. Due to complaints/requests such as this thread, Apple and iTunes created a true Shuffle, and I wish Spotify would do the same.