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.

[roastybunz]

after getting a response from spotify on Twitter saying theyve improved the algorithm they sent me a link to this post. A year later its still sh*t. A playlist of 1194 songs should not play the same 40-60 songs anytime we play it. Whatever algorithm they are using is not working. I never thought it possible to have a bad shuffle system.

[MB991]

I listen to Spotify nearly every day and every day I get the same problem; it plays the same set of songs and leaves out all the rest. It's ridiculous as I have so many songs I want to listen to and they don't get played! Spotify needs to shuffle ALL songs so I'm not stuck listening to the same ones ALL THE TIME. It's **bleep** and makes me want to try a new app. 

[eblues]

I have been actually ENJOYING my playlist for about a month now. My primary account has the playlist. I created a second account which I use to listen to the playlist as a vistor, rather than the creator. When I do this, the song selection is much more random, and repeats are few. My listening experience has been GREAT the past month.

Both of my accounts are free. If you have a subscription account, you could try creating a 2nd free account and exporting your playlist to the new account. Then listen as a visitor from your ad free account.

It makes no sense that this would make a difference, but it clearly has for me for at least a month now. It's BS that Spotify won't address this issue, but since they won't, it's up to us to find effective workarounds, or else leave Spotify. 

[MayWeb]

You say that you've "fixed" this issue. However this is still a constant battle. I have a playlist that is over 900+ songs, no matter how many times I re-shuffle it the same songs see to appear. 

Please stop rating your "popular" songs over the songs that haven't been played yet. This gives me a terrible listening experience and makes me wish that I sunk my money into something else

[Possum]

I've just terminated my 4 years premium membership due to this "SHUFFLE" issue - this certainly is no shuffle or random funktion at all! - Very sad that I wasted hundreds of hours implementing great music to my libraries - this could have been such a grat place to enjoiy music that we actually like! - Very SAD. Bye bye...

[shadowlest]

Actually i'm migrating to Apple music due this ( for me ) stupid problem, the spotify staff wants to reinvent the wheel , the shuffle functionality is a OLD and totally functional function.
For this reason after more then 3 years , im sad to say im leaving....

[Tjw91]

Is anyone else (with a free account) noticing that when they press shuffle, some of the same songs are being queued first? It annoys me because I want to listen to a variety of songs in my library. My idea is to change the way the shuffle button works so you get a TRUE shuffle

[marcdel]

I have a playlist (which is admitedly huge) at over 8k songs and when I shuffle it, it will only play songs from the first 8 albums in the list. I've included a gif of me clicking next in shuffle and the same bands showing up over an over.

Playlist in question: https://open.spotify.com/user/marcdel/playlist/5LoKpBTKg8sxf2XqO5qdAX

I have similar problems with bands that have relatively large (though not 8k songs large) catalogs. For example, The Mountain Goats https://open.spotify.com/artist/3hyGGjxu73JuzBa757H6R5. If I shuffle play their songs it will shuffle through the first few albums, not playing anything from earlier albums.

[nolaB]

Agree with previous commenters. I love spotify, but the shuffle feature could really use some work. It appears there is no 'memory' of which songs have been played, even within just one playlist in the same uninterrupted listening session. I suggest incorporating programming that will allow each song in the selection (playlist, library, etc) to be played once and then the playlist ENDS. If the listener would like to start the shuffling of the playlist over again, they can put on the Repeat function and the shuffling will start over again automatically. I have a playlist that I've heaviliy curated and when I shuffle it, there are some songs I hear over and over and some that may as well not even be on the playlist because they never come up.

[pbrownpb18]

Refer to the Community Thread

Topic: Implement an actual shuffle function

This is listed as Solved but if you read the posts, it is not.

Let's see how long it takes Spotify to remove this Idea.