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.

[Volantary]

First post, just to say please please fix this! I use spotify in the car and this morning I literally heard the exact same 20 songs from a 200 song playlist that I heard yesterday morning. If you want some help programming a shuffle algorithm hit me up, I'm a software engineer in the day job, it isn't difficult. I use the desktop client on Windows 7 and windows phone in my car.

Also the windows phone app doesn't remember the shuffle setting between sessions, meaning I have to switch it on every time I start the app up. Considering how broken it is this isn't the end of the world, but it'd be nice to have it fixed all the same 

[ssj71]

I read the blog post. It was well written and I enjoyed the read largely due to the applied mathematics. I just want to put out there that I'd really like it to save the shuffle between plays (at least I think thats the best way to accomplish playing every song in the playlist before any are played again). I listen on android in the car. I first would just pause the music when I get to work, then on the way home press play, but I found I was hearing the same songs a lot. I'd really like if it could track the shuffle (in C you could just save the seed you initialized your rand() with as metadata with the playlist along with what track it was last on) between plays such that I don't hear the same song 2x until every song has been played.

I couldn't find an idea that better explained what I'm still waiting for. If someone knows one, point me that way. Till then, I'm just giving kudos to this idea.

[rekers]

I went to rdio, no shuffle problem there.

[levetrix]

Okay, I've been experiencing the most obnoxious shuffling EVER!! I have a 200+ song playlist, and I play the first song via doubleclick... then then next song is the Exact Same song. I listen to music for 10+ hours a day, and this happens atleast 3 or 4 times during that period. 

This, along with what everyone else is saying (song priority on shuffle) really makes me consider going back to pandora. I can't even shuffle an artist without listening to their entire First Album before getting a song from their original CDs. Really, how hard is it to create an actual shuffle?

I understand if you're trying to make the user's experience better, but can't you trust us to know what we want? If I shuffle an artist or playlist, you must know that I want to shuffle through the songs in a truly unbiased way.

I know what I want better than you do.

thx. 

[rsmoulard]

Ok, I've been reading very good ideas regarding the same issue... Does anybody know if the problem will be solved? "Random that is not Random"...

regards,

Rodrigo

[sampatel85]

Can't see this idea being floated before (apologies if it has) but:-

Why can't Spotify put in an offer to buy WinAmp's algorithm or WinAmp itself, surely can't be that expensive.  Appreciate we're talking different library systems but surely the code could be amended to fit Spotify?

WinAmp has a great shuffle function as I recall (haven't used it in years as I now stream instead of using mp3s saved to the hard disc).

Could then feed into improving the Discover function by focusing in on tracks listened to and 'passes' when shuffling.

At the moment shuffle function is poor imo especially for larger playlists (> 1,000 songs).

[Markusbtw]

This is really strange. On my iPhone, I hit shuffle and it dosen't have an exact order. For me, it's random. It might be that Windows Phone has a different algorithm? I'm not sure, but you should ask someone who works at Spotify. A shuffle feature which is supposed to be random, but isn't is wrong.

[ws1482]

Shuffle play is still terrible on iPhone. I hear the same few songs over and over again and on a few occasions the same song played 2 times in a row.......smh

[kelvin0mql]

Interesting, ws1482... I have found iPhone shuffle mode to work pretty well. I have about 1650 starred songs. And for several days, I've started my morning by playing the exact same recently-starred song (intentionally, for inexplicable reasons). The songs that play thereafter have been nicely randomized.

I do still wish I could have at least a rating range of 1-3 stars, so I hear my 3-star stuff more often, and 1-star stuff less often, while still having it in my starred list. But anyway, it's improved an appreciable bit over the past year.

[santrik]

The Shuffle-function is embarrising on a level out of this world.

I've got my main playlist that is literally 9 whole days long. Meaning 3000+ songs. And not one duplicate.

EVEN though I still hear a couple of songs repetedly through out the day. When I shouldn't hear it until the next WEEK.

It's ridiculous and it should've been fixed years ago. I mean, this thread is more then 2 years old and this function is still by far the worst in the industry.

Also, it would be extremley nice if there was a 'random-function' where you could choose one or more artists to favor during this 'random-session'.

Help me Spotify AB, you're my only hope.

I use the android app and the windows program.

Thanks and good luck.