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.

[Lordzues82]

Maybe you should have 2 options, one that's pure random shuffle, and one that's an algorithm. I hate the shuffle algorithms cuz it makes it so there are some songs on my playlists that I never get to hear and others I am now sick of.

[esbenridder]

Fixed the problem by logging out, then in with another account (had to create one), then back in with my default account. Thanks to all who replied!

[goodamnliam]

my playlists seem to get stick on articst between A-C. probablyn coz they are long and how maybe shuffles just few at time?

[stefgeiger]

The shuffle algorythm still has the incredibly annoying habit of biasing toward newly-added tracks in playlists. I added four tracks from the same artist to a playlist of roughly 30 songs, and whenever I hit shuffle play, it insists on playing ALL FOUR in a row before playing anything else. How is that shuffle?

[Desmondnicoli1]

want my shuffle to randmonly select songs every time I tap my headphones. Instead of having to open my phone and hit shuffle. I don't want it to make a randmon playlist but turn ly randmon generate every time I select the next song. Do u know if this functions available on Spotify some how or any other supporting app?

All they have to do is add a function when it goes into the play next screen to have no play next. Wallah 30 minutes of my day maybe saved from having to click the shuffle button over and over again opening up my phone. **bleep** please get this working fast. Thx so much

[Madmanmcreid]

My playlists have also suddenly become stuck shuffling between artists from A-C

[Straevaras]

@stefgeiger wrote:

"The shuffle algorythm still has the incredibly annoying habit of biasing toward newly-added tracks in playlists. I added four tracks from the same artist to a playlist of roughly 30 songs, and whenever I hit shuffle play, it insists on playing ALL FOUR in a row before playing anything else. How is that shuffle?"

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This has basically been my experience.  When I go to play my entire music library, it only selects the more recently added tracks and never plays tracks I added when I first started using Spotify.  The current shuffle play is really annoying, when you have hundreds of songs in your library but you end up listening to the same songs every day despite play being on "shuffle".  Please fix this, it's a significant problem in my eyes.

[Straevaras]

Another comment I'd like to make is that I use my phone to play Spotify in my car over bluetooth, the "Shuffle" is entirely recent when I stop playing the car, because I stop at a gas station or something like that.  When I resume Spotify, I get songs I literally just listened to 5-10 minutes ago.

[ZSommers]

This shuffle feature seems to exclude more than a hundred songs from my 370-song playlist unless I go backwards, in which case I'm pretty sure it just randomly selects.

[Tjabber]

The **bleep**ing thing only shuffles the first 100 songs or so, now fix that **bleep**!!!