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.

[teollo]

It is a very big issue!!!

[sublymeguy]

FIX YOUR SHUFFLE!! I PAY FOR SERVICE THAT IS BROKEN AND I WILL NOT BE DOING IT MUCH LONGER IF THIS CONTINUES UNRESOLVED!! 

[rednblu]

I run into new versions of the "broken Spotify shuffle"-- almost daily.  The shuffle looks like it is on-- but it is not.

At least in the last month-- as I document my own list of "user programming fixes"-- I have always been able to find some way to pound away at the Spotify shuffle until it finally initializes to become operational again-- You can always test to see if the Spotify shuffle has been pounded enough to initialize.

You just play the third track of any playlist and then turn the shuffle off and on while you watch the Play Queue-- If the Spotify shuffle is in a broken state, you can easily tell because you will get nonsense repeats of tracks, artists, and albums.  Very special prayers are required to get the mobile Spotify shuffle to initialize right-- and using the Spotify Connect feature regularly breaks the Spotify shuffle again-- No matter what two platforms are involved.

When I initialize the Spotify shuffle appropriately, I even get the Spotify shuffle to randomize nicely across 20,000 artists and 60,000 albums and 110,000 tracks contained in one of those nifty PlaylistFolders . . . . .

Maybe Spotify should fix the shuffle to repair itself automatically-- Or maybe Spotify should tell you how to initialize the Spotify shuffle manually-- However, in the last month, I have not encountered a situation in which I could not fix the Spotify shuffle to make it work perfectly-- until I did something to edit YourMusic or change a playlist or connect some new device or . . . .  any of those normal things that one does in normal use of Spotify . . . .

[mijas1999]

Really useless to shuffle just a few songs. I listen a lot to music and would want to shuffle 5,000 songs with no repeat.

50 - 100 is a waste of time.....

[mijas1999]

Looks like I’ll be cancelling my new Premium subs and back to Google Music.....😭

[rednblu]

Are you trying to use the mobile player to shuffle that 5,000 track playlist without a repeat?

[Austinlund93]

I rely on the shuffle mode to create my playlist as I'm usually indecisive about what I want to hear. Sick of hearing the same song 4 or 5 times in a week when I KNOW there's HUNDREDS in my library that I haven't heard in a month or more. Sick of paying for such a dumpy function.

[TomL16]

Hi, A post from 2012 resulted into a solution in 2016....

Now its 2018 and I am concluding the shuffle is no what it should do. Strange I see so few (not to say) no replies on this topic).

I am using a playlist of about 130 songs and while running I like to have this playlist shuffled. However, every time again the shuffle is repeating songs and some songs I never hear. Actually unbelievable this seems such a problem to resolve. Very annoying the current shuffle.

[jellyfishbarcel]

Hey Guys!

Re-opening this - Any chance you could remove that 100 songs limit to the shuffle mode?
Even on the Desktop App I keep listening to the same albums - it's annoying - if it's a device connect thingy - then make sure it does not happen on the Spotify desktop app!

Cheers,

Fabien

[StaceyPizz]

Hi Team,

Some friends and I have been noticing that when we have a playlist with multiple songs by the same artist, the Shuffle function will (more often than not) ONLY shuffle songs from that particular aritst, even when there are multiple artists on the playlist. 

Even when we click "next", select a song from a different artist, or re-shuffle, the algorithm will still go back to that one artist it was obsessing over initially, and then the next 5, 6, 7, etc. songs will only be that artist. 

Thanks!