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.

[lionheart09]

Strongly dislike this algorithm. I have a large library and want variation each day on my long drive to work. Instead I am getting the same songs regardless of how often I skip. Hoping this gets fixed, or there is an option for this algorithm vs. a true shuffle.

[Tobraham]

Give my Shuffle Fly a try. That's exactly how I use it.

www.riograndemud.com/shufflefly

[andypa1]

Yeah no improvements for me, the same songs over and over again. Some albums from the artist I'm shuffling never get a play.

Basically copy the shuffle feature of Google pay/any other music player or I'm off

[bengreen1980]

Been a problem for years, thnking of leaving now and going to Apple Music like so many other users. Benn a paying member for 3 years now, but enough is enough.

I have some playlists with 900+ tracks in, here the same 10-15% constantly.

I can't beleive after all this time Spotify engineers dont understadn what their users are after!

It is SO simple.

If I click a playlist, and hit shuffle play, I expect a completely random order through the entire playlist. No repeats, diffferent order every time I click shuffle play.

I wonder it is anything to do with licensing and royalties? I.e. weighted tracks are played more, and hence the royalty commission rate decresase? 

There must be some logical reason why this basic feature is missing!!

[Marcusqman1]

I'm seeing a strange function when using the mobile free version of Spotify that when using discover to play a recommended artist with 1 album using shuffle play on the artist page that it recommends songs from massively different genres. My example is that I was listening to a metal band called empires fade using shuffle play from artist page. After a few songs a Spotify recommended song came on which was Sam smith. Now that is a pop song and vaslty different to what I had been listening to. So I thought ahh one off event and skipped to be greeted Ellie Golding. It feels like Spotify is just plugging in anthying that would normally be played on mainstream radio stations and not suggesting stuff similar to the artist that was shuffle played

[andbjer]

The shuffle algorithm is still horrible. Even though I have a playlist with a couple hundred songs it is not unlikely that the same song I just played will show up again after only one song in between. This has happened quite a few times lately.

[nxgguh]

My spotify shuffle only plays songs 1-c. I have premium and would skip until i found a song that starts with something other than numbers and the letters a-c. What i found was that after a while the list would just repeat instead of playing other songs on my playlist that start with other letters. Please fix this it's sooo annoying

[Xyte]

So up until a few months ago the Shuffle function was working fine, however lately I've been noticing there are some bugs to it.

The "Shuffle" does not work properly for me, I've tried using mobile, desktop and one of the Spotify test accounts. I've picked up a pattern where the Shuffle would cycle through the same 20/30 songs in a playlist (I use a playlist of 400+ songs) that are near the top, I've tried multiple things to try and fix the issue however I've gotten nothing.

Lately I've also realized if you are controlling Spotify via your phone onto your desktop that if you press a certain song whilst Shuffle is on then disable it to normally cycle from the selected song it'll play the selected song then go back and play the first song in the playlist.

Tried both offline and online tracks however still the same issues, I've been talking to support for the past two days and they have suggested I give my feedback here so there it is.

Hoping this will get resolved soon, if not I may end up not using Spotify again as it get's old listening to the same 20/30 songs everyday!

[carlaof]

Very unhappy with the shuffle... Entered the community to figure out if there were ways to improve it and found out that the complains have been here since 4 years ago... Same problem: 300+ songs on a playlist and it always plays the same 30-40 songs...

Can't be that difficult to implement a real shuffle...

[rawkfist41]

 SHUFFLE STILL SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please spotify, for all that is good and holy, fix this issue!!!!!!!!!!!! I am very close to switching to another music subscriber. Simply ridiculous and unbearable. Can someone enlighten me and tell me if this is such a hard issue to fix???????? Is it too much too ask for a legitamate shuffle, and not randomizer abilities????????????????????????????????????????????