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.

[CrapuleJack]

What service is it? I might just do that unless they fix soon..

[eblues]

I have been using Spotify regularly for about a year I guess. It took a while, but eventually I started noticing the issue with Spotify's shuffle mode. Frequently repeating certain songs in a very short time span, and from one day to the next. I have a playlist with 3,500+ songs, the occurance of close proximity repeats should be quite rare.

I listen almost exclusively on my Android mobile phone while driving. When I do listen on the PC, the random nature of the song slection does seem much better. Just now I clicked through 20 or 25 songs on the PC, and got a nice variety songs, with none of the repeats I'm used to hearing on my mobile phone.  I might have thought that Spotify is making non-subscribing mobile users suffer, but from reading the forums, subscribers and non-subscribers have the same issue.

I learned from the forum this has been an outstanding going back to at least 2012?!?   REALLY?  Come on Spotify, Randomizing a playlist is not rocket science. When I shut down Spotify, either on the PC or mobile device, Spotify remembers not only the last track I played, but also the exact point in time of that song, so Spotify is obviously tracking my activity.

Perhaps, if Spotify would come public with the challenges if faces with the Shuffle mode, the listeners could help come up with a workable solution or compromise.

Ideally, once shuffle is enabled, Each song in the playlist would only play once, until the entire playlist has been played. Then reshuffled, and played through again.

[kpwiebe]

What good is a Spotify Community if it's just an echo chamber?

They should shutter this site if they're not going to use the feedback from it.  Remember, this thread is marked "solved".

Does spotify even know this site/thread exists?

[SeanT]

This is FAR FROM SOLVED!!!

[jfk3019]

I use Spotify on my windows phone and it seems it is worse then on my PC or when I log on from an Android device, however it is an issue for Android too. As with many apps I dont feel like too much was invested toward windows phone devices.

[garryjoz]

Well I jsut paid up for Spotify Premium, compiled a play list and of the first four songs, two were played twice. What a joke.

I'm guessing Spotify has to pay more for some songs than others, so programs the expensive onces less frequently. Either that, or their develoeprs are just plain stupid.

Oh, and people have been having problems turning Shuffle play off for years. This must be deliberate.

[Javierba]

I cant disable  shuffle on Android an  I'm tired to hear the same songs over and over again.

[user-removed]

YES!!!

Actually, it doesn't seem like *ANY* players (either digital or actual hardware) do a good job of implementing an true shuffle.  I tried shuffle on a playlist a few weeks ago (late October 2016) and it *SUCKED*!

[garryjoz]

So i figured out how to play a playlist without shuffle.

The trick is this - don't click on the green "SHUFFLE PLAY" button. Click
"play" arrow icon on the song you want to start without, then bring up the
song info and make sure the "arrows in a circle" (play the list over and
over) button is green but not the "crossed over arrows" (play the list at
random) button.

Why anyone at Spotify though this was a clever way to design the interface
I don't know. They are either as dumb as a bag of bricks or want to guide
people into shuffle playing for some commercial reason. Either way, it
makes them very vulnerable to competitor products.

[Fr0z3nf1r3]

New subscriber who is having this issue. I might actually unsubscribe soon. I have a decent iTunes library, and their shuffle is much better. I like my music, but hearing the same songs over and over while others get no plays is evidence of a terrible shuffle. I keep trying to start the playlist in some random location in the middle to change it up, but I just feel like I'm listening to the same 20-30 songs in the end, regardless.