[All Platforms] Option to have a true shuffle

[jonathanleyerle]

So I’ve been noticing more and more recently that Spotify’s default shuffle feature doesn’t fully shuffle your songs. It does some sort of grouping to try to get similar songs together based off of what I’m sure is dozens of factors. Every time I shuffle a playlist (the one I noticed this with the most is ~100 songs and 6 hours of mostly full albums) it will group the songs mostly or completely together by album/artist, and given the number of times I’ve re-shuffled and checked the order there’s no way it’s just a coincidence. They also generally seem to be in the same order as well. If I hit shuffle play on a playlist it’ll generally put the same artists at the beginning every time.

With larger playlists of albums I am really not a fan of this shuffling method. If I have 6 hours of music on a playlist I will hardly ever have 6 hours to actually listen through the whole thing, but when I do listen to it I would like to hear all of the music on it equally, and not just the artist or two your algorithm likes to shuffle to first.

Anyways, I’m a reasonable man, all I’m asking for is an option to have a true shuffle (take all songs in the list, put them in a random order, and once they’re all played reshuffle them and play them again). Make it premium only if you want. I don’t think you should scrap the current shuffle algorithm because it sucks. Looking at some of the suggestions on here it seems like some people lobbied hard to have it that way. Just add an option for a true shuffle for those of us that don’t care about potentially getting the same song twice in a row.

[Snookumpuss]

Congrats Neo. You just ended my Spotify community involvement and this was the first time I ever posted anything on any social meadia platform in my 53 years. I recommend you eat more fiber.

[jcmaynardnc]

I’m interested in getting involved. This issue is borderline insane. Please reach out! Thanks!

[ImminentRueage]

Why is it so hard to get a "True Shuffle" mode? This needs to happen. I can got on a 2-3 hour drive and hear the same song 3-4 times in a playlist with 200-250 songs...That's something like 15-18 hours of music.

[DJ_kefo]

My goodness, Spotify Team you did a great job for a moment. 

This issue is still open after nearly 3 years and it's really just a simple option. You added it for mobile for a few weeks or months and then you got rid of it again. Why? I finally could enjoy my old tracks in my favorites in a row and now it's gone again. Just leave it in and also add it to the other versions. It's a needed feature, you're taking to long to implement this. 

[fraktalisman]

As Spotify's algorithm sucks from a listener's perspective (major music industry might like it though), I have to rely 100% on curated playlists, and without shuffle, I have to listen in the exact order that they were made. Why not? We did the same when we put actual records on a record player. Who needs shuffle? Who needs streaming anyway? I'm gonna get a pair of turntables or just listen to MP3 files again!

[jdg072]

I have tried Amazon Music, YT Music, but they all have the same issue.

Now trying Qobuz - They seems to do it well so far. You can try it yourself - 1st month is free

[rozeboosje]

"they all have the same issue" - yes for the "Shuffle" function, but Amazon Music, for example, also has a "randomize playlist" function which does what most people here are looking for: reorder all the songs in a play list in a new "random" order so you can listen to the entire list in a different order without hearing the same song twice.

Anyhoo..... Qobuz..... never heard of it and I see it has high quality audio. What's its catalog like compared to Spots Defying and Rainforest Women?

[bacom15]

I don't know if this has been suggested already, but I discovered this (for Android at least) and so far it's doing exactly what I want with very little effort on my part. Definitely worth checking out! 

[Mookpsu]

I've been using it as well and while there have been some kinks in it, it's
definitely a significant improvement over Spotify's "shuffle" plus the
developer is very communicative and appreciates feedback from users. He
just released an updated version yesterday that I haven't had a chance to
try yet but he said he thinks he fixed all the bugs.

[ModelCitizen]

Well, thanks very much for that!

I installed the Android Virtual Shuffle for Spotify app an hour ago and have been playing my favourite 850 song playlist ever since. It's quite amazing just how many songs there are on it that I had completely forgotten!

I've found no issue with the app as yet and it seems to shuffle playlists just as I always wanted them to be shuffled.

Annoying that Spotify won't implement this, but there is some tiny satisfaction to be gained from the thought that this app reduces their profits a bit!

Here's the link incase anyone missed it:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.virock.virtualshufflev2