[All Platforms] Remember Position in Playlist / Album

[wigglebit]

Please remember the current song playing in a playlist so if I switch away to a different playlist and then switch back, Spotify will know where I left off.

I often can't finish a playlist right away or my mood changes so I might switch to a different playlist. Later, I want to finish the previous playlist, not start over again.

[RMH1]

Good for you.

[RaviUchil]

The usual practice for such App companies, is to accumulate a lot of
improvement feedback like the one mentioned, and then implement all of them
at one go in a new version, for which they could charge extra. But if it is
pending since 2011, then that is sheer apathy.

[Nope36]

I don’t think it’s apathy, I think it’s part of their revenue stream, at least in some cases. I requested this feedback specifically while using the shuffle feature. I have a playlist of 18 hours of songs I’m currently listening to. I put it on shuffle because I want to hear stuff I’ve recently added alongside stuff I added months ago. But the shuffle queue gets blown up just like your place in any playlist or album every time you listen to an unrelated song, add a new song to the playlist, etc. And each time the queue gets blown up, it’s an opportunity for Spotify to push promoted artists to the top of the queue. I end up skipping some of the same songs over and over at the top of the queue because they were up there the last time it happened, and the time before.

The Apple Music shuffle feature (at least historically for your personal library, can’t speak to the streaming service) seems to take into account whether you’ve listened to a song recently. Spotify clearly does not, so losing my place is a shuffled playlist is infuriating. But I do think it affords them some modest revenue advantage. Not sure if the same applies to a single album or an unshuffled playlist, but the “remember your place” feature would remove a revenue opportunity anywhere Spotify’s algorithm can push promoted artists and content.

My theory to explain this missing feature, anyway.

[RMH1]

Good thoughts....my opinion is that these decisions either increase
revenue, increase market share or retain customers. Unless the feature
affects one of these 3, it is not worthwhile implementing. So I cancelled
my paid subscription as my part in helping this feature find life.

[RaviUchil]

I agree totally. They apparently get much larger revenue from music
companies trying to push their songs and artists, than from you and I who
subscribe to Spotify services.
It’s the standard business model for aggregators where there initially do
everything to gain a large subscriber base and then earn a lot more money
from those businesses who need to access that captive audience.

Thus, when the aggregator is sufficiently established, subscribers’ new
requirements be damned. Demands from the music companies, like having their
songs and artists thrust upon us, supersede our requirement of ‘remember
position in playlist’. Ignoring requirements of paid subscribers, borders
on the foolish.

The inability to balance these conflicting needs intelligently, is the
start of the decline of such aggregators. It has happened to cab
aggregators, delivery service providers and many others. Spotify is well on
that path.

They just lost another subscriber.

[drew345]

I found a way to keep one long playlist going without losing the place in it, while still browsing other music also. Since many people here have described their problem related to having one long playlist, this might be a good solution for a number of people here.

This solution involves two separate instances of Spotify on my Android phone.

At first, I tried using Spotify and Spotify Lite together, but they still interfered with each other. If I paused one and opened the other, it would often reset the playlist, lose my place, or rewrite the playing state. That wasn’t going to work.

Then I found Island, a free Android app that creates a Work Profile, a separate space on your phone where you can install completely independent copies of apps.

With help from ChatGPT, I set up Island and then used the Play Store inside the Island profile to install a second copy of Spotify. Now I have:

• My main Spotify for searching new playlists, checking recommendations, or doing anything that might disturb playback.
• A second Spotify (in Island) playing my long playlist, never loosing place.

Both have their own icons, the Island one has a little briefcase symbol, and I just tap whichever I want. They don't interfere with each other at all, a long as I completely shut down one before starting the other.

The two icons sit side-by-side on my home screen, and each opens its own self-contained version of the app. Only minor downside: when the Island Spotify is active and the screen locks, I sometimes have to use both fingerprint and pattern unlock to get back in. That’s Android’s security for work profiles, and it’s manageable.

If you want to do something like this, I strongly suggest asking ChatGPT to guide you through setup. Island isn’t hard, but it’s one of those tools where a little help makes a big difference. It’s a bit of a project, but if you’re up for a small challenge give it a try.

[oren_b]

As I evaluate other music services after canceling my Spotify subscription, I tested whether any of them remember which song was last played in a playlist. It turns out none of them do. At least not the four I tested: Apple Music, YouTube Music, Tidal, and Deezer. They have many other advantages, and I have no regrets about leaving Spotify, but this specific feature is missing everywhere.

[BobbyBrown12312]

@oren_b

bro but they scroll to the song position within the playlist. That's something crucial too.

Your playlist like Liked songs has 500 songs or more. You play a song and wish to go to the songs position in the playlist. in iOS you can do this manually only.

[LompiesLombard]

I have various playlists, some with over 2000 songs.

When I navigate away to another list and then after a while come back to a specific one, it would be fantastic if it will continue from where I last were.

[oren_b]

@BobbyBrown12312

I just tested with Apple Music, Tidal and Deezer and none of the scroll to the last played song when opening a playlist. Where do you see this feature?