[Playlists] Ability to link together Tracks in Playlists

[bvacaliuc]

Hi,

Wouldn't it be great if you could "pair"/"link"/"lock" or "chain" tracks together in a playlist? Then even if you shuffle-played, certain songs would always play together.

mock-up of how linking/pairing a song might work.

This idea was actually started by @Sartoris in 2012:

https://community.spotify.com/t5/Closed-Ideas/Ability-to-link-together-tracks-in-playlists-also-for-...

But in 2015 it was closed as not having enough votes. Coincidentally, about the same time, I signed up for Spotify premium.  As I listened to all the songs I've "liked" with shuffle, the one thing that kept coming into my mind was the terrible feeling you get when a song that is meant to follow another is not played.  You get the feeling of being violated; it is a terrible experience.  As I searched for this feature, I saw that idea was marked inactive and decided to open it again.

That idea had gotten 138 likes in 2015 and as of January 2020 has gotten another 116 for a total of 255.  There were another 18 ideas then that all linked to the one above (see attached). So I re-submitted this idea in 2015 and since then you wonderful people have given it over 880 votes! Thank you!

From the rules, we see that we needed to have over 500 votes to keep the topic alive in monthly discussions (check!). We also see that we need 100 votes per year to keep it alive (check again!). So we're in good shape on that front. Now we have to see what we need to do to get it moving forward from "Not Right Now" to "Under Consideration".

Again, from the rules above, Spotify says that they use these criteria:

• Helping artists.
• Data and other information we've collected.
• Information from research testing, focus groups, and surveys.
• Feedback in the Community and other support channels. (That's us!)
• Our overall short- and long-term business strategy.

Hmm. Ok. So I would say that playing tracks that are meant to be together really helps the artists because their work is rendered in the correct way that they intended. I'm wondering how many artists are dying inside when their specially arranged songs are cut up because someone shuffled their playlist?

I can't speak to Spotify's data and research, focus groups and surveys, or about their business strategy. However, it occurs to me that anything that affects the order of which song plays can affect revenue because Spotify pays someone when a song gets played and they don't pay the same amount of $ for every song... Sure its a tiny fraction of a cent, but it adds up. So my first guess is that Spotify's hesitation to implement this idea is economic. I think we should continue the discussion along these lines to see if we could come up with some kind of consensus on this notion.

Letting a song "pair" with another in a playlist would be enough to make a lot of people happy.  Would we be willing to put some $ behind having this feature? Lets say Spotify charged you $0.01 (a cent) everytime you were shuffle playing and the queue hit a linked song and played the one that came after it. Would you be ok with that? If not, what would make it ok? I think answering the economic question is one thing that is keeping this idea from moving forward. @wsmyth commented in May 2019 that he would be willing to spend $1/month for this feature. I would do that too, would you?

From the many, many great comments, @WesleyM77 posted in April 2019 a link to a US Patent. There are two patents, actually, [US8214740B2] and [US9396760B2]. Reading through the two patents, it's clear that they cover this idea in many of its possible methods. So apart from the economic impact, Spotify may be prevented by the patent holder from implementing this feature. It has been noted that only one service has this feature, and now this explains it. The patents expire in 2030.

So, here we are. We want a feature, someone has successfully patented the feature and so we can't have nice things. Everyone including the patent holders want to make money, so is there a price that Spotify could negotiate with the patent holder and then pass on to the users that would be acceptable to all parties?

Spotify, would you look into this and get back to us?

Thanks very much!

-bogdan

[dgstrat]

I've been wanting this feature forever.  Certain songs need to be heard together.   Side 2 of Abbey Road, Pink Floyd Dark Side. Side 2 of The Cars s/t Many many more.  Please make it happen, Spotify.  thanks!  

[Omeratia]

Having the option to "link" connected chronological songs to one "unit" and when the song is played randomly it will always be the first between the two that will be played and after it the second one that linked will continue automatically in the queue, only after that the queue will continue back in the random mode.

[Kuillaume]

It's not just the playlist for the individual user, the data would give Spotify the ability to generate playlists (our dailies or otherwise) that aren't so dismembered. Every time it chooses Genesis' Second Home by the Sea for me without first playing (or even including) Home by the Sea, I feel like I've walked into the theatre halfway through the film. 

Worse still when it's reversed and I've been booted out of the theatre halfway through!

[USRUNKNOWN]

Just thought about how great this tool would be for creating playlists, I really think many people would enjoy tools like this even if there isn’t thousands of people coming on here to like or comment about it. I personally feel like something like this would make the listening experience far greater than things like the time capsule playlists that you could just creat on your own. 

[Icka-BOD-]

I have had this idea for a long time and just took the time to see if I could share my idea. I almost put a new idea until I used the work link. For me there are some songs that should not be played without another or that I would like to have one song always played after another. Here is a few examples:

Rick Springfield - Ride 'Em B Do Jr.

Rick Springfield - State of the Heart

TNT - A Nation Free

TNT - Caught Between The Tigers

Queen - We Will Rock You

Queen - We Are The Champions

My idea for this would be when I am playing songs from a playlist or random songs playing. When one song or another song that is linked comes up, it will play both as if they were actually one song.

[_LG_]

Hi

Please implement this feature 🙂

especially in Metal it is common to have some sort of intro song and a "fade" to the next song. In this case those two songs should be considered as "one". So song A have to play before song B and other way round.

See for example: As I lay Dying / An Ocean between us / Separation + Nothing left

[Lee337]

I would like to have the ability to "tether" songs so that when one song is played the engine will automatically call up the tethered song to be played next.  Such as we will rock you is followed by we are the champion. Sylvan song is followed by dream of the archer (Queen and Heart respectively)

[Cosmic_River]

Literally the only feature I still need in spotify. Besides that the app is practically perfect. Some songs need to be played together.

[wkmyersii]

"Spotify Duos"...some song pairs are simply better linked together! Do you automatically begin singing the next song on an album? Please add a feature enabling linked song. Bon Jovi's Ride Cowboy Ride needs to be followed by Stick To Your Guns. Keep your playlist on 'random' but still hear your favorites together. Vote for Spotify Duos! 

[MihailY]

Updated on 2023-05-01

Hello @wkmyersii,

Thanks for submitting your idea to the Idea Exchange!

We've gone ahead and marked this as a new suggestion. Spotify Staff will look into this idea

once it reaches the necessary amount of votes.

More info on how your feedback reaches Spotify via the Idea Exchange can be found here.

Cheers!