Introducing Smart Shuffle!

[Joan]

Introducing Smart Shuffle! 

We know that our users love creating their own playlists to capture key moments in time – in fact, playlists created by users often become their most-streamed playlist for the first several months but listening to these playlists slowly fades overtime, and users are eager to discover new music.

With this in mind, we’re excited to launch a new play mode called Smart Shuffle that keeps listening sessions fresh and provides personalized recommendations that perfectly match any listeners’ playlist vibe. 

This update will roll out to Premium users on mobile devices starting today.

How does Smart Shuffle work?

• You can use it in any playlist created by you, and your Liked Songs.
• To activate it, just use the Shuffle button to switch between regular play, Shuffle mode and Smart Shuffle.
• When Smart Shuffle is on, recommendations are added to your session automatically. You can find all the recommendations sitting in your queue.
• You will be able to recognize the music we are recommending with the sparkle (✨) symbol next to the track. For a playlist with more than 15 songs, we’ll recommend one song for every three tracks.
• And the best part, your original playlist remains untouched, so you can add any new track that catches your ear.
• If you like a specific recommendation, just save it using the plus button in the Now Playing View. If that song doesn’t hit right, just tap the minus to remove it from the recommendations. This is then used to better adjust the suggestions we put forward.
• Every time you turn Smart Shuffle off, a new mix will be available every time you activate it again.

Introductory pageHow the queue will look

Adding and removing recommendations.

Different playback options.

FAQ

What about the Enhance feature?

For now, Smart Shuffle will replace the Enhance feature.

What will happen to Discover Weekly and other regularly updated playlists?

For the time being, no changes to those will be made. Smart Shuffle aims to improve the listening experience for user curated playlists.

Does this mean that using Smart Shuffle will cause my carefully curated playlists to get cluttered with new recommendations?

No! Your original playlist remains untouched, so you can add any new track that catches your ear. Smart Shuffle won’t change your playlist without your explicit permission. What changes instead is what you'll hear during each specific listening session

🌟 I would like to disable Smart Shuffle permanently. Can I do that?

Yes, you can! Just go to Settings and privacy and then to Playback and toggle the option Enable all play modes to off. This will mean you will only have the regular shuffle. 

Note: This option is for Premium users only.

We hope you're as excited as we are about this new play mode. The official Newsroom announcement is out, you can check that out too. For any and all feedback on the matter you may have, you're more than welcome to comment in the thread below.

[feistyla]

Playlists with 'instrumental' in the title (and only instrumental tracks)  are getting intruded with non-instrumental  tracks!  That is not smart.  It's disruptuve.

It  was also not obvious that "Smart Shuffle" was selected.  The visual distinction should be blaringly unique and clear whether you are on expected shuffle, VS opting-in to intrusive additions.
I will Always want to listen to purely my chosen cultivated playlist, and  I would *never* want presumptuous  automated additions to a mix I've chosen or created! 

But there's no  preference settings to prevent it wholesale.. so it should at least be its own button, and not a sneaky gremlin that happens when I hit shuffle.

thank you

[feistyla]

100% agree SkyHiii!  I just lost an hour of focus flow at work by the intrusions in an instrumental playlist I had in the background. Had to keep stopping work focus to click past vocal-added songs and didn't know why.  Didn't realize the sneaky 'smart' shuffle took over my shuffle setting!  
It should be a separate clear button to 'opt in' , which I would never choose. But that would be the only way to offer it without sideswiping the rest of us.

[Richy_AU]

WOW, scary stuff, smart shuffle is a horrible experiance. Its so bad that now on my desktop version & carplay, I can't even shuffle a playlist (without smart shuffle) even when its toggled off it still adds songs. I am so sick of it I am looking for an altenative to Spotify.

[Darth_GTB]

I posted this suggestion for a redesign to Smart Shuffle. Please upvote it if you like it or add your thoughts on what could be made better than what I thought in the comments there

https://community.spotify.com/t5/Live-Ideas/Smart-Shuffle-Redesign/idi-p/6161374

[juniormonk]

Quote: We know that our users love creating their own playlists

And yet you have created a system to ruin things for people.

Quote: ...users are eager to discover new music.

Really? Every. Single. User?

Quote: How does Smart Shuffle work? To activate it, just use the Shuffle button to switch between regular play, Shuffle mode and Smart Shuffle.

Except it doesn't, does it? It switches between regular play, Smart Shuffle, and then Shuffle mode. If it worked as you indicate it would likely not be much of a problem.

Quote: We hope you're as excited as we are about this new play mode

I am not. Please un-introduce it or give us the option to disable it. We already have the Autoplay option which plays similar music when a playlist ends. And that comes with a button to disable it for people that just want to listen to the playlists they have carefully curated.

[Tahlequawesome]

Premium user. Make a master toggle or I'll take my business elsewhere. This is a garbage feature shoveled onto your users like a pile of **bleep**.

[Tahlequawesome]

Lol. P0()p gets bleeped.

[arkanesky]

Another reminder that I ditched Spotify a year or so ago when it became clear they're not budging on this. Haven't looked back, except to occasionally confirm what I unfortunately guessed - "Smart" Shuffle isn't going anywhere.

Try out Deezer or Apple Music or whichever, Spotify has dug its grave and seems quite content to lie down in it.

[albional]

Reading through this I'd guess it's not as popular as Spotify wanted it to be! Just add a master option in the settings to disable it permanently and everyone will be happy. Users who like it can use it and those of us who want to listen to our playlists as intended will be happy. Simple really. 

[Cedd12]

Toggle option to remove it, terrible feature.
Making it the default shuffle was a mistake, get rid of it.

[Tikeb]

I always have smart shuffle off when listening to music/playlists. Recently it's been turning itself on without user interaction and I find this very annoying. To the point I have to change playlists just to clear the queue and start again. I never use this feature and would like a way to permanently disable it.

[rednblu]

Current status:  You can pre-set by playlist the default to NONsmartShuffle in mobile and desktop separately

Mobile display of contents of Demo 1 folder-- as created on desktop-- Found quickly by MyLibrary search for "Demo"-- beginning of FolderName After clicking the green start arrow-- Note that the shuffle type has been pre-set to NONsmart for this playlist as default After clicking the green start arrow-- Note that: Default to NONsmartShuffle has been pre-set for this playlist before use Desktop setting of NONsmartShuffle by default-- Because the user has pre-set the default by playlist

and you have to check periodically that the Spotify DungeonBoss has not reset your defaults to that badShuffle mode behind your back--

Then Demo 2: NON-smart default shuffle all tracks in all playlists and all sub-folders under a MasterFolder.  It works!  But it could be put on one button!

With mouse pointer on "Play": Ready to start shuffle of all tracks in MasterFolder After clicking "Play": Queue fills with random tracks from all playlists in all Sub-folders of this MasterFolder Ready to initialize a new shuffle-- Either of a playlist or of a different Folder

Several installation steps are required to leave the MasterFolder with the default of “Play” in NONsmartShuffle mode only.

[timrichmond]

I have voted to remove, but adding my comment here too - I HATE this feature and how it seems to slip itself in often.  Make it a toggle overall, not something we have to deal with over and over.

https://community.spotify.com/t5/Live-Ideas/Mobile-Other-Smart-Shuffle-toggle-setting-in-settings-me...

[littlebeagle]

What the **bleep** is this **bleep**, seems to have just randomly started doing this in my playlists.... hey spotify if I wanted recommendations I'd play one of your curated playlists. Stop thinking you know better than the user.

[azertystar]

Remove this Smart Shuffle thing for ffs... or at least add an option to disable it in the settings. I hate it, I just want the normal shuffle without additional recommendations.

[Techraven]

The smart shuffle has been moved to be the second click on the shuffle button, but when i remove it  by clicking again it comes back after the currently playing song (when im not looking)

I dont want smart shuffle, if i want to discover new songs i will listen to discover weekly or start a radio from an artist or playlist, this is basicly just a playlist radio, but forced down my throat, and that feels very bad when i have paid for this service for more than 10 years now...

Please make it posible to turn off smartshuffle entirely, i hate the annoying double click, and it creeps in anyway.

[wspvacation]

This SmartSearch feature is annoying to say the least. Some may like it, but since obviously so many users do not like it, please add an option to turn it off for all playlists all the time. Those who like it can then turn it on if they want. Stop shoving this stuff down your customers' throats.

[turbobuddah]

By far the worst thing spotify has added, if signal is ropey it hangs on it and you can't switch it to normal shuffle. It seems to have gotten more 'aggressive' too, the app will randomly default to smart shuffle fairly often

If they don't add an option to disable it I think i'll move to another streaming platform tbh

[turbobuddah]

Can't support that, it's a better idea but without a mention of disabling the option it's a no from me, that's what 90% of the people here want

[rednblu]

   ≫  ... disabling the option ...  need an option to disable ... if the signal is ropey, the dopey shuffle hangs on ... the repeats and inserted advertisement of tracks drive me mad ... and I will cancel all my paying accounts ... if you don’t fix this!

There are several quick solutions-- but this is Spotify-- and the users have to discover and do it themselves-- without any help from Spotify help.

And there is no reliable place for the hard users to post the simple, straight-forward solutions in a way that the real users could edit the text of the solutions themselves to counteract the constant changes that destroy the instructions for the quick fixes-- So lots of anger and frustration-- and the Spotify dungeon boss just laughs and laughs and does it again and again.

That said-- as of now-- the summary of the current fix for desktop, mobile, web browser player, and TV player is-- Start the perfect Shuffle on the desktop and then Connect to play wherever you would like.

On the desktop Spotify:  1) Insert a FiveTrackPlaylist just above the up-to 9999 track playlist you want to shuffle-- then 2) set the DefaultByPlaylist default to “NONsmartShuffle_only”--     
CrossedArrows turned green indicate that "Play" by DoubleClick will execute as NONsmartShuffle_Only--for both the a) FiveTrackPlaylist to initiate and the b) 9999 track playlist that you want to shuffle-- then 3) DoubleClick the initiate playlist and then 4) DoubleClick the 9999 track playlist that you want to shuffle. 

And as a pleasant result, the shuffle will play perfectly-- My last shuffle has played right now-- for 1,994 tracks on my Win_10 Spotify player-- sometimes connecting to play on my mobile whenever I want-- This perfect Spotify shuffle has been running for six days without stopping and without failure-- Zero repeats as recorded and scrutinized faithfully by my last.fm reporter-- And zero moments of anger at noticing any infuriating smart-alecky insertion by the Spotify Smart shuffle or other minions of evil.

But the Spotify Dungeon Boss can strike at any minute-- I know-- by day or night to make changes-- even to code or default settings without my approval-- However, my last.fm reporter will certainly notice any repeating string of infuriating repeats, and last.fm will certainly warn me without fail before I even notice the repeat-- even any infuriating repeat from the repeats without ceasing from that pretendingToBeSMART Dungeon Boss of a shuffle breaker.