Queue Issues - Playing only what I want to play

[wonder95]

Plan

Premium - Family

Country

USA

Device

(iPhone 12, Macbook Pro late 2019)

Operating System

(iOS 17.2, Mac OS 13)

My Question or Issue

As much as I use Spotify, the most frustrating thing in using it is dealing with the queue, because 1) I can't add just what I want w/o extra stuff being added, 2) I can't add to the end of the queue, and 3) I can't clear the queue.  This issue is in relation to item 1. Often, I just want to add an album and have nothing else in the queue, but that's apparently impossible. When adding an album, there are two options; 1) click the green Play button, and 2) click the ellipsis, and select Add To Queue. Clicking the Play button works - sort of. However, instead of just adding the album I want to play. it adds another one from the same artist, usually the one right next to it in the artist's album list. I have looked in Settings and anything else I can think of, and I can not find anything to get rid of this "feature". BTW, the same goes for playlists.

So my questions are these:
1) Is there a way to just clear out my entire queue?
2) Is there a way just to play one album, without having other stuff that I don't want added to my queue?

Thanks.

[Susan_GP]

Hi there @wonder95,

Thanks for reaching out to the Community and welcome!

This is interesting because we haven't seen this behavior you're experiencing before. I just checked myself and I'm able to add Albums and Playlists to my Queue without adding anything extra. I'm also able to clean my entire Queue by opening it and selecting Clear queue.

As this is something we weren't able to reproduce from our side, we'll need to gather more info. First up, does this happen on more than one device? Or just one in particular? Additionally, have you tried any troubleshooting steps to fix it (e.g., a reinstallation, a soft reset, or a different device)?

Lastly, would you mind sending us a video recording of this behavior? You can attach it in your next reply in mp4 format, or you can also upload it to YouTube or Google Drive and make it public, so we can visualize it.

We'll keep an eye out for your reply!

[wonder95]

Hi, thanks for getting back to me.

Where is this Clear Queue option? I have looked around and tried right clicking anywhere I can see, and I do not see that option. This is both on my Mac desktop and iPhone apps.

[Susan_GP]

Hi there @wonder95,

Thanks for your reply.

You should find the option when opening the Queue: 

  

And it should look something like this from your mobile device:

 

If you don't get the option, could you send some screenshots of how your Queue looks when you open it?

We'll take a look.

[wonder95]

Per the attached screen shot (Mac desktop), I do not see either of those options. The same is true on iPhone.

[wonder95]

OK, so after playing with this a little more, I realized the answer, but I'm still confused. The list above was generated by clicking the play button at the top of a playlist. However, this is not the queue; you have to specifically add songs to the queue. If I pick a song - even from those listed - and add it to the queue, THEN, I get the Next in queue list and Clear queue button. In other words, I was assuming that any time I select something to play, it was added to the queue, but that assumption was incorrect.

So that brings me to my next questions - 1) how do I just play what I want to play, and 2) how do I get rid of the "Next up" list? What ifI don't want to play them? Do I have to FF through each one? And why is "Next up" separate from the queue itself? To me, it seems logical that the queue would be anything I want to play next, whether I specifically add it to the queue or click on the big Play button for an entire album/playlist/collection/whatever.

Hopefully all that makes sense...

[Yordan]

Hi @wonder95,

If you press play on a song from an album/playlist/artist, the remainder of the songs will be added to the queue until you reach the end / the last song. The best way to only have a single song in your queue is to play it from Search > Songs:

Of course, you can also play a playlist/album and just delete the rest of the items in your queue using the Del/Backspace key on your keyboard in the desktop app / Web Player - this works in all sections.

Tips: To select all items in a section press Cmd + A. I'd also recommend making sure Autoplay is toggled off, as it automatically generates a new when the current one finishes playing so that the music never ends.

Hope this info was useful. The Community is always here if there's anything else we can assist with.

[FlipDiggity]

I have the same issue. I just want the podcast function to behave like every other podcast app out there. New shows go into a queue so I can move them around but old episodes are not added, which is what’s happening. I have a gigantic queue of podcasts that I cannot manipulate or delete. I tried deleting, then left the queue and came back, and all the episodes since the dawn of time are in the queue again. 

[wonder95]

Yes, this is still happening to me all the time; my queue is empty, and I hit the green Play button for an album, and it adds another one (that I don't want), too, and then more when that's done. I just want it to play what I select. On top of that, there is no button to empty the queue (contrary to what I was told above). Very frustrating.

[Dessi]

Hey folks,

Thanks for flagging!

@FlipDiggity, are you playing the episodes directly from the podcast? If so, try adding them to Your Episodes and listening from there instead - doing so would give you more sorting options, which you can use to better customize your play queue.

You mentioned that the episodes are being re-added to the queue, could you elaborate further on that? Does it happen after restarting the app? Also, are you playing on an external speaker via Spotify Connect? If so, check if the issue persists when listening directly on your device instead.

@wonder95, sounds like you might have Autoplay toggled on. The feature generates a new queue of similar content when the previous one ends so that the playback doesn't stop. As for the "Clear queue" button, it's only shown for the songs you've manually added to the queue. There's more info on the topic in this article, check it out.

Hope this clears things up.

[wonder95]

@Dessi, I checked my settings, and I do not have the Autoplay option enabled.

[Susan_GP]

Hi there @wonder95,

Thanks for checking. 

So we can see what exactly is happening, would you mind sending us a video recording of this behavior? You can attach it in your next reply in mp4 format, or you can also upload it to YouTube or Google Drive and make it public, so we can visualize it.

Additionally, does it happen in one device in particular or in every device you use? If you haven't check, you can try using a computer or the Web Player. Or you can log in with your account from someone else's mobile device to try. It can be a relative or friend's device.

Lastly, have you tried any troubleshooting steps? If not, we recommend reinstalling the app to check if that makes a difference. You won't lose any saved content, but might have to re-download your offline music.

We'll keep an eye out for your reply!

[wonder95]

Hi Susan,

Here is a video showing what I am talking about.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wGn2Mt_0QYNPk__KF6Guie-eiJCch1Eb/view?usp=sharing

Thanks.

[Dessi]

Hey @wonder95,

Thanks for the reply and the screen recording!

When you play an album from an artist's discography while in List view, the rest of their albums will also be added to the queue. If you'd like to just listen to a single album, make sure to click on its title first and then press Play. You can also switch to Grid view and press Play to do this:

I've also noticed on the screen recording that you have Repeat on, so if you want the playback to stop when the album ends, make sure to turn it off first by clicking on it until it gets greyed out as seen on the screenshot above.

Hope this clears things up. 

[wonder95]

Hi Dessi, thanks for getting back to me.

D'oh! I didn't realize that I had "repeat one" on. However, that being said, even when that is off, when I play the last song, as soon as it ends, the queue is repopulated with the same album. It doesn't start playing, but it is still repopulated. Is there a way to stop this?

Also, is there supposed to be a way to empty the queue? I have seen posts elsewhere that indicate that there should be a button to clear the queue, but I do not see one anywhere (at least in the Mac desktop app).

Thanks.

[AlejaR]

Hey there @wonder95,

Thanks for your reply and for the info shared. 

There is no way to stop the album being re-added to the queue once it has ended playing. This is the expected behavior if you don't have the Autoplay feature or the repeat on activated. This doesn't mean the album is going to play after that: if you start to play different content, you'll see the album will disappear from the queue. We really appreciate your feedback and the time you took to let us know about it.

On another note, keep in mind that the Clear queue button appears when you've manually added some content to play next (other playlists, shows or albums). For example, if you are listening to an album, and you decide to add a different playlist to the queue, then you'll see the button at the top of the queue. If you decide to use the button, it'll remove the content you just added to the queue:

If perhaps there is something you'd like to see implemented within the app, or you'd like something to change, you can always post your suggestion on our ideas board. The Idea Exchange is a Community board in which Spotify users can share their feedback in the form of ideas, to improve the Spotify experience for everyone. Every user can suggest an idea or show their support for an existing one by voting for it.

If you decide to post any suggestions, make sure to always follow our Idea Exchange Guidelines. That way others can find your idea easily and show their support.

Hope this clears things up. If you have any questions or need anything else, the Community is here for you.