shuffle playlist seems to play the same songs

[hypergreatthing]

Whenever i'm in the car, i turn on android auto and play a playlist that's already on shuffle, but on the way home i hear the same songs. I have 809 songs in the playlist, i don't think in a 15 minute drive i should be hearing the same sequence of songs.

[Eni]

Hey @hypergreatthing,

Thanks for getting in touch about this and welcome to the Community.

We can confirm that the shuffle option prioritizes the songs that Spotify perceives you listen to most, that's why some songs can come up repeatedly. However, there's this live idea about this topic. You can add your vote by clicking on the Thumbs up icon, if you'd like to have this option in the future. The Idea Exchange is a great way for us to see what our users are interested in and how many people like a certain idea. 

Check out this FAQ to learn more about it. 

If you need a hand with anything else, the Community is here for you.

[tzt9_zy7-b08a]

Plan

Free/Premium

Country

Device

(iPhone 8, Samsung Galaxy 9, Macbook Pro late 2016)

Operating System

(iOS 10, Android Oreo, Windows 10,etc.)

My Question or Issue

I have close to 3000 songs in my liked songs and shuffle it as my main playlist as I have for years. Recently I've noticed that I'm hearing the same 50-100 songs multiple times a day and would love if the algorithm that chooses these songs could stop. While in the gym today I heard the same song twice in less than an hour. I tried to attach the screen recording but it wouldn't allow me to.

[Chaosinflesh]

I have a premium family account and listen to all my 'Liked' songs on shuffle across multiple devices - work laptop, home pc, home stereo (via connect) and phone - and regularly switch which device is playing. I also regularly use each of the different devices to control each other, depending on which device I am listening from vs. which I am using at the time - e.g., in office with work laptop playing, but using my personal PC at the time. Or sitting in the lounge listening on my stereo, but controlling via phone.

Recently (last two weeks), I have noticed my shuffle function no longer seems to work properly at all. I get the same pseudo-random songs, in the same order, over and over again. I have noticed this is related to switching devices - at first I thought it was just that each device remembered where it was, and so as I switched play between the devices I was just getting duplicate runs - but after two weeks of the same songs over and over, in the same pseudo-random order, I am more inclined to think this is a bug. (Yes, I like 'Charlie Peacock - Dear Friend, but not multiple times per day, when I have another 7,000 songs I also want to listen to!). It seems like all devices are remembering where the previous device started, and because I switch often (I do the school run and WFH), they are all stuck with the same location/seed?

How can I get better random performance? At a guess, it looks like the random function is account-bound (I'm guessing it happens server-side). I want a true random - not this pseudo-random garbage.

[avintegrator]

Agree completely.  Very frustrating to have access to all of this music and 'shuffle' is only able to provide a heavy rotation of a small sampling over and over, in exactly the same order.  For the money you are charging me, this should be flawless.  Repeat all until you've done the whole list, and THEN start over.  It's really very simple in concept and in programming.  Please do better.  I find duplicate complaints going back 9 years.  Really?  I mean, REALLY? 

[user-removed]

This is quite annoying. Is there any way to disable it, so it will be purely random again?

[Lmbautista13]

I’m starting to hate the songs I loved to listen to… I know my playlist by heart at this point ON SHUFFLE 

[Windowman]

Everytime I request a song the following songs are always the same and in the same order. Spotify is supposed to play random songs after a request. I'm so close to leaving.

Plan

Premium

Operating System

(iOS 10, Android Oreo, Windows 10,etc.)

My Question or Issue

• Everytime I requeste a song the following songs are always the same and in the same order. Spotify is supposed to play random songs after a request. I'm so close to leaving. 

[xoxoadis]

I am going through the same thing. I play a random song and it will play some "newer" songs but then eventually it will Start playing the same 50 songs it loves to play over and over again. I used to love these songs but I am sick of hearing the same artist/ songs 500 times a day. I tried following some more artist I like thinking it will start recommending new songs but that did absolutely nothing. I really wish this was somehow fixed, I am so close to stop paying for premium because at this point I feel like it's pointless.

[Roadrunner54]

I have spotify now for approximately 2 years and I begin to be annoyed more and more that I am constantly hearing the same songs over and over again to the point I am considering to stop my subscription.

[Sbrfc]

Spotify is now becoming unusable with this problem with shuffle! Probably have around 40+ hours of music.

Subscribed to listen to music whilst out walking the dog ,and now out of 40hrs of music downloaded I seem to get a few of the same songs morning's and night and virtually the same 50 songs constantly every time I'm out!Surely something this simple can be sorted?Looks like it's virtually every user which is having to put up with this shambles!

[Roadrunner54]

It's just a scheme so they have to pay the least amount of royalties as possible, they never made a profit and the investors are starting to get impatient

[21ftcpqffdigx4sdhbo6]

End the shuffle paradox.

I find the "shuffle" feature on Spotify confusing and unhelpful. While it's supposed to determine my most liked songs, it often repeats the same songs repeatedly, defeating the purpose of having a shuffle option. I like other songs, but I can only listen to them if I actively search for them. This means I'm trapped in a cycle of repeatedly listening to the same favourite song, which is pointless. It's a paradox. You select my favourite song via the algorithm you create, but the song you select will forever be my favourite if you keep repeating it and not giving other options!

It would be better if Spotify had a true shuffle feature that would allow me to listen to any song in my library and receive a new list every time I select a song. I spend more time skipping songs to hear new ones, which is frustrating. I've even unliked 100 songs to try to change up the shuffle. This became apparent during the end-of-year wrap-up when my most listened to song was the one I skipped the most.

[peexpee]

bro just make a button or something so it doesn't do that anymore like I thought this was already part of the app like obviously I don't wanna hear the same songs over and over bro

[peexpee]

i don't wanna be around anymore or live anymore

[Celestialnyc]

Totally agree with all the above!!! Been on a long road trip the past two weeks and I have a long road trip playlist on shuffle and why do I keep hearing the same tracks in the same order on shuffle?!?!? It’s maddening and starting to dislike my playlist!!!

please enable a true random shuffle!!! Long time Spotify user (over ten years) and first time commenter. Starting to hate Spotify. 

[Evelynrg1]

Ditto.

I'm irritated often and am sure I will pull my premium plan soon if it's not fixed.  I find the same songs play numerous times a day, everyday.  There are songs in my Playlist I forgot I have until I look manually and play one.. then the next song is one that plays ALL THE TIME! Shuffle should be a proper shuffle and should run thru all the music. 

[Roadrunner54]

Does anyone have experience with the other streaming platforms? I'm looking to switch to another one 

[Roadrunner54]

"We can confirm that the shuffle option prioritizes the songs that Spotify perceives you listen to most, that's why some songs can come up repeatedly" that's called a self-fulfilling prophecy

Even if you check the dislike button it only removes it from the list your are actually playing, you change to another list and yep that song pops up again the same day, really? Why not just a general "I don't like this song, don't play that song ever again"? 

[Roadrunner54]

Ok I had it, just cancelled my account, bye bye spotify