Spotify’s shuffle feature can come in handy while you’re working out or cleaning the house, but have you ever noticed that your Shuffle playlists never seem to play in a truly random order? It turns out that the list you make in Spotify isn’t shuffled – it’s just reordered according to specific algorithms. Here are some reasons why your Spotify Shuffle isn’t random and how you can fix it, so your music does play in shuffle mode every time.
Change In the Shuffle Algorithm of Spotify
When Spotify first began, it operated on proper random Shuffle – every song in a playlist had an equal opportunity to come up when you hit the shuffle button. However, the streaming service soon found itself inundated with complaints from users who said that their shuffles needed to be more random and that they kept getting clumps of songs by one artist.
The problem was that no matter what Spotify did, even if it were random shuffling, people still felt like there was something wrong because humans’ sense of what is considered random doesn’t match how things work!
To counter this problem, Spotify switched their Shuffle from random to seemingly no pattern. This might sound strange, but it’s because humans can’t handle the idea of random — so we don’t want to hear about four Drake songs followed by three Kanye songs. We need patterns and solutions even when they’re not there, which is something we need help comprehending.
Is It Possible To Make Spotify Shuffle Random?
In the late 2010s, Spotify analyzed its shuffle algorithm thoroughly and released a new update. They asserted that they had already fixed this issue. But even after claiming so, shuffling remained an issue for many people.
Sometimes the playlist would continue playing in order despite shuffling it at least once. This usually happens if there aren’t enough songs on the playlist – where you may hear certain songs repeatedly instead of hearing them all more equally.
There’s not an easy way to make Spotify randomly shuffle – but here are some tips for keeping things fresh and varied without having to go through all your existing albums again.
Reasons Why Spotify Shuffle Is Not Random
Here are a few reasons why your Spotify shuffle is not random:
Bad Internet Connection: If you’re having problems streaming music through Spotify, it may be because of your network connectivity. This problem typically occurs when the wireless signal is unstable or weak; downloading a song will also fix this issue.
Same Account Logged in Too Many Devices: You may face this issue if you log into your Spotify account multiple times on multiple devices or if you listen to two songs simultaneously across both of these devices.
Outdated Application Version: Older applications might have bugs that make some features stop working. So, Spotify needs to be on the latest software version.
How To Make Spotify Shuffle Random?
When your Spotify shuffle is not working, it can be frustrating to switch songs manually all the time. But luckily, there are ways around this problem, so if it ever happens again, here’s what you need to do:
Log Out and Restart your Spotify
When your Spotify has technical difficulties, one solution is to sign out of it. You can also try to restart the app; this might correct the issue. To do so, you need to:
- Head to Your Library, then go to Settings – the one with the gear icon – located in the right corner. And click Log Out with the white button.
- Once you’ve logged out, close Spotify.
- Afterwards, clear or remove it from your running apps in your background. Follow that up by clearing the app cache and deleting junk files found in your phone’s Settings.
- Afterwards, go back to Spotify and log in again; see if everything works by playing a playlist! Make sure you turn on Shuffle Mode again!
Update your Spotify to the Latest Version
Another reason the Spotify shuffle isn’t random is that it’s been playing songs from your library for months! You can tell this because it keeps repeating certain pieces repeatedly. All you need to do is update the version of your Spotify; if you’re on iOS (iPad, iPod, Mac or iPhone), follow these steps:
- Android Users: Head to your Google Play Store app and select My Apps & Games. Scroll down on this page until you locate the Spotify App. If there is an update available for it, tap the Update button.
- IOS Users: Open up your App Store and go to Updates. Look through them until you find any updates for Spotify or anything else that needs updating.
Sort All Your Tracks by Title
If the first two solutions did not solve your problem, and your Spotify shuffle still needs to be fixed, here’s a third option. This is one of the most popular solutions users find on their forums when discussing such problems. It works for many people who are experiencing issues with random playlists!
- To start, open up your Spotify app and pick an album or playlist you’d like to listen to from the list (don’t worry if it isn’t shuffled).
- Swipe downwards until the ‘Filter’ search bar appears at the top – there’ll be an icon which looks like three horizontal lines next to its left side. Tap on these three lines so you can see ‘Sort By.
- Once you’ve selected this option, you’ll be on a page titled ‘Title’, so select it before going back to tapping on ‘⦁ Shuffle Play. Click ‘Shuffle Play and check if the playlist plays your tracks randomly.
Use Spotify Shuffler Site
If you’ve tried the tips above, but your Spotify shuffle still isn’t working, then you can use the free and safe third-party app Spotify Shuffler. Though it works for mobile devices and desktops, people are split over whether it shuffles songs more randomly than Spotify does. To use this app:
- Open SpotifyShuffler.com on your computer or mobile device.
- Next, log in with your account information – but remember to turn OFF Shuffle Mode while logged into Spotify so that it doesn’t accidentally override your playlist order and disrupt the natural randomization process.
- After logging in, create an entirely new playlist or select the one you’ve already made in the past, then click Shuffle at the bottom right corner of the screen.
- Check back anytime to find a different mix of songs for hours of fresh listening!
Conclusion
Aside from being the most prominent digital music streaming service, Spotify also has a few issues which affect its millions of users. One of the most common problems when using Spotify is related to Shuffling. You can use one of the above four methods to fix this issue. If one doesn’t work for you, proceed to another method.