Spotify’s claim to fame is a massive collection of 82 million tracks and 4 million podcasts. It’s a massive silo of songs to create playlists with hundreds – if not thousands – of your favorite songs. But is that any good if the shuffle feature won’t satisfyingly randomize them?
Whether you are a free user or think Spotify Premium is worth it, there is always a long sash of listening when you want to listen to songs in a randomized order. The shuffle feature is the best way to switch things up in a playlist or album. When it works as expected, that is.
Why does Spotify play the same songs?
Spotify might play the same songs if you have ‘Automix’ turned on or use an outdated app version. It can also happen due to active battery optimization and data cleaning settings running on your device. These features prevent Spotify from operating at full capacity.
The repetition of songs with music streaming services is downright annoying. You need to keep skipping or hitting next, which is no good if you want the app to play in the background.
- So, what can you do to dissuade Spotify from feeding you the same tunes instead of fresh tracks?
For one, complaining on the forums doesn’t seem to be an effective way to achieve anything. We’ve already covered why Spotify plays random songs. Luckily, we discovered some handy tips and tricks during our research on this topic.
This article discusses why Spotify groups songs and what you can do to fix it.
More reasons why Spotify plays songs repeatedly
There is no shortage of Spotify users complaining about this on the forums. The app tends to play the same songs from a playlist, no matter how massive. There have been users with 10k+ playlists who have to skip tracks manually to deal with the repetitiveness.
Here are the top five reasons why Spotify may be curating and playing the same songs:
- Skipping and liking tracks train Spotify’s algorithm.
- Spotify plays playlists in chronological order.
- It happens in Spotify-curated playlists by design.
- Your cache files are corrupted, or the app is not up to date.
- You are playing over intelligent speakers with an ambiguous voice command.
There are other reasons why Spotify will curate specific songs and play them to you repeatedly.
Spotify has an algorithm that’s rumored to be the most advanced among all music streaming services. It learns from your listening habits to improve your user experience.
The algorithm attempts to curate playlists, recommend tracks, and play songs based on your listening habits. For instance, if you hit ‘Like’ on a song, it trains the algorithms to think you like songs from a specific artist or genre.
Spotify may equate a song added to a playlist as if you hit ‘Like’ on it. Then, the algorithm puts two and two together. Spotify may start playing the same songs or group songs from the artist or genre. So, you may want to be reasonable with using the feature.
Pro-Tip: Turn off Automix
Automix is a Spotify feature that learns your personal preference and musical taste. The artificial intelligence feature blends tracks. Some Reddit members suggest that Automix is designed to skip the songs you skipped often, play the songs you like or listen to often, etc.
So, Automix on, you are not getting a proper shuffle with randomized mixing. Go to advanced settings and turn Automix off. It has resolved the issue for many Spotify users. Here is how you can enable or disable Automix in the app:
- Tap or Click on the Profile
- Select Settings
- Select ‘Show Advanced Settings’
- Scroll to ‘Playback’
- Toggle’ Enable smooth transitions between songs in a playlist.’
Why does Spotify play the same songs on shuffle?
Spotify plays the same songs on shuffle because of its algorithm.
It is not truly random and may play a group of songs instead of shuffling all the songs in a playlist. It can also happen if you haven’t updated the Spotify app. You might be using the old version and missing out on the new version’s updated shuffle algorithm.
On Shuffle, Spotify tends to play the same songs in groups. It may not be the same grouping, but 10% of your liked and downloaded songs constantly play next to one another. The remaining 90% of the tracks seem to get little-to-no playtime.
For more information take a look at this YouTube video.
Additionally, the Spotify app automatically compiles your playlists in chronological order. The newest track you added will feature on top of the playlist. You can get a shuffle-like vibe if you re-order your playlists and play the tracks continuously.
Here is how you can do that – Go to the mobile app and click on a playlist to open it.
Tap the menu icon (3 dots) and change the order. Click the calendar icon in the playlist and arrange songs in reverse order on a desktop. It’s not the same as shuffle, but it can keep things fresh!
Pro-Tip: Start with a song further down your playlist
If you have a list of liked songs that you play often, the algorithm may create a cycle. Once the process is created, Spotify will curate and play the same group of songs. Some Spotify users have self-reported ways to sidestep this issue and prevent Spotify from playing the same songs again.
As per user comments, you can scroll down the list and play a track, i.e., play a song further down the list. It supposedly makes Spotify shuffle all the songs instead of repeating the same ones. The company hasn’t acknowledged this, but many users have had success with this method.
Why does Spotify only play a few songs?
Spotify can stop after a few songs or play a few songs constantly on shuffle if the app is not updated or because of corrupted cache files on your device. Subsequently, a handful of songs will continually show up in the queue, even when you try from different devices.
You can check if your app is up to date. If not, download and install the latest version from the Google Play Store or App Store. Rerun the Spotify client to see if the problem is fixed. Alternatively, you may need to perform a clean reinstall to get rid of corrupted files.
At times, Spotify’s ‘AutoPlay’ will veer you to the same song over and over when your playlist has ended. Spotify will also play the first few songs repeatedly in Spotify-created playlists. Spotify has confirmed this is by design on their forum boards.
P.S. – Spotify may also play a few songs repeatedly if you give a confusing or erroneous command to a smart speaker. Often it confuses the song with a small playlist in your library. It would help if you were very specific with Alexa-based devices or other smart speakers.
Why does Spotify stop every few songs?
Spotify can stop after a few songs if you have spotty cellular coverage or a weak Wi-Fi signal. It can also happen due to corrupt cache files or if you are logged in to multiple devices. Lastly, Spotify may also pause or stop due to your device’s Low Power Mode or Data Saver Mode feature.
Check your cellular cover or Wi-Fi signal strength. You can lower streaming quality or audio quality to play music without interruptions. But if Spotify stops due to no coverage, you can only listen to offline content, or Spotify music downloaded to your device.
You can try to fix the issue by signing out everywhere. The Spotify website has a one-stop solution for this. Go to the website on your desktop and click on your profile. Click on ‘Account’ and scroll down till you see ‘Sign Out Everywhere.’ Click on it to fix the issue.
You can also try to log out and log in again and/or clear your cache as it may be overloaded. Lastly, go to your mobile settings and turn off Data Saver and Battery Saver features as they may be preventing Spotify from working correctly.
If none of the above work, a clean reinstall with the latest version of Spotify may fix the issue.
Conclusion
It’s true. Spotify tends to group or repeat the same set of songs when using autoplay or playing playlists with shuffle mode. We hope this article explains the common causes for this gripe and what you can do to sort out the issue.
We will continue to update this post with relevant information and future updates. Don’t forget to check out other posts related to Spotify downloads, streaming, and Premium Family plans.
