Music is repetitive in shuffle mode

[User2013]

I have over 100 stations but shuffle stations repeats the same stations and songs over and over. I have at least 20-25 stations that never, ever are selected by shuffle. I want more variety of songs and stations at random, not some underdeveloped algorithm.

Moderator Edit: Edited title for clarity

[AdamPandora · Accepted solution]

@User2013 Nice to see you around the community. 👋🏽

Sorry to hear our shuffle feature hasn't been working the way you'd like. I do have some suggestions that may help:
 
1. Create a custom shuffle mix. If you haven't already, try making a custom shuffle. You can include any station you'd like, and this set of stations will be saved as My Shuffle (or QuickMix) on all your devices. Let us know if you'd like the steps for that. 

You'll then be able to check the boxes next to the stations that you want to include in your custom shuffle, and this set of stations will be saved as My Shuffle (or QuickMix) on all your devices.

2. Avoid including several stations based on similar artists or songs. Choosing several stations of a similar style will create a repetitive shuffle mix. When selecting stations for shuffle (or when creating any new stations in general) consider selecting artists or tracks that musically contrast. This will yield a broader playlist.

3. Put tracks on the shelf. If you get sick of a track but don't want to completely ban it, you can put it on the shelf for a while by selecting I'm tired of this track/song.

4. Edit individual stations. In some cases, it might actually help to remove Thumbs up ratings from your shuffled stations to mix things up. If there are any Thumbed up songs you used to love, but have grown tired of, try removing those ratings.

Hope this helps!

[User2013]

Wide diversity of content and artists, stations artist only, no thumbs up, songs shelved as needed.

Custom shuffle seems contradictory. Do I simply need to put all my stations in that single option?

[Larrlar1660]

When I shuffle two stations I do not hear the variety of songs as when I play the stations separately.  In addition, I hear duplicates more often

[AdamPandora]

@Larrlar1660 I moved your post over to this existing thread: Music is repetitive in shuffle mode

Check out the accepted solution for more information.

Hope this helps!

[geoffdrumm]

Repetition of songs when using the shuffle mode

I have 200+ artists/stations (deep tracks) on my playlist and yet some artists rarely/never play while some songs are played over and over.

[AdamPandora]

@geoffdrumm I moved your post over to this existing thread: Music is repetitive in shuffle mode

Check out the accepted solution for more information.

Hope this helps!

[Larrlar1660]

That is not the solution.  Maybe the real question is whether the shuffle function follows the settings of the station.  Songs variety is not clise to the same in shuffle mode as it is when playing the station on its own

[Weevilears]

How well does shuffle stations work?  Not well?  I am new  I saved many several artists and/or stations to my collection from which there should be many several hundred or thousand sounds from which to randomize selections but 1) it seems to prefer some artists over others (disproportionate to the artist’s library) and of the artists it seems to like some songs over others  

It is almost as if it selects songs to play based on previous searches or commercial popularity rather than truly random selections from ALL the works of the artist  

[AdamPandora]

@Weevilears I moved your post over to this existing thread: Music is repetitive in shuffle mode

Check out the accepted solution for more information.

Hope this helps!

[jayhawk714]

I have about 20 stations in My Collection. However, when I choose the Shuffle option it seems I am only hearing songs from a few of them. Plus I can hear some songs several times an hour. It seems with 20 or so stations that I would not hear the same songs over and over. I did mark some songs as favorite ones. Could the be the problem and if so how can I "undo them" as favorite?

[AdamPandora]

@jayhawk714 I moved your post over to this existing thread: Music is repetitive in shuffle mode

Music is repetitive in shuffle mode:

Check out the accepted solution for more information on how to resolve this.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

How to remove thumb ratings from individual stations:

Check out the accepted solution on this thread for instructions on how to edit thumb ratings: How to edit thumb ratings

Hope this helps!

[ejf5073]

This is not providing a solution. The issue is that the shuffle is playing the same stations for 3 - 5 songs in a row, rather than switching stations. This was not previously an issue, but it seems to be a consistent issue now. 

[sarahneu]

How do you create a custom shuffle and can you do this on your mobile phone?

[AdamPandora]

@sarahneu To edit which stations are played during Shuffle from your phone:

• Go to My Collection.
  • Free and Pandora Plus listeners, swipe the Shuffle Stations icon bar at the top of your stations list from right to left. Then tap the Pencil that appears.
  • Pandora Premium subscribers will need to filter My Collection further by Stations. Then tap the Pencil to the right of Shuffle stations.

There, you can select or deselect which stations you'd like to appear in your Shuffle by Station or Genre. Tap Save on the top right corner of your screen when done.

Let me know if you have trouble with this. Thanks so much for listening to Pandora!

[IlovePandora]

Hi Adam - I've been having this same shuffle stations problem for a few months now. It used to work fine before. I have not changed any of my settings, and I followed all the steps mentioned in the previous commends to double-check. It still is not working. It just keeps playing 1 station over and over and does not shuffle the stations I have. This happens if I use customer shuffle or shuffle all.   I'm using  Mac book pro Mac os big sure 11.7.10.  Pls take a look at my settings.  10/27/23. Thank you

[kltrott1]

I'm not sure why this ticket is labeled "solved" . You just sent the replies to the same answer in a different thread. This "answer" doesn't work. No matter what I select or manage in my stations, the Pandora shuffle stations algorithm is what is (and remains) completely broken. 

[AdamPandora]

@kltrott1 I've enabled a trace on your account to help us better understand what's happening.

For this trace to be useful, we'll need you to reproduce this on your end.

The next time a track repeats in Shuffle Mode in the same listening session, please reply back with:

• the name of the artist/track that repeated
• the date & time the track repeated

Thanks for working with me on this.