Shuffle mode no longer random

My iTunes 10.6.1 Shuffle Mode has started playing related songs.
This just started a day or two ago. I like to listen to the nearly 13000 selections in my music library completely randomly in the Shuffle mode. But iTunes has taken to playing "related" songs - a bunch of songs with "mist" in their title, followed by a couple of songs with "fog" in the title. Or worse, playing different versions of the same song all in a row - studio version followed by live versions, or the same song by different bands.
I have not changed any settings that I am aware of. Does anyone know how to turn off this annoying "feature"?

Hello jdt1986,
Thank you for using Apple Support Communities!
It sounds like the shuffle function is not working as expected so I have a resource that should help resolve the issue.
It is called iPod classic Troubleshooting Assistant
and can be found here http://www.apple.com/support/ipod/five_rs/classic/
Cheers,
Sterling

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Music won't stay in shuffle mode ?

Hi all,
This problem seems to have started after intalling one of the last ITunes updates a while ago.
Basically when I shuffled a song list it would stay in shuffle mode until you unclicked the shuffle icon. Now the shuffle mode seems to randomly turn itself off.
Does anyone know why this is happening ?
Thanks all,
Martin

Ok I've worked out what causes this - if you play a podcast it turns off the shuffle when you go back to songs. Do you think this is a bug ? If so how could I report to Apple ?
Thanks all

Plays in order, but not random (won't shuffle). Shuts off in shuffle mode

My 1G (1st generation) ipod plays the songs in order, but not in (random) shuffle mode. In order mode, switching to shuffle turns the ipod off. If in shuffle mode initially, the ipod will not play at all. In shuffle mode, there's a green light on the front, initially, then it shuts off.
I believe it's a problem with the shuffle switch and/or shuffle mode exclusively.
I have reformatted, reset and done the "five R's" twice and the battery is fully charged. I've read about removing the switch in the back to clean it, but I don't want to risk breaking it. Any experience with this problem? Any experience with removing the switch?
Emachines Windows XP
Emachines Windows XP

My 1G (1st generation) ipod plays the songs in order,
but not in (random) shuffle mode. In order mode,
switching to shuffle turns the ipod off. If in
shuffle mode initially, the ipod will not play at
all. In shuffle mode, there's a green light on the
front, initially, then it shuts off.
I believe it's a problem with the shuffle switch
and/or shuffle mode exclusively.
I have reformatted, reset and done the "five R's"
twice and the battery is fully charged. I've read
about removing the switch in the back to clean it,
but I don't want to risk breaking it. Any experience
with this problem? Any experience with removing the
switch?
My first Shuffle (1st Gen) slide switch began behaving erratically... it would slide past the first position and was difficult to reposition in the play-in-order position.
At the time it was 1 month old and was replaced at an Apple Store. It's been working fine for over a year.
The slider can get crud under it and can be removed carefully when in the OFF position by sliding a butter knife blade under it from the bottom. it will pop up IF the operation is done carefully. DO NOT attempt this IF your Shuffle is under warranty...
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iPod/iPod-Shuffle/Hold-Switch/98/1/Page-1/Hold-Switc h

Shuffle Mode that does not rep

Dear Creative Representati've,I am planning to purchase a flash based MP3 Player within the next couple of days. I am looking for a player that has a shuffle feature but that remembers not to repeat the same song until it has gone through the entire list of songs. Do any of your players have this or any similar feature that presents the repetition of songs but yet plays randomly? If so, please tell me what model or models will meet these needs.
I am currently interested in purchasing a MUVO Micro200.
Thank you,Rene Requenez

I use a Muvo TX FM, which has three shuffle-modes.
They are: Shuffle repeat, Shuffle once, Shuffle folder.
You can read the detailed descriptions for them on page 40 of the manual:
http://files.americas.creative.com/m...ish_Manual.pdf
Shuffle once and Shuffle folder are described exactly as you want it to be, they even stop playing after playing all songs once in random order. Shuffle repeat keeps on playing, but I guess it does not play a song twice as long as some songs have not been played yet. (like shuffle once without stopping)
I tested Shuffle folder some minutes ago to be able to report, and it seems as if the player remembers which songs have been played, as you want it to be.
Of course I did not listen to the songs in full length, I skipped. Therefore the player did not stop after the last song and then repeated all songs, but if I did not skip the last song, it did stop!
The "V200" and "Micro N200" are technically very similar to the TX FM, so I guess they have the same features. You can look into the other manuals, but the one I found for the N200 was not as good as the obove listed. I could read that the N200 also has the 3 modes that I mentioned above, but there where no descriptions for them.

In shuffle mode, some songs never get played, why?

I have most of my music in 1 playlist (about 2500 songs) which I listen to all the time, always in shuffle mode. I became aware that my ipod was never playing some songs, yet others were recurring quite frequently. When I checked the playcount, it showed the highest count at 46, yet it also showed that many tracks that had been in the playlist just as long, have never been played. Why is this? Is my ipod secretly asserting it's own taste in music? Does shuffle mode favour songs with a higher playcount? Is there a way to stop this happening? Has anybody else experienced this? Suggestions gratefully received.

I've heard this excuse before, that what we think is random really isn't, but when certain trends occur enough times, its pretty clear that there is some kind of algorithm or something in the coding that affects the shuffle.
I know random means random, but there are too many "random" coincidences and apparent patterns that occur to raise doubt that it truly is as random as Apple claims.
One such example, is that when using the Shuffle Songs feature (that shuffles all tracks on the iPod) I had 2-3 tracks from the same album (an album I had never even listened to yet) showing up within the first 40 tracks five times in a row. Numerous other songs showed up in at least 3 of the 5 "trials." Out of 8,000 songs.
On a playlist (of 300 or less songs is all I have tried), if you have multiple songs off the same album, you are far more likely to hear at least one other song off a given album within about 10 songs then you are to not hear a song off the same album. A specific example of this is on a playlist of 105 songs I have, there are 3 songs off one album, however nearly every time 2 of the songs will play within a 10 track range, and nearly as often all 3 songs will play within the same 20 track range.
I know random isn't perfectly spaced songs, but when certain things happen often enough, the odds of it become so low that even the "true random" explanation doesn't cover it.

Keeping certain tracks together in Shuffle mode

I have some live music (would like to import it in AAF format) that is tracked but I want to keep certain tracks together as "one track" when in shuffle mode. I don't mind if I need to make a new second track that is this one long connected track, but need an easy way to do it so that it sounds seamless.
Thanks in advance.

I don't know if this would be seamless enough for your needs, but try using Groups. You can assign tracks to a group be using the "Get Info" window (cmd+I) info tab to assign a grouping.
To choose whether iTunes shuffles by songs, albums, or groupings, choose Controls > Shuffle > [Option].
If you select “by Albums” or “by Groupings,” iTunes plays the songs in the order in which they appear on the album or in the grouping, and then chooses another album or grouping at random.

Creative ZEN Stone Shuffle Mode?

%Creative ZEN Stone > Shuffle Mode? I recently bought a Creative ZEN Stone 2GB (2nd generation) MP3 Player. I created one folder with random music I like to listen to while making sports which I'd like to play in Shuffle mode and some other folders containing some complete albums, ordered with numbers in front of the file names. If I switch to the "sports" folder an choose Shuffle mode, the player seems to shuffle all the files on the Player. Of course I'd like it to shuffle only the files contained in the "sports" folder, listening to ambient music during sports doesn't motivate me too much you know. And if I want to play the "ambient"-folder in Shuffle mode, I don't want to listen to power metal at all.
Did I miss something or is the Player unable to shuffle one single folder? Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you choose Shuffle mode, it shuffles all the files on the Player, regardless of any folders.
Is there any (probably 3rd-party) firmware out there with which I can make my Creative ZEN Stone 2GB (2nd generation) shuffle only one single folder?
Thank you in advance for you answers.

When you say second generation, do you mean zen stone with speaker or/and screen
On the zen stone plus with speaker ( and screen) you can shuffle just the contents of a folder without playing anything from another folder b y doing this:
Music > select a folder select play mode, select shuffle folder, job done.

Shuffle 3G is 'stuck' in straight play and won't switch to shuffle mode.

The shuffle when in shuffle mode shuffles the songs reasonably randomly and when i staright mode, I can access all my playlists BUT if i switch from shuffle to straight and the want to switch back to shuffle the problem begins. The shuffle will then only play straight mode in either position of the switch, ie straight or shuffle position and the only way to correct it is to connect the shuffle to itunes [not do a restore] until the sync is complete [a matter of seconds]. I have tried resetting the shuffle and moving the switch from shuffle to straight and the back to shuffle [page 21 of the manual] and neither make any difference.I have restored the unit a bout 3 times and it still happens.
So, why is this happening? Is there something i should be doing? Or do i need to change the shuffle? I have even used different earphones [Apple and 3rd party with Belkin Adapter] and that makes no difference either. Help and advice please

I prefer the 7th Generation Nano and Bluetooth headset. Get plugs for the heaphone and lightning jack or put it in water resistant case to prevent perspiration from killing it. You can turn off shake to shuffle in settings.

In shuffle mode, playing a multi-part song.

In shuffle mode, I have some "songs" that are really parts of one long song. How can I play this song correctly in shuffle mode?

How would ANY player know that a single song file is part of a larger song?
The only way is, if there's a tag built into the song, which I haven't seen yet.
Your best bet, if you don't want to re-rip the entire track, is to simply use a 3rd party app and join the songs together. Unfortunately, unless the original rips were spot on the beginnings and ends, you're going to have to fidget with it to get them to sound seamless. However, some rips will prevent that, no matter what you do, short of re-ripping the entire song.

How to keep tracks together in shuffle mode?

When playing in shuffle mode you can't hear tracks in line together while they should be, e.g. in conceptalbums.
Is there a way to overcome this?
(You can do it with complete albums when downloading in the Library, but what can you do when the tracks are already in the Library?)

Joepiet wrote:
The second tab is calles 'Info' as well. Down under you have the possibilty to mark Part of a collection (Deel van verzameling). It should do the trick but it doesn't. I once tried, but I haven't found out what it does.
In English, that is named as "Part of a compilation" and Google Translates that as "Deel van een compilatie". As far as iTunes is concerned, this means that the album has songs by different artists, albums such as the "Now X" series. It is how iTunes keeps a Various Artists album together.
Joepiet wrote:
I want to shuffle works, not tracks..
Ah! I see what you want now!
Two possibilities that I can think of (number 2 is the better one):
Create a Playlist for each "work", by simply adding all the songs from one work to one Playlist and all songs from the next work to another Playlist and so on. Then, if you want to play one complete work, followed by another complete work, you could simply create a further Playlist and add each "work Playlist" you want to this new Playlist. To make the works random, all you could do is choose for yourself as you are adding them. You would need to play this new Playlist in order, not shuffle.
If you originally imported this music from a CD, you could import from the CD again. But this time, combine the tracks that make up one work, as one track. iTunes names this as "Join CD Tracks" (or CD-tracks samenvoegen in the Dutch iTunes).
In the screenshot above, I have selected tracks one, two and three and then used the options menu to find Join CD Tracks. This third option will not be visible until you select two or more adjacent tracks, as shown above.
In the screenshot below, I have joined tracks one, two and three as one "work". Then joined tracks four, five and six as a separate work. Finally, I've joined tracks seven through twelve as a third work.
Notice in the screenshot that the Options menu says "Unjoin CD Tracks". That is because the highlighted ones (7-12) are currently joined.
And here it is in Dutch:
With this second method, a work (of several tracks) will always be played as one track (or song). You can then simply add all the individual works to one Playlist, and play the Playlist in Shuffle Songs mode. That way, each work would be played in full, followed, at random, by another work.)
And if you really need to - import the CD this second time with a slightly different album name, so that you then have two copies. One, where each song (or track) is the individual song on the album and the second where each "song" is a work.
Now, lets hope I can get my iTunes back into "English" English, as my Dutch is not too good, even though I'm just the other side of the North Sea from you!

Browsing songs in shuffle mode on classic ipod

i primarily use my ipod as a car stereo in shuffle mode. is there any setting or application that i can put on that will allow me to jump straight to the current song that is playing when i press menu rather than the song i first selected?
for example a song by a certain artist comes up on random but i want to hear a song that i know is nearby in the list and i dont want to have to scroll through thousands of songs to get there.
cheers

I am confused by your post. By skipping songs, do you mean that the playlist ends without those songs playing at all? Or are you saying that all of the songs do eventually play but they are skipped and played in a 'random' order? That, by definition is shuffling, hence my confusion.
I don't mean to be flippant. Just seeking clarification.

My zen nx in shuffle mode plays always the same song sequenc

hi !
I love my zen nx but I have this problem :
I've put in in shuffle mode but everyday I turn it on,
it starts playnig the same songs that it played before.
I have to skip all that songs to get to new ones.
Why is it so ? I just want to hear new songs everyday without
all that trouble ! I just want my zen xtra to clear its memory
to give me pure randomness !
Any ideas, please ?

It sounds like the repeat setting has been enabled. See page 21 of your iPod's User Guide for instructions on turning it off.
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/iPod_nano_6thgen_User_Guide.pdf
B-rock

Please ship future iPod Shuffles with Shuffle Mode TURNED OFF

I just got my iPod and loaded it full of podcasts. It kept flashing orange indicating that it was empty. I spent more than 4 frustrating hours restoring, reloading, reading, forums etc etc.
Finally, I found a post that said the iPod will not play Podcasts when switched to shuffle mode. WHY NOT! Man! That was frustrating. At least it works now... like a charm.
Apple,
Please ship future iPods with Shuffle turned off and/or mention this issue in the quick reference cards and the .pdf manual so that others don't waste hours because of this quirk.
Thanks

Thanks, 0Ari0
I looked again at the .pdf and insert and still found nothing mentioning podcasts not playing in shuffle mode.
I suppose that I am once again the exceptional user in that I only loaded podcasts onto it and could not get them to play until researching the "problem/feature" regarding podcasts and shuffle mode.
I realize that podcasts are something that you typically don't want played randomly. I do want them to play in an order. However I want them to play in an order that I specify. I have tried creating playlists, dragging each file individually to the iPod to get them in an order I want. Regardless of how I intertwine different episodes of different shows for a varied playlist the iPod somehow groups them, I believe, by release date.
sadly they also get played backwards from most recent to the oldest regardless of how I load them. I want to listen from oldest to newest. Another, quirk that doesn't work for me personally. But, that is something I still have to research and figure out. I'm hopeful that it can do that.
Anyway, thanks for responding. I have reading to do.

Playlist shuffles and plays in random order

My new iPhone 3Gs is driving me nuts when I'm trying to listen to a playlist I created and loaded on my computer. The iPhone plays all of the songs on my playlists in random order. I have the "shake to shuffle" mode off and "shuffle" is not on. I even check to see if the "shuffle" was on in iTunes and it is not. What is the deal? Anybody else having this problem?

From the Now Playing screen, tap the album cover to see the additional song controls. Makee sure the shuffle symbol on the right side under the scrubber bar is selected to "white".
See this for a picture: http://www.apple.com/iphone/how-to/#ipod.additional-song-controls

Burning a CD shuffles the list on the disc, but I am not in "shuffle mode", how do I fix this?

I found tha twhen I burn a playlist to a CD, the list gets shuffled on the disc without my choice.
Under the 'controls' list, my 'shuffle' mode is off.
Where do I turn off this option?

Hi - thanks for responding.
It's for burning basic audio CDs, and I'll use my most recent example...
I just bought an album on ITUNES, and chose to burn it for the car...
The order of songs on the list is exactly as laid out on the CD; I changed nothing.
However, as the disc is burning, it is randomly shuffling the order of the songs onto the burned disc. I burned two discs of the same CD, and the song order on the completed disc was different both times, so it is being randomized onto the burned disc.
I double checked, and the randomizer(shuffle) is off, as the playlist would have been randomized, and it isn't.
got any ideas?

Shuffle mode no longer random

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