Spotify is adding new, less frequent shuffles, as well as audiobook summaries

Music streaming service Spotify said it is introducing a new song shuffling option that repeats a smaller number of suggested songs.

The company was originally launched Smart Shuffle for paid users in 2023a feature that adds new songs to the playlist queue based on users’ previously played songs and their preferences. Users were previously unable to disable this feature.

With this new update, the company is shuffling with fewer default duplicates for paid users. This means that users will listen to fewer songs from their recent listening history and more new songs.

If they want the standard Smart Shuffle, they can go to Settings > Playback And choose the “Standard” option under the Shuffle Mode section.

Spotify added that free and premium users can tap on any song to play it next while shuffling without rearranging the queue.

Shuffle play follows randomization, meaning there’s a greater likelihood of hearing the same songs again, said Lauren Saunders, product manager for personalization at Spotify.

“That’s the thing about true randomness: It can be lumpy. Just as you might throw three sixes in a row, a purely random shuffle might seem to never play the song you hoped for, or it might group the same artist or album together more closely than your mind expects. The math is right, but the feeling is wrong,” Saunders said.

“Instead of giving you one random request and calling it a day, we now generate hundreds of really random versions of your playlist. Then we score each one for recency, looking at how recently you play certain songs, how much variety is packed into the opening stretch, and whether you’re getting repeats too early,” she said about the new approach to shuffling.

Along with this feature, Spotify is also launching an AI-powered summary feature for audiobooks to allow users to continue the story to the point where they stopped listening. Users will see a summary button at the top of the audiobook page, which will show a summary of the story so far.

Spotify said summaries will appear after users have listened to at least 15 to 20 minutes of the book and will be updated regularly as they progress. She added that Spotify does not use audiobook content to train models, and the summaries do not replicate the original narrative.

The feature is currently available on iOS in beta for select English-language titles.