Adele asks Spotify to remove the random button (for albums)

Pawnless Endgame

Pawnless Endgame

Pawnless Endgame

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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-59365019

BBC News said:
Adele has persuaded Spotify to take the shuffle button off all album pages so tracks play in the artist's own order.
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Does anyone here agree with Spotify pandering to Adele's request or do you think it's a bizarre move? I understand that albums should be played in order, but I think the listener should be allowed to stick it on random if they want to. When I buy a CD, I would play it in order for the first few times then after that I'll sometimes play it on random. This is starting back in 1995 when I first had my own CD player. Now that I use Spotify, I'll play albums on there sometimes in order and sometimes on random. So I have been contravening Adele's request for more than half of my life.

Random can still be used on playlists, so what's to stop someone from making a playlist of one of Adele's albums and sticking that on random?

Will Apple and Amazon follow suit?

Will the makers of Winamp patch out the random button in Winamp?

Will Sony enforce a recall of all our CD players in police / SWAT-style? :D (j/k j/k)

Will there be a police raid if an Adele tribute band performs her songs in the 'wrong' order? :p
 
Utter bullcrap. If she wants people to only listen to her album in that order (which is absolute nonsense, people paid for it they can listen to it however they want) then release your albums as one long track.

Random can still be used on albums btw, just have to pick a track to start and have it on shuffle.
 
I think it's more bad UX on Spotify's part. The shuffle button on the album page is too prominent. I don't think I've ever used that button, I click on the first track to start an album.

But as for Adele, people should be free to listen to music how they want.
 
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Couldn't give a flying fig really.

If people are that bothered, stick the songs in a playlist and randomise that.

Though I wouldn't listen to an Adele album anyway. She's got a great voice, but that music is really not my cup of tea.
 
It's ******* weird to listen to an album in random order. It's like reading a book's chapters all mixed up.

It's why "best of" albums are crap: loses the story.
 
cheesyboy said:
It's ******* weird to listen to an album in random order. It's like reading a book's chapters all mixed up.

It's why "best of" albums are crap: loses the story.
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Personally I've never cared for the story/order of an album - sometimes it is more meaningful than others sometimes is quite obscure. For albums which are more instrumental the journey can be somewhat subjective to the listener.

Largely I just pick out the tracks which have meaning to me or are good to listen to after the first couple of plays anyhow.

I never approach or appreciate music the same way as digesting a book regardless of the artist's intentions and forcing something like that on me means I will just find someone else to listen to if I have no other way to consume music in a way which makes sense to me.

EDIT: Sometimes it is only after listening through in different orders I gain an insight or appreciation of what motivated the artist as well.
 
I'm more sick and tired about her singing about her bloody divorce like she's the first person to ever have one. I'm hearing why she only releases an album ever so many years. It's the same bloody song and same 8 piano chords every god dame time. Who could actually sit listening to that on purpose?
 
Rroff said:
Largely I just pick out the tracks which have meaning to me or are good to listen to after the first couple of plays anyhow.
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Which is quite like a book: having a chapter, or excerpt or even just a sentence that is particularly meaningful or enjoyable.

But picking those highlights out of an album isn't the same as listening to the whole thing on random play. Which is surely psychopathic or something
 
Shamikebab said:
Comparing an album to a book is...weird.

Sure some concept albums might work like that as a story but most definitely don't.
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Most albums have structure and flow. Picking out your favourites is fine, there's value-add in that, but caring so little for anything as to just random play is cold as **** :D
 
cheesyboy said:
It's ******* weird to listen to an album in random order. It's like reading a book's chapters all mixed up.

It's why "best of" albums are crap: loses the story.
Click to expand...

Lol what. Not every song in an album is in a specific order.

It'd be interesting if Spotify actually released some statistics to see who plays an album in order vs shuffle.
 
cheesyboy said:
Most albums have structure and flow. Picking out your favourites is fine, there's value-add in that, but caring so little for anything as to just random play is cold as **** :D
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I'm pretty sure you have a very unpopular opinion here. Put it this way, if I take the Black Album by Metallica and switch Sad But True and Holier Than Thou around...do you think it suddenly breaks something? It's not even remotely comparable to someone reading a book out of order.
 
Shamikebab said:
I'm pretty sure you have a very unpopular opinion here. Put it this way, if I take the Black Album by Metallica and switch Sad But True and Holier Than Thou around...do you think it suddenly breaks something? It's not even remotely comparable to someone reading a book out of order.
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Holier then Thou is a cooldown track after a hot opening to the album, which leads into the much slower The Unforgiven. I honestly think the flow is broken if you swap it for Sad But True.

Tbh, there are lots of throwaway albums you could play random and not lose much, but classics like black album (even though I don't really dig Metallica) are much better in order.
 
cheesyboy said:
It's ******* weird to listen to an album in random order. It's like reading a book's chapters all mixed up.

It's why "best of" albums are crap: loses the story.
Click to expand...

chroniclard said:
Music is nothing like reading a book. :cry:

Have never ever ever liked a piece of music because of the meaning or lyrics. :)
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Yeah you can't compare the 2 (books and albums). Take for instance, "The Planets" by Holst. He wrote the planets in this order: Mars, Venus, Mecury, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. The first 3 planet have been re-ordered.

Good to see replies on both sides though :)

VincentHanna said:
Though I wouldn't listen to an Adele album anyway. She's got a great voice, but that music is really not my cup of tea.
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Agreed, great voice but not a fan of hers.
 
cheesyboy said:
Most albums have structure and flow. Picking out your favourites is fine, there's value-add in that, but caring so little for anything as to just random play is cold as **** :D
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They do? You'll have to explain that.

Very few albums (probably none that I know of) attempt to tell a story and have a consistent narrative across all the tracks. It might actually be more common with classical music than contemporary.

What you might be experiencing is the sensation of having fully memorised the track order, and thus at any point knowing exactly where you are, which tracks will be played next, how much runtime is left, etc. And this sense of knowing and familiarity becomes, to you, the "true" experience. And each time you rigidly listen in that order, you reinforce the idea that this is the logical, perfect, unchanging flow of the album.

I wonder how many artists, after they release an album, think, "I wish I'd put that track first and that one nearer the end." I wonder how many artists leave that to the producer to decide? So maybe it's not the artists preferred order at all?
 
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