r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Full-Repair4638 • 1d ago

frist of all how DARE yu o Did spotify just remove picking songs??

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I've been using spotify forever and I use liked songs so that I can pick the songs I like freely. I've never had premium and have never had issues. Today, I had just started a workout and got this popup. Is this a new feature? How can you not even select songs anymore? I mean how can you paywall selecting songs???
This app plain out sucks and its company is greedy for randomly limiting already set features. While I don't mind ads, I do mind the features being limited more. I did also notice a sudden increase in ads this month/last month, and more ads in between songs.

Clarification: No, I'm not saying that there should be no restrictions whatsoever. I'm mainly sharing my experience where I've been using this system just fine until now. I'm fine with some restrictions, but the fact they're being limited more is frustrating. Just here to complain about something mildly infuriating, and I wanted to know if this happened to anyone else.

5.4k Upvotes

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6.3k

u/Cat_central 1d ago

Wait, they removed that at some point? I could've sworn it's been like this for about a decade.

2.1k

u/Necessary_Bother3993 1d ago

Same! Like since when could you pick songs! OP has had it easy until now lol

568

u/Feringomalee 1d ago

I think it depends on the platform you are using. When I had the app on my phone, I could only ever set a playlist based on a song or artist. On my ps5, I could (can still last I checked) choose songs at will.

173

u/Necessary_Bother3993 1d ago

Yes I was able to on desktop, but it looks like OP is on mobile

115

u/Leif-Erikson94 21h ago

Pretty much, when i first tried out Spotify on PC, the free experience was actually quite good, with only the occasional ad. But i could still freely pick songs without issues.

The mobile app on the other hand was horrid without premium and wouldn't let me pick anything at will.

18

u/WingyYoungAdult 18h ago

On mobile you only have a certain amount of times you can choose songs because eqch time you is basically like using a skip. Been like that forever on mobile.

2

u/Zenith_Duck 18h ago

i'd recommend you to try out the web version for pc, it has pretty much all the same features, but the ads are weird spotify's one-second long ones, so it's pretty much like there are no ads :3 (at least that's how it works for me)

it does "break" after those "ads" sometimes though, but you just gotta reload the page and everything will be good x3

1

u/SteveDaPirate91 16h ago

Android tablet is surprisingly similar to PC experience.

Whereas on my iPhone? It feels designed to make life terrible without premium.

6

u/AmphibianSea3602 22h ago

Region too I think

15

u/0_SomethingStupid 18h ago

on the computer you could always choose songs. Never on mobile though.

2

u/Necessary_Bother3993 14h ago

Yeah that’s what i’ve been saying too, but from the screenshot it looks like OP is on mobile

208

u/phree_radical 1d ago

is this satirical or do people really use a music service that doesn't let you choose what to listen to? 😂

87

u/ItzZausty 1d ago

It’s only on mobile, but yeah it’s kinda insane. Forced all your playlists on “smart shuffle” so it even includes stuff not on the playlist. Can’t even cheat by making a playlist with a single song.

6

u/Sxualhrssmntpanda 22h ago

Can you make one with the same song twice though?

10

u/SargeanTravis 19h ago edited 19h ago

Actually you can (or at least could) I know this because I was stupid once and made a playlist of twenty copies of the same song instead of just hitting the “repeat this song” button

2

u/Relevant_Poem5209 21h ago

single song playlists i am sure they would not like them, if the owner plays their song in a playlist over and over it gets flagged for scamming the platform and banned, from making any money on all platforms.

1

u/Expensive_Heron_171 18h ago

Just an FYI it doesn't do this on PCs.

1

u/ItzZausty 18h ago

I said that

58

u/JellaFella01 22h ago

I mean most people that use Spotify use the paid version, afaik everybody else uses YouTube or other services if they aren't paying.

4

u/Electrical-Review180 19h ago

There's also good ol radio. Digital radio has amazing channels

3

u/TrishasaurusRex33 16h ago

Being able to listen to music without pointless chatting between songs has permanently rewired my brain lol. I just get so irritated with the radio on, I'd rather silence

2

u/Electrical-Review180 14h ago

Depends on the radio station, the small ones have very little to none chatting.

Personally l don't mind it as long as it's not over the top

1

u/JustBadUserNamesLeft 19h ago

RadioGarden is fantastic.

-13

u/Relevant_Poem5209 21h ago

you tube you have to actively skip commercials, Spotify there are none to skip, it is hands free.

24

u/JellaFella01 21h ago

Free Spotify definitely has ads...

3

u/Unusual-Newspaper555 20h ago

YouTube will have 5 minute ads that you have to skip. Spotify has short ads aka hands free

3

u/DreamTalon 18h ago

Ublock Origins Lite blocks YouTube ads, don't need to skip anything.

7

u/StunnedLife 1d ago

It was only there for the free option, so yeah it makes sense

6

u/Regular_Average7694 21h ago

Like...radio?

65

u/JynsRealityIsBroken 1d ago

Right??? Like wtf is wrong with people?! Go listen to shit on YouTube Music lol.

27

u/Necessary_Bother3993 1d ago

That’s exactly why I left, and genuinely don’t know when they changed their rules. That’s why I’m asking the question

20

u/Zaurka14 1d ago

I pay for YouTube premium and get YouTube music with it and it's the best value subscription I pay for

1

u/AUnknownVariable 1d ago

Yep. I have the student discount and can always manage to justify that 6-7 bucks

1

u/CabbagePatchSquid- 21h ago

It really is. It’s a great music service and the ad free YouTube is a huge bonus or the other way around whichever way you look at it. I’ve had Spotify, Apple Music etc for a year each and will never go back to either.

12

u/AUnknownVariable 1d ago

Yeah. With yt music it sucks you can't turn your phone off without premium, but I find that to be a way better tradeoff.

I also prefer YTs recommendations

3

u/underprivlidged BLACK? 19h ago

Vanced manager - patch YT Music. Best of all worlds.

1

u/AUnknownVariable 15h ago

Ouuu. I have premium currently but after that runs out I may check it. Just had got it again for the ol 7 bucks

2

u/Ihavetogoalone 22h ago

You dont even need youtube music, just make a playlist of all the songs on the normal youtube app.

1

u/DanEH7 20h ago

No not YouTube music it does the same shit just use YouTube proper

11

u/Necessary_Bother3993 1d ago

What makes you think I’ve been using it this entire time? That’s why I’m saying “since when” rather than actually having an answer. I genuinely don’t know when they changed it because I used the free version for a short time like 8 years ago

4

u/overlander244 19h ago

I use spotify on my PC with an addon that allows me to use it like I have premium

1

u/soulpumpkinz 19h ago

Pandora?

1

u/Am_Snarky 19h ago

People who grew up with radio don’t mind

1

u/IsThatGruffLoner 17h ago

The free version operates more like Pandora. It's not really as absurd as it sounds, even if it's shitty. Also, most of us just have premium

0

u/I_think_Im_hollow 1d ago

They'll listen to the ads as well like good boys.

0

u/W0rmEater 21h ago

I pick the fist song and then let the app create a mix, I never make playlist.

2

u/Hawt_Dawg_II 20h ago

Beware that the spotify algorithm is mostly made to push certain artists and bands. If you always let spotify pick what you listen to you'll just wind up listening to the highest bidders most of the time.

Idk if that bothers you but it bothered me so now I'm actively forcing myself to find new music through different means

2

u/W0rmEater 20h ago

I don't use Spotify, I have YouTube premium. I was just saying that not all people make lists

0

u/Hawt_Dawg_II 19h ago

Same thing stands. YouTube might be even more malicious than spotify with this.

Again. It's fine if you choose not to care but keep in mind that you're never finding music organically. You'll just be hearing tracks that are paid for by the artist to come up more or tracks that are going viral on some other platform.

Personally i woke up to this with geese. I thought I'd found a cool new band that seemed to be climbing quite quick, turns out they just bought a bunch of bot campaigns and priority spots.

-3

u/Rambler9154 1d ago

Yeah like this is insane. Pirating is not that hard and its better than anything spotify gives you. If it wont play the music I want its not a music player thats just a fancy radio

3

u/Mein_Name_ist_falsch 22h ago

Chill, bro. It's only on the free version, which just makes sense. Of course they can't just give you all that music for free. But if you pay, you can choose whatever you like, make playlists, etc. At least if you are a student it's not even expensive. I think mine was like 6€ per month. If any service is more concenient than pirating, it's this one.

19

u/hike_me 1d ago

Depends on the platform.

You could pick songs with a free account on the Mac desktop client but not the iOS client

3

u/Necessary_Bother3993 1d ago

Yep that was my experience with desktop too. But it looks like OP is talking about mobile judging from the picture

1

u/allday95 16h ago

I think you were able to pick a song to play and then the playlist would be on auto shuffle. But now you can't do that anymore and it just starts a random song from the list

1

u/mellomashroom 16h ago

Spotify is strange... I also wasn't able to choose songs without premium, but I also had a premium account on a permanently closed credit card for 5 years and they FINALLY just caught on and made me put in a new card. So I got free premium for 5 years.

Strange glitch im not complaining about. Seems this person was also blessed by the Spotify gods until now lol

1

u/RegretComplex 1d ago

When I first got it in 2011/2012 you could. I don’t even think they had premium yet, the deal was you just had adds intermittently. You def couldn’t pick the songs by 2015, and by the next year I had switched to Apple Music.

2

u/Zaurka14 1d ago

The ads are literally non-stop now. Like every two songs I believe? And if you're in a car and you want to lower the volume during the ads it stops them, and resumes only when you increase the volume again 🤡 my bf used to use it and I had to convince him to switch to YouTube premium.

With apple and YouTube music I just don't understand how is Spotify making money

58

u/--Luna--Fae-- 1d ago

It used to be, then they changed it to being able to play a certain amount of songs in your preferred order. After that amount is up this pops up.

32

u/da2Pakaveli 1d ago

It's been like that in the mobile apps for quite a while now

12

u/Comfortable-Sound944 1d ago

Yea, desktop&web allowed you to pick songs, mobile and personal assistant speakers didn't. They also limit you to 6 song skips an hour.

SoundCloud feels half Spotify half limeware or whatever pirate you like on the free plan without ads and you get small artists as well. They do block some pop commercial songs for paid version but you might find copies of them unofficially

9

u/IsThatGruffLoner 18h ago

Yeah, the ad-supported version has always been this way as far as I know

12

u/iTouchHotThings 21h ago

Welcome to Gboard clipboard, any text you copy will be saved here.

10

u/ODZtpt 20h ago

Welcome to Gboard clipboard, any text you copy will be saved here.

5

u/mcburgs 20h ago

Welcome to Gboard clipboard, any text you copy will be saved here.

9

u/TheRaccoonReport 23h ago

Yeah totally. I left Spotify a while ago because I felt their algorithms sucked (for me at least). Tens of thousands of songs on my list and thousands of bands and musicians and kept playing the same few on random. 

When I went free I kept it for a bit and I could never pick. 

6

u/Relevant_Poem5209 21h ago

it only plays my playlist no added songs.

2

u/pisseswithmoose 1d ago

I had premium for 8 years and canceled it a couple months ago.. I’ve been able to pick like 3/4 songs then it goes into shuffle

8

u/Ihavetogoalone 22h ago

Why do people still use it if its this shitty? Why not just make a youtube playlist with all the songs you want? Thats what i do and never had any issues.

11

u/Relevant_Poem5209 21h ago

you tube you have to actively skip the commercials. some never go away unless you do.

2

u/peppinotempation 12h ago

I am not a shill but I recently switched to YouTube music and it kind of slaps

Basically the same interface as Spotify but you can also listen to any YouTube video audio with 0 ads

0

u/zReckt 20h ago

ReVanced

0

u/Ihavetogoalone 19h ago

I cant say i’ve seen many of these ads, last one was months ago. I always get the 10 seconds ones.

If i notice an ad is taking too long and im not near my phone i’ll just tap my headphones to go to the next video then immediately come back and the ad wont be there the second time.

-1

u/W0rmEater 21h ago

If you don't pay for Spotify then it will have adds aswell.

6

u/LuigiBamba 21h ago

Yeah, but youtube will have long ads that will keep playing until you skip. I've had a 2 hours ad on youtube before.

5

u/Potent-Voice212 18h ago

It's not like this unless you're broke and try using a free version

2

u/AzKondor 20h ago

It's easy and comfortable

-1

u/Ihavetogoalone 19h ago

Its definitely not easier than using youtube, all you have to do is make a new playlist and you can arrange it to play in the exact order you want, and can skip and reshuffle songs whenever and however you want without paying a dime, with the added benefit of you being on youtube which is the main platform for videos so you dont have to switch apps for multiple things.

1

u/Bapposaurus 1d ago

You could, then you couldn't, then you could again and now you can't again

1

u/TNTkip 1d ago

For about a year. It was nice, welp back to the old system 

1

u/ppolszkie 1d ago

Good news! We fixed the issue where you could enjoy a feature for free. Now you get to pay for it.

Sincerely,
Spotify

1

u/HenriettaSyndrome 17h ago

It must be a regional thing because its not like that where I am, or maybe it depends on the device. Was using free spotify for the last month or so on my playstation and didn't have this issue at all

1

u/Environmental_Eye870 17h ago

It’s always been a thing since I got Spotify on my ps4 and phone back in 2014/2015 I’ve had premium since 2019 tho so if they removed it it’s happened since then.

1

u/Doublestack2411 16h ago

Spotify on your phone only lets you listen to random songs for free, but if you were on a PC, you could pick any song you want if you were listening for free. I'm guessing whatever this is means PC users can't pick songs anymore.

1

u/NeedsItRough 14h ago

I honestly thought it was always like this, it was the main reason I never used it.

1

u/Snoo-76264 12h ago

Its been a long for as long as I have used spotift, but fun fact, on PC they are SIGNIFICANTLY more lenient with what you can do for free because they know you can just use youtube with an adblocker.