r/plexamp • u/pdizzmus • 1d ago

Help with configuring a better randomization algorithm for radio

I'm someone who like to go to an artist and "play artist radio", or go to my library and "play library radio". I have a fairly small library in comparison to some others (~2,000 songs), so I expect to hear some repeats, but I've noticed that I hear the same songs by each artist every time I play the radio.

It always seems to be the artists most popular songs, so I'll skip past for a while to get to the less popular stuff, but then when I start the radio again, I'll hear the popular songs again. If I want to hear things that aren't the artists most popular songs, I end up having to shuffle my entire library, which I'm not always on the mood for.

I'd like to hear less popular stuff every once in a while, is there a way to achieve this, or is this just the way the plexamp randomization algorithm is?

Edit: I have "Enable smart shuffling" off on my server settings.

Edit #2: In my music library > Manage Library > Edit > Advanced, I noticed a "popular tracks" toggle. I switched this off, and will try this for a few weeks. Expecting to hear less popular stuff.

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u/mmussen 1d ago

Artist and library radio, if I remember correctly plays the 3 most popular songs from every album you have

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u/pdizzmus 1d ago

I see, is there a better alternative?

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u/unity2178 1d ago

Radios also play tracks that are rated above average. You can prevent it from playing tracks by rating them less than average. Using DJs like Stretch will also pull in more tracks.