# What tunes does your iPod Shuffle keep coming back to? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 15, 2008, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tunes-does-your-ipod-shuffle-keep-coming-back-to/477246 "2008-12-15T15:57:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tunes-does-your-ipod-shuffle-keep-coming-back-to/477246/1 "2008-12-15T15:57:35Z")
Or any Shuffle-like feature on an MP3 or other personal music player. My iPod really likes John Denver, for some reason, and keeps selecting Denver songs for me on Shuffle even though I only have four or five of his songs out of 1,100+ tunes. And you? ---
**Author:** ![Simmerdown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simmerdown/32/14859_2.png) [@Simmerdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simmerdown)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tunes-does-your-ipod-shuffle-keep-coming-back-to/477246/2 "2008-12-15T19:13:13Z")
I get Bunny Wailer’s _Blackheart Man_ an awful lot. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tunes-does-your-ipod-shuffle-keep-coming-back-to/477246/3 "2008-12-15T19:25:02Z")
I like David Byrne, but whittled him down over time to a few favorite songs (maybe 10 out of over 5000 songs on my ipod)…which my iPod was still obsessed with playing. I removed all of the Byrne songs eventually just to keep them from being played…I swear I can still hear the ghost of them in the silences between tracks. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2008, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tunes-does-your-ipod-shuffle-keep-coming-back-to/477246/4 "2008-12-20T00:55:08Z")
Anyone else? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Blue-Sighted\_Shadow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecae2f/32.png) [@The\_Blue-Sighted\_Shadow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Blue-Sighted_Shadow)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2008, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tunes-does-your-ipod-shuffle-keep-coming-back-to/477246/5 "2008-12-20T06:23:23Z")
Mine likes Brad Paisley a lot more than I do. It was also obsessed with Weird Al’s “Close But No Cigar” for a while, but that seems to have passed. ---
**Author:** ![Vox\_Imperatoris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Vox\_Imperatoris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vox_Imperatoris)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2008, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tunes-does-your-ipod-shuffle-keep-coming-back-to/477246/6 "2008-12-20T06:27:09Z")
It’s pretty random for me. I do have it set to bias towards the same artist when shuffling, though. Valete, Vox Imperatoris ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2008, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tunes-does-your-ipod-shuffle-keep-coming-back-to/477246/7 "2008-12-20T08:51:27Z")
My MP3 player seems to love Rilo Kiley whenever I stick the shuffle on. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2008, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tunes-does-your-ipod-shuffle-keep-coming-back-to/477246/8 "2008-12-20T13:35:41Z")
Hm rammsten Rosenrot gets hit heavily, as does Janis Joplin Mercedez Benz, Arlo Guthrie Los Angeles, Greig’s Pier Gynt suite and Death and the Maiden. ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2008, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tunes-does-your-ipod-shuffle-keep-coming-back-to/477246/9 "2008-12-20T16:31:36Z")
Mine seems to prefer “Gimme! Gimme!Gimme!” by Abba. I guess my iPod really wants a man after midnight. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2008, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tunes-does-your-ipod-shuffle-keep-coming-back-to/477246/10 "2008-12-20T17:01:19Z")
Moving thread from IMHO to Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2008, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tunes-does-your-ipod-shuffle-keep-coming-back-to/477246/11 "2008-12-20T20:46:58Z")
My player on my work computer has an unreasonable fondness for the Rocky Horror Picture Show soundtrack. If it doesn’t stop soon, I’m going to delete it. My ipod shuffle does not seem to be playing favorites, but then I don’t usually listen to it every day or for nearly as long. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2008, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tunes-does-your-ipod-shuffle-keep-coming-back-to/477246/12 "2008-12-20T21:35:49Z")
My Pod has an unnatural urge to play Ian Hunter and Mott the Hoople. There are just so many times I can tolerate listening to “Standin’ In My Light”. It also went through a phase of wanting to hear the Beatles’ “Martha My Dear” over and over, but it seems to have relented on that. On the other hand, there are things it never selects, probably because it is too appalled that I downloaded them (i.e. Tommy and the Shondells, the Fortunes and KC & The Sunshine Band). I know, Apple, the shuffle is supposed to be completely random, but you can’t tell me there isn’t some microcircuited gnome in there picking the stuff it wants and thinks I should hear more often. Also, the most popular songs on a given album come up more frequently than the others, too often for this to be coincidence. ---
**Author:** ![GraceTX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c4cdca/32.png) [@GraceTX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GraceTX)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2008, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tunes-does-your-ipod-shuffle-keep-coming-back-to/477246/13 "2008-12-20T21:42:44Z")
My iPod plays a lot of Morcheeba and AC/DC on it. More AC/DC than the other, but I guess it would since we have just about every single one of their albums. ---
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2008, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tunes-does-your-ipod-shuffle-keep-coming-back-to/477246/14 "2008-12-20T22:03:48Z")
Can anyone explain the phenemon? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2008, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tunes-does-your-ipod-shuffle-keep-coming-back-to/477246/15 "2008-12-20T22:18:45Z")
Apple engineers have sworn up one side and down the other that the iPod Shuffle algorithm is truly random, and that people just tend to notice the songs they don’t like as much. Others are unconvinced… [http://www.macintouch.com/readerreports/ipodshuffle/topic2959.html](http://www.macintouch.com/readerreports/ipodshuffle/topic2959.html) [http://homepage.mac.com/carlile/iblog/C1898451254/E20051008181623/index.html](http://homepage.mac.com/carlile/iblog/C1898451254/E20051008181623/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Vox\_Imperatoris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Vox\_Imperatoris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vox_Imperatoris)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2008, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tunes-does-your-ipod-shuffle-keep-coming-back-to/477246/16 "2008-12-21T03:13:00Z")
I swear to God, though, Pandora will not stop playing “We Like to Party” by the Vengaboys, “I See Right Through to You” by DJ Encore, and “Sunrise” by Angel City. It’s very annoying. Valete, Vox Imperatoris ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tunes-does-your-ipod-shuffle-keep-coming-back-to/477246/17 "2013-12-10T14:49:43Z")
Recently my iPod has been on a Gilbert & Sullivan kick. Stuff from _The Mikado_ keeps coming up. ---
**Author:** ![Oedipus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Oedipus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oedipus)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tunes-does-your-ipod-shuffle-keep-coming-back-to/477246/18 "2013-12-10T14:57:39Z")
I have a playlist called “Best Damn Playlist” which is basically a list of 300 songs that are pretty much my favorites from the whole iPod. I sneaked in a couple of full albums so that’d they’d get some rotation and I’d learn to like them in between all of the songs. No matter what, my iPod loves to break out Mumford and Sons as well as every single song with an annoying start from Neutral Milk Hotel’s _On Avery Island_ album (spoiler, just about every single song on the album has an annoying start). I eventually took Mumford off the list entirely and pruned down the Avery Island tracks and the iPod still loves to play the Avery Island songs that are still around. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tunes-does-your-ipod-shuffle-keep-coming-back-to/477246/19 "2013-12-10T15:36:15Z")
My Windows Media Player seems to like Ke$ha a lot. Of course, it helps that over 10% of the songs on there are by Ke$ha, and I have it programmed to play any given Ke$ha song thrice as often as any other given song. ---
**Author:** ![yanceylebeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yanceylebeef/32/12290_2.png) [@yanceylebeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yanceylebeef)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tunes-does-your-ipod-shuffle-keep-coming-back-to/477246/20 "2013-12-10T16:23:42Z")
Rock the Casbah. 80 gigs of assorted music, six albums of Clash materiel to choose from and I get Rock the Casbah. Sigh. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tunes-does-your-ipod-shuffle-keep-coming-back-to/477246.md?page=2)