Finding Answers to the Great Debate of Album Shuffling
There’s nothing like the release of an album you’re really looking forward to; though there is something with how you listen to the album. Before there were streaming platforms, there was only one way to listen to an album-- straight through. With CDs and LPs, you could try and skip around but the easiest way to listen is from start to finish. Mixtapes and playlists allow listeners to curate an experience and feeling with songs by different artists, pulling individual tracks from albums that work well together.
A popular feature on all iPods up to Spotify, Apple Music, and such streaming platforms, is shuffling. Shuffling randomizes the order of the songs in a playlist or album. For many people, it is the only way to listen to music. However, is it the right way to listen to an album?
According to a poll I took, 69% of people don’t care about listening to an album in order and automatically hit the shuffle button without further thought.
Kyle Bray is an avid music listener and vinyl collector, and said that the only time he’d listen to an album shuffled is if it was by accident.
“If I am listening to an artist’s discography I will happily listen on shuffle but if I am listening to an album I’ll always listen to it in order,” he said.
Since the release of single tracks, people have been able to pick and choose which songs to listen to and what order to listen in. Usually, these tracks are put together to create a playlist, which is much different than an album. Playlists are very important, and give listeners the creative responsibility to put together a specific “album” for whatever they are feeling. The shuffling feature is best utilized here as playlists try to capture a ‘vibe’ or time period; shuffling allows for the playlist to be enjoyed in many different ways. Since there is usually no specific order to playlists, it is great to have a randomized tracklist every time you listen.
“The comeback of vinyl really aided in this because people don’t usually put on a record and skip through the tracks… You wouldn’t pick up a book and read chapter eight and then chapter two. Albums should be treated the same way as a story because it has a beginning, middle, and end.”
A vinyl collector and avid playlist maker, Madison Umina believes that playlists and shuffling can be great, but that they actively change the listening experience.
“LPs typically present a certain mood-- it’s a collection of songs, there’s a reason why they have been grouped together and what kind of message they are putting into the world. If you start off with the fourth song, and it shuffles to the final song next for example, you’re hearing the closing of a story or idea that you haven't fully heard yet. You really lose the entire experience,” she said.
Though some bands, such as Beach House, have come forward in interviews and said that the tracklist order doesn’t matter. However, it feels impossible for there to be no motive behind the placement of songs.
“There could be so many reasons for song order… it’s a concept album, there is usually a theme that’s supported by the way in which the songs are placed. Sometimes songs even drip into each other, so listening out of order completely disregards the thoughtful (and often difficult to edit) transitions that were created for a smooth, fluid sound”
Either way, it seems that shuffling creates an entirely new experience, one you can’t share with others.
“In my opinion shuffling completely ruins the listening experience of the album. While you still get the experience of listening to the song, you are missing out on the overall experience that the album brings,” Bray concluded.
The universal experience all listeners get upon listening to a new album for the first time gets completely ignored and forgotten through the use of shuffling.