Is there a simple way to prevent a song from ever playing?

[DukeGamma]

Plan

Premium

Country

USA

Operating System

iOS 10, Android Oreo, Windows 10

My Question or Issue

Whether I'm listening to some electronic playlist, some electronic artist's radio, it never fails that Jon Hopkins - Immunity will eventually play. I swear it is on every electronic playlist and radio station. The first few notes are enough to get it stuck in my head and I HATE THIS SONG. But it never fails. It is constantly playing everywhere. Why can I not simply block a song from ever playing again? I am going to leave Spotify if I can't stop this song from playing. It is a simple feature that I shouldn't have to be listening in a specific "daily mix" in order to accomplish. 

[DukeGamma]

Hey @az6sldl6p0w7jh1,

Thanks for posting.

Could you explain in what scenario the Hide this song feature doesn't work? Keep in mind that it's playlist and device specific. This mean that it may still come up in your Mixes, Radios or Discover Weekly, since each one of their iterations counts as a separate playlist. 

If this is something you'd like changed, we recommend adding your +VOTE and subscribing to this idea that @Jeremy posted.

Hope this info is useful. We'll keep an eye out for your reply.

[1251696690]

The lack of a way to block songs from ever playing is a fricking joke, especially given how long Spotify has been in the game and how many people see this as a needed feature. 

This didn't bother me all that much when I listened to music while commuting then turned off while at the office but now that I listen all day while working from home I can't believe how many times I have to skip garbage songs that just aggravate the **bleep** out of me. Constantly being told "HEY YOU'RE GONNA LOVE THIS SONG EVEN THOUGH YOU SKIP IT EVERY...F*$#ING... TIME!" is no good for getting into a groove at work, and is incredibly distracting.

Maybe the money you're making from contracts with your content providers who don't want their songs blocked outweighs what you make from subscription fees, and if that's the case all I can say is your executives/sales team are very short-sighted. Once your subscriptions start drying up from people realizing there are better options with more customizable features, those content providers are going to jump ship too.

I've been with Spotify for a few years as a premium member, so have pumped a few hundred dollars into your business. However, having dealt with this much more during the self-quarantining is the straw breaking the camel's back. You're losing my money. I'm finding another service.

[jaaeeger]

Yes! Absolutely ridiculous that they claim the algorithm pays attention to which songs you skip. If it actually did, I wouldn't have to keep skipping them.

[Jeremy]

Hey there folks,

Thank you for your posts.

Songs can be hidden by going to the context menu (the three dots) and selecting "Hide song" in any playlist made by Spotify or someone else. The song will then be marked as "Hidden" meaning the song will not play in that playlist.

Note: This feature is available for songs only - not for podcast episodes or videos in mixed media playlists.

If you have any questions we're always one reply away 🙂

Cheers!

[1251696690]

The issue described involves radio, not playlists. Furthermore, the issue is that if you don’t want to hear a song you should be able to dislike it once so that it doesn’t play anywhere. Toggling it as hidden in every playlist it occurs in is not a solution to this issue.

[jaaeeger]

Is that option just non-existent for Mac?

[Jeremy]

Hey again @1251696690 and @jaaeeger,

Thank you for your posts and screenshot. We're sorry for the misunderstanding. 

There's an idea - [All Platforms] "Don't Like Button" should be added to all sections. You can leave a +VOTE and Subscribe to the thread for any updates.

At the moment there's no Hide song feature on the desktop app. If you think a suggestion to add that feature will appeal to other users you can always create an idea on the relevant idea board. We always take new ideas and feedback into consideration to improve the app. 

Cheers!

[az6sldl6p0w7jh1]

Thank Jeremy, but this just doesn’t work. I too have an annoying song that pops up constantly that I can’t get rid of. In desperation, I have turned to “never play this artist” (even though I like that artist) as the only way to reduce the number of times I hear this song. Unfortunately, even after doing that, the song still lives on in my Duo Mix (which I should add, almost never changes - what’s up with that???). As others have stated, it’s enough to drive me off the platform altogether. No other service would play the same song this often; I’d hear less repetition on Top 40 radio.

[CarlosE]

Hey @az6sldl6p0w7jh1,

Thanks for posting on this thread and welcome to the Community.

That song might have been included to your Duo Mix since it has been played multiple times. To update your Duo Mix, you and the other member just need to keep using the app. The more you play, the more often it'll be updated.

We also recommend checking the idea @Jeremy mentioned above and adding your +Vote. In the meantime, we recommend Hiding the song from the playlists and Radios you listen to.

If you have any questions, give us a shout.

Take care!

[Dreams0911]

This doesn't work on Windows 10, there is no Dislike or Hide button (after pressing "...")

[Ver]

Hey @Dreams0911,

Thanks for reaching out to us 🙂

It's a good idea to restart the PC and then to log out and log back in again to check if anything changes. 

In case the issue persists you can send us the URIs of the playlists. You can also share with us the exact Spotify version that is running on the PC. We'll look into this further.

Keep us posted! We'll be right here if you have any questions.

[Nefzen]

Yes, it is quite horrible. The algorithm is quite broken, and it will keep going back to the same songs regardless of anything. I realize that it is a feedback loop - when a song is played a lot, it will be suggested more, and so it will be played more. The algorithm has no concept of "overplay" and doesn't switch things up like in real radio stations. 😞

[katjmars]

This functionality/algorithm definitely doesn't work on either of my desktop (PC) or mobile apps. There are a few songs that I've always hidden from playlists and/or radio stations, yet they continue to play on playlists created by other people as well as those curated for me by Spotify. I've never played them through and always skip them if they pop up/play. Please fix this bug because it's incredibly annoying and frustrating, especially since my Spotify is always playing while working from home during the pandemic. I believe I'm on the most updated versions of the apps - 1.1.54.592.gc0b20638 for desktop (PC) and 8.6.8.1211 for mobile (iOS).

[Novy]

Hey there @katjmars, 

Thanks for reaching out about this in the Community, and welcome 🙂 

We appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback with us as it helps inform our decisions going forward, and will make sure to pass it onto the right folks. 

Other users also think it would be a good idea if the hidden songs could sync across all devices and playlists. We'd recommend adding your +VOTE and subscribing to this thread so that you can stay up to date with any relevant news about this. 

If anything else comes up, we're always a message away. 

Cheers! 

[katjmars]

Hi. Thanks for the suggestion. I also meant to clarify that the songs keep playing within the same “static” playlist created by another user that I’ve already hidden the song on. So yes, the ability to “hide” a song across Spotify would be even better, but please look into the issue that it doesn’t even work within a single playlist.

[Novy]

Hey @katjmars,

Thanks for getting back to us. 

Just to confirm, are these songs still playing in the same device where you hid them?

Have you already tried performing a clean reinstall to see if you notice anything new? This is more thorough than a regular one and can be helpful to get rid of any corrupted files that might be causing issues. 

Keep us posted. 

[dgketchum]

I've had this feeling. I go to the artist, click three dots, and hit 'never play this artist'. Say goodbye!

[az6sldl6p0w7jh1]

That doesn’t work. This is precisely the problem.

[Mihail]

Hey @az6sldl6p0w7jh1,

Thanks for posting.

Could you explain in what scenario the Hide this song feature doesn't work? Keep in mind that it's playlist and device specific. This mean that it may still come up in your Mixes, Radios or Discover Weekly, since each one of their iterations counts as a separate playlist. 

If this is something you'd like changed, we recommend adding your +VOTE and subscribing to this idea that @Jeremy posted.

Hope this info is useful. We'll keep an eye out for your reply.

[az6sldl6p0w7jh1]

Right. The problem here is that the expected behaviour is that it does none
of those things. When people mark a song or artist “do not play”, they
expect that it actually works that way, not that there are exceptions for
basically every single feature on Spotify. It’s mindblowing to me that
anyone developed this thinking someone would want or expect it to work the
way that it does. If I say “never play this artist”, and the artist is ever
played, then it is broken. If Spotify designed it to be broken, then...I
mean, is anyone there even doing user research? Are there Product Owners?

I have, for example, a duo mix. In this duo mix is a band called Death In
June. Death In June are neo-**bleep**, I don’t really want to hear them ever. I
have clicked “never play this artist” on their artist page, so I am
surprised to see them in my duo mix. I can’t seem to get them out of the
duo mix, no matter what I do. It makes me endlessly angry that Spotify puts
this band in my mixes, radio stations, etc. because I don’t even want them
to get the paltry fraction of a cent in royalties that Spotify pays them
for it.

Does this sufficiently illustrate why this is frustrating or do you need
further explanation?