> 1. I want it to play in a truly random fashion, with replacement (same song twice in a row is possible). Anyone outside of HN would interpret that as broken

> 1. I want it to play in a truly random fashion, with replacement (same song twice in a row is possible). Anyone outside of HN would interpret that as broken random. So we can throw it out. > 2. I want it to play in a truly random fashion, without replacement (each song is removed from the list once played). Nope, not good enough for non-specialist randomness. > 3. I want it to "seem" random (don't play too many songs by the same artist in a row). Bingo. It should definitely seem random. Because the string "seem random" equals "random" for someone who isn't a technical expert in randomness. > 4. I want it to be random, but predictable (same "random" ordering if I start the playlist again). Normies don't care about random seeds for pseudorandom number generators, so nope. > 5. I want it to play my favourite songs more often than my lower-rated songs. That's a bonus feature that can be implemented with a slider. > 6. I want it to play my less-commonly played songs more often than the stuff I listen to all the time. Same as above > So: what exactly do you want when you say random? One obvious definition for normy random, plus a slider with least and most favorited at the left and right, respectively. Done.