Dumb question

[gorney]

All tracks in shuffle mode are eventually played at some point, correct? Although it could be weeks before you hear a particular track? I ask because I have over 23k files and just added a series of four CDs but have not heard one track from them.

[frankz]

No, shuffle is random. It does not remember what you played the last time you shuffled and know not to play those tracks again.  Over infinite time it will eventually play everything, but randomness is total chance.

Your best bet if you want to cycle through your entire library is to create an auto playlist that shuffles your entire library and excludes/removes tracks one they've been played

[gorney]

Yes I know shuffle is random. I'm not so concerned with tracks being played more than once (does not happen very often); I'm just a bit perplexed why I never hear one of 40 files added recently. I put it down to chance; the odds are .0017%.

[frankz]

The odds of any one track being played is .17% not .0017% (40/23000=.0017).  

The odds of one of those 40 being played at any time are ~7%.  

So, over infinite plays, one of those 40 songs should have been played about every 15 listening sessions.

But, again, just like you could flip a coin a hundred times and come up with a hundred tails, randomness can only tell you the chance, not predict the outcome of any given limited trial.

[gorney]

Ok my math sucks. .0017 = .17%?

If so, how does .17% = 7% of any of those tracks being played?

Also, what constitutes a listening session? One hour or 12?

[phred]

Also, what constitutes a listening session?

Every time you close MB the session ends. Start MB and a new session begins. As frankz said, MB has no idea what was randomly played in previous sessions. So if you're looking for one of your forty tracks, your odds are getting worse each time you restart MB.

Shuffle your Now Playing list and start playing. If it's a small list, make note of the last three or four tracks. Close MB. Restart MB. Look at the last three or four tracks and you'll see that they're not the same as before you closed MB. All the tracks are there, but they have been (re)shuffled upon MB start up.

[frankz]

Ok my math sucks. .0017 = .17%?

Yes.  .01 is 1%. But I did the calculation wrong. See below.

If so, how does .17% = 7% of any of those tracks being played?

I did the math wrong above.  The chance of any one track out of 23000 being played is .00435% (1/23000). The chance of it being one of the 40 tracks is .17% (40/23000).

Also, what constitutes a listening session? One hour or 12?

Every time you reshuffle it resets.  If you listen to 10 songs, the chance of one of those 10 tracks being any given track is .0435% (10 times higher than the chance of one). If you listen to 100 songs without shuffling, the chance that any one song will be among the 100 is .435%