Why Does iTunes Shuffle Repeat Artists So Often?

Before anyone asks, yes, I went to preferences > playback and changed all my smart shuffle settings to “less likely.” 

I’ve got over 20,000 songs and iTunes shuffle has spit out 8 Ben Harper songs (ugh), 5 Slayer songs (metal!), and 4 Joy Division (depression!) songs in the last two hours. Obviously, shuffle isn’t doing what it’s supposed to. It’s like it finds one or two artists everyday and decides “I know you asked me to shuffle through your whole massive library of musical goodness, a land of rare gems and brilliant moments of beauty, but you really need to listen to this guy today. A lot.” That’s what albums are for, iTunes.

I shouldn’t have to start compiling a complex web of smart playlists based on last-timed-played just to get iTunes to shuffle well.