Random Plugin

The random plugin provides a command that randomly selects tracks or albums from your library. This can be helpful if you need some help deciding what to listen to.

First, enable the plugin named random (see Using Plugins). You’ll then be able to use the beet random command:

$ beet random
Aesop Rock - None Shall Pass - The Harbor Is Yours

The command has several options that resemble those for the beet list command (see Command-Line Interface). To choose an album instead of a single track, use -a; to print paths to items instead of metadata, use -p; and to use a custom format for printing, use -f FORMAT.

If the -e option is passed, the random choice will be even among artists (the albumartist field). This makes sure that your anthology of Bob Dylan won’t make you listen to Bob Dylan 50% of the time.

The -n NUMBER option controls the number of objects that are selected and printed (default 1). To select 5 tracks from your library, type beet random -n5.

As an alternative, you can use -t MINUTES to choose a set of music with a given play time. To select tracks that total one hour, for example, type beet random -t60.