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 /reference/cli
). 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
.