I had the same problem, I purchased a new ipod shuffle, followed the instructions but it would stop after a few songs and I would have to shut it off, wait and turn it back on and it would go back to the same song and then once again, after a few songs it would shut off. I returned the ipod and got another one, same thing happened. This is how I resolved the issue.
1. open itunes, make sure its up to date, then connect your shuffle to your pc
2.on the left of the itunes window, select your ipod, then at the top select music then check the sync box and select "selected playlists"
3.then go back and click on your ipod on the left, a message will appear just select apply
all of your music should be emptied from your ipod.
4.delete all of your playlists on the left, this will not delete anything from your library. Delete the "purchased" playlist under itunes store on the left as well, once again this will not delete anything from your library
5.There should be an arrow just in front of your ipod, click on this arrow and you should see your music file for the ipod appear, this should be the only file that you see, everything else should be deleted.
6. go to your music library and check only the songs that you want to load into your ipod. Double click on each song to make sure that they all play.
If you find a song that does not play you should be asked to authorize it, don't waste your time that did not solve the issue for me, instead cancel to authorize the song and then delete the song and move it to recycle bin. Once the song is deleted a cloud should appear, click on the cloud and download the song again, when done, make sure the song plays and that it is checked.
7.After you have made sure that all of the songs play and are checked, click on your ipod once more, located to the left, check the box "sync only checked songs" then from the top select music. In the music window select "sync music' and then select "entire music Library"
8. Go back to the left and click on the arrow in front of your ipod, you should see the music file, click on the music file and you should see all of your music being loaded to your ipod.
9. When all of the music is done loading, eject your ipod by clicking on the arrow located after the battery symbol where your ipod appears on the left
10. Turn on your ipod and scroll through your songs to make sure that the problem is resolved.
Not sure if all of this was necessary but it worked for me.
