Albums which are not searchable, but are still on Spotify?

[3Torquent]

Lately, I've come across a couple of albums which don't appear to be on Spotify at first glance... But actually are there. They just don't show up in search.

One is The Great New Zealand Songbook, a compilation. On both Android and the desktop client for Windows, searching "The Great New Zealand Songbook" (even dropping "the" and the last letter, which for some reason seems to sometimes return more relevant results) only turns up playlists with that same title. And then if you open the playlist... Most of the songs are indeed from an album titled The Great New Zealand Songbook. And of course from there you can open the album using the three dots menu and "go to album".

The same thing happens with Super Black Market Clash, by The Clash. Only playlists show up in search, but at least one of the playlists has tracks from the album, which can be opened from there.

For all I know I'm missing albums which are neither searchable nor in identically-titled playlists. Or even artists and tracks.

What's happening here, and is there an easier way to find these un-searchable albums?

I registered and am still located in New Zealand but have also used the Android client on trips to the US, if that matters.

[Loxer]

Spotify wants all the world’s music on Spotify. However, some artists and tracks aren't currently available. Sometimes agreements can’t be reached with the artist or label or a change may happen in music ownership.

However, please know thousands of albums and artists are added to Spotify every day. If you can’t find an artist you’re looking for, they may appear (or reappear) soon.

In the meantime, feel free to contact the artist or their label to ask when they plan to be on Spotify. Thanks!

[3Torquent]

That's not what I was talking about. Did you even read my question? I'm talking about music which IS available on Spotify - I was listening to some right when I typed my first post - but just can't be found using search. It is on Spotify and can be listened to - it's just that it doesn't appear in search results.

[Loxer]

Hey @3Torquent,

I did read your question but if you read my post it means that even if something is available the artist/record house may not want it to be in certain countries.

However, let's try some troubleshooting steps to further check it 🙂

I know it sounds simple, but it's often overlooked. Could you try restarting your device? If that doesn't help, try a quick clean reinstallation of the app. Just follow the steps here. Try to use another device with similar specs by signing in with your account, use another account in this device you are experiencing this "issue".

If you're still having trouble, could you let me know the exact version of Spotify and the exact version of the operating system you're running?

I'll see what I can suggest!

[3Torquent · Accepted solution]

I inadvertently restart the app every day, when I switch off my devices. This does not solve anything.

However, I've solved the problem. It turns out that if you disable "show unplayable tracks", it hides not just unplayable tracks, but also any album that has at least one unavailable song. Even if every single other song on that album is available. Which isn't how I'd expect that setting to work, especially for albums like The Great New Zealand Songbook, where 62 songs are on Spotify and only a couple aren't.

Anyway, re-enabling "show unplayable tracks" solved the problem -- even though the problem was with playable albums. Oh well.

[philruse]

Much obliged for this fix. Suddenly started happening to me today, long after your original post, but the fix did the trick. Many thanks 🙂

[wokkiedokkie]

FWIW, this solution doesn't work in Spotify for Linux, 1.1.26.501.gbe11e53b. E.g. an album such as Freaks of Nature by Kansas isn't listed (in the Netherlands), but if you search for it, it shows up anyway and can be fully played.

[GreenWeasel11]

I don't think this applies to all non-searchable albums. There are two hidden versions of each of the second and third studio albums by The Smashing Pumpkins and all tracks are available there. There are also hidden versions of their first and fourth albums, where some tracks are unplayable, even though they're available on the public versions of those albums. This mystifies me.