Why are there multiple identical versions of some songs?

[Brysonic]

I primarily use the Windows desktop application, so I'm not sure if this is unique to that or not, but this is what I've had happen quite a few times: I'll like a song, be listening to a radio playlist for that same artist, and have an identical but separate version of the song I liked show up in the playlist. The only way I can differentiate between the two is that one version shows that I've liked it and the other doesn't. Here are two examples:
https://open.spotify.com/track/0QU7TJHdBCZkY0o4oI7sh2?si=326e9c75905d4b92
https://open.spotify.com/track/428IfVfM2jelUXToZYzMbH?si=bbe979198a2a4deb

https://open.spotify.com/track/207jvv3SLF6CGhVW2gOanq?si=f23bec95fa3e44e1
https://open.spotify.com/track/5DJTYOAHZEKjNqXpOwnomi?si=ac456788714b4d68

[Alex · Accepted solution]

Hi there @Brysonic,

Welcome to the Community!

This is most likely happening, because those songs have been previously removed from the platform. This can sometimes happen due to licensing issues or label requests. 

Usually most content does make its way back on the platform, but they get uploaded with new metadata, so the app treats those tracks as different songs. One song is uploaded as a new release and one song is uploaded in the same place of the one that was previously removed.

There is no automatic way to replace those songs. You'd need to manually remove them and re-add them to the playlists.

Hope this info helps.

[Salsicha93]

In my opinion, that is not a good user experience. Why doesn't Spotify handle all of the inconvenient work on handling the technical issues caused by artist legal disputes? That way people can enjoy their songs and have a better experience of their music without needing to constantly update their library

[UndeadWaffle101]

Is there no way to overwrite this so this issue doesn't happen? It's so annoying especially since both versions are still technically on the app. Lately there have been so many times where this has happened to me where a song or a FULL ALBUM I know I have liked shows up in a Daily mix or the AI DJ but shows I don't have it liked. I go to the artist, see I have the song liked but that this is another version of the same exact song again. This issue is clearly not "Solved" and I feel like it should be a priority as it makes Spotify seem a bit amateurish of a platform.

This is such an annoying and bad bug especially if we have premium and download the songs because this means Spotify may play the non-downloaded version of the song using our cellular data and playing at a lower quality. Not to mention re-liking the song can result to duplicates of the same song in your likes or just removing the history of when you either first liked it or discovered it, putting it back to the top of your likes.

Additionally, if there's a "deluxe" version or alternate version of an album, Spotify should take a note from competitors books and make it so there's just "one" version of the song so it likes all versions of that song into one. Utilize the database and metatags, identify songs from an artist that have the same name and just merge them all into one. Make it smart, use the technology like you are for the DJ!

I know it's not exactly you Alex who is responsible for this obviously but it's just such an annoying bug and I'm so tired of this happening over and over again for years now and would love if it can be focused on a bit more. Thank you. 

[Teradactol]

I feel like this situation has been getting worse again recently. When I check in a playlist, about a dozen songs appear to not be liked when in reality I have liked a different version of the same song. Other times I check the album of a liked song which is also supposed to be saved, but it seems I have liked a different version of the same album. It's really messy and annoying and I can't believe there hasn't been a proper fix for this in so many years.

[MichaelWen]

Same here.

For instance, i can find 3 “fortnight” on Spotify.

It’s not convenient for users to manage library or playlist. 

[seigfried]

Plan

Premium

Country

United Kingdom

Device

Desktop/iPhone 12 mini

Operating System

Windows 10/iOS17.4.1

My Question or Issue

I have several times over the past few years become annoyed with likes going missing on some songs, only to later find out I have liked the same song 2, 3, sometimes 4 times.

To give an example of what I mean:

• Song 1 (https://i.imgur.com/ImELMPR.png)
• Song 2 (https://i.imgur.com/AMXPp9J.png)
• Song 3 (https://i.imgur.com/axZQXU7.png)

All of those are the same songs, from the same album, from the same artist. They aren't from different versions e.g. a clean version, or a "deluxe" album. Yet each of them have separate listings because of the metadata being different. It seems each time spotify or a label decide they need to edit the metadata, it just creates a new song entry instead of changing the info for the existing song itself. I'm not sure if this is the limit to what creates this duplication or if things like actual changes to the audio do it too.

To be clear, it doesn't duplicate the like itself, that was just me going to the album, seeing the heart icon not being there, being a bit confused, and then re-liking it.

It means very little except for listening to Liked Songs on shuffle will mean there's bloat if you end up doing this multiple times.

[Rappjc1254]

This is NOT a solution. I have added the new Omar Apollo album, that came out a couple of weeks ago. Over half of the album on the album page is different than the songs on his main page that are on the popular songs list. On top of that this is causing the full album not to show up on playlists that I've added the album to. The full album shows up for my user but anyone who follows the playlist that I added it to only sees half of the album. Absolutely unacceptable for what we're paying Spotify as they continue to raise prices. I'd encourage anyone with these issues to report them and if they aren't fixed in a month or so to look into Apple, Amazon, Tidal etc for music streaming. Spotify has continued to increase prices while making the platform worse and not fixing issues like this.