topic Re: If a local file is FLAC, the artist name repeats with a semicolon in Your Library

If a local file is FLAC, the artist name repeats with a semicolon

yule — Wed, 09 Nov 2022 03:42:24 GMT

Step 1 - In settings, "add a source" to include the FLAC files (mine are from bandcamp purchases)
Step 2 - Go to "your library" and check the added FLAC files. The artist name appears twice or more.

- I checked the local FLAC files & the artist name only appears once each in the fields "contributing artists" and "album artist". I tried updating the album artist field to be empty but still the same
Example screenshots
Repeating artist name in the Local Files - https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/723951888768303190/1039745452691705978/image.png
Properties of FLAC file - https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/723951888768303190/1039745387096969257/image.png

This is making scrobbles inaccurate. Please take a look.

Re: If a local file is FLAC, the artist name repeats with a semicolon

OscarDC — Wed, 09 Nov 2022 15:53:49 GMT

Hey @yule,

Thank you for reaching out to the Community.

We appreciate your report regarding this issue. To start investigating it, would you mind checking if it happens with a FLAC file different than "The caretaker" to see if it makes any difference?

Also, it would be great if you could check it using a FLAC file downloaded from a different source. This will give us a better look at the issue.

Lastly, include in your next response the OS version of your device and the Spotify version you're currently running.

We'll be on the lookout.

Re: If a local file is FLAC, the artist name repeats with a semicolon

yule — Thu, 10 Nov 2022 13:56:25 GMT

Hi, thanks for the reply.

I have over 500 tracks from different artists and albums in FLAC format that are added to Spotify. They all have the same issue. But they are all from bandcamp. So, I tested two albums I have from different sources and one of them has the same issue but the other doesn't

I attached the examples. The details tab looks the same for all.

Bandcamp example - Be Forest

Other examples - Ichiko Aoba and Big Blood

Re: If a local file is FLAC, the artist name repeats with a semicolon

yule — Thu, 10 Nov 2022 14:00:33 GMT

My OS version is

Edition Windows 10 Home
Version 21H2
Installed on ‎18/‎3/‎2022
OS build 19044.2130
Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 120.2212.4180.0

Spotify version is Spotify for Windows 1.1.97.962.g24733a46

I have had this issue for a long time though 😁

Re: If a local file is FLAC, the artist name repeats with a semicolon

Vasil — Sat, 12 Nov 2022 10:18:22 GMT

Hey @yule,

Thank you for the provided examples!
We've forwarded the info to the right folks and it will get looked into!
However, we cannot provide you with a specific timeframe in which the changes can get implemented.
In the meantime, make sure to keep your app up to date 🙂

We'll get back to you if something else is required!
Cheers!

Hello, Spotify is not correctly displaying my local files.

Callistrom — Wed, 30 Nov 2022 18:12:54 GMT

Hello. I am on my computer. There is a problem in which when displaying my local files on Spotify, it incorrectly displays the metadata associated with the original file. The file that i'm trying to import is a FLAC file. Maybe that has a problem with it? When transferring files to my galaxy S9, viewing local files, it works perfectly fine. The artist names are not repeated, photos of albums are present and both do not disappear outright. plz help?

Problema al añadir canciones locales de formato FLAC

Joivsami — Wed, 01 Feb 2023 06:25:33 GMT

Plan

Premium

Country

Bolivia

Device

Computadora con Windows 10

Operating System

Windows 10

My Question or Issue

Al momento de agregar una canción de mis archivos locales desde la aplicación móvil a las canciones que me gustan, si esa canción es de formato FLAC, se podrá reproducir con completa normalidad, pero al momento de querer escuchar el mismo archivo desde la aplicación de escritorio, simplemente aparece como si no tuviera la canción en los archivos de mi PC, sin embargo, sí está efectivamente el mismo archivo en la carpeta de mis archivos locales. Y si intentas escuchar la canción desde la playlist automática de los archivos locales en la aplicación de escritorio, sí se puede, solo que el nombre del artista aparece 3 veces, y la canción no aparece carátula.

No fuí capaz de adjuntar imágenes directamente, por lo que pondré un link.

Carpeta de Google Drive con 2 imágenes útiles:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/19Wxg8aZBqebVmsHOWvhR1Nr33E0BpaVe?usp=sharing

Re: If a local file is FLAC, the artist name repeats with a semicolon

caiocapela — Thu, 02 Mar 2023 17:53:58 GMT

@Vasil

Some update to this problem?
It's very annoying.

Re: If a local file is FLAC, the artist name repeats with a semicolon

KRS108 — Wed, 27 Sep 2023 14:44:25 GMT

Almost one year since the original post and what? I still have the same problem.

Re: If a local file is FLAC, the artist name repeats with a semicolon

AYDARFAN — Wed, 08 Nov 2023 12:22:21 GMT

Same problem, you still didn't fix this after 1 year. When will you fix it?

Re: If a local file is FLAC, the artist name repeats with a semicolon

yule — Wed, 15 Nov 2023 01:42:33 GMT

OP here. After a while my suspicion is that the names are duplicated when you have added that particular album before. I noticed that the albums that I had way back in my old old old PC are the ones with duplicated artist/band names. Every time I change PC and add those albums again it duplicates one more time. Or when I change file location and had to add back again. The new albums that I added recently only from the current PC have no duplication issues. Spotify might be holding onto some kinda of cache for this.

Has anyone else noticed this?

Re: If a local file is FLAC, the artist name repeats with a semicolon

hazyy — Wed, 06 Aug 2025 19:28:14 GMT

Spotify doesn't care at all about local files and fixing all the issues that it has. It's very sad that we STILL have issues as annoying as this.

Re: If a local file is FLAC, the artist name repeats with a semicolon

dabowerbird — Mon, 27 May 2024 10:16:15 GMT

I just deleted the contributing artist field for each song. Worked for me.

Re: If a local file is FLAC, the artist name repeats with a semicolon

PixelatedMike — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 02:23:05 GMT

check this post on the issue! FLAC local files bug workaround : r/truespotify (reddit.com)

Re: If a local file is FLAC, the artist name repeats with a semicolon

reyku — Wed, 16 Apr 2025 05:39:16 GMT

thank you for NO service it's 2025 and still nothing

Re: If a local file is FLAC, the artist name repeats with a semicolon

yule — Wed, 14 May 2025 08:38:09 GMT

Thanks! Can confirm that using that program in the reddit thread and moving the data from the "Artist" field to the "Album Artist" field fixed most of it for me. However, for some albums, doing this removed the artist name all together and it's now blank but I can live with that.

For others, take note that doing this requires toggling the "Local Files" in the profile settings and the file locations off and on triggering a re-scan from Spotify and most likely if you had playlists for your local files previously, they would result in dead links and you would need to add them again.

Re: If a local file is FLAC, the artist name repeats with a semicolon

BroWay — Sat, 26 Jul 2025 12:32:06 GMT

@Vasil or any other moderator, did this ever get properly reported to the developers as a bug in the Windows desktop app?

Clearly it's some kind of tag parsing/caching bug. I've got local FLACs where the artist name repeats up to 21 times in the app despite being mentioned only once in the FLAC's tags. And I have checked—there's no extraneous tags, and nothing wrong with their formatting. Files with the same tag structure, and from the same album in the same folder can have totally different numbers of repetitions.

Re: If a local file is FLAC, the artist name repeats with a semicolon

Ivelina — Sun, 27 Jul 2025 09:01:36 GMT

Hey @BroWay,

Welcome to the thread and apologies for the radio silence.

We'd like to gather some details and it would be very helpful if you could send us the following:

The exact steps to reproduce the behavior - at what point does the artist name duplicate?
Does it happen when you add the local file(s) to various playlists within the app?
Does this happen when you move the local file(s) to a different location on the device (for example, move in/out of folders)?

Any further shared info is helpful. Appreciate the cooperation and we're here if anything else comes up in the meantime.

Re: If a local file is FLAC, the artist name repeats with a semicolon

BroWay — Mon, 04 Aug 2025 05:42:02 GMT

@Ivelina, the only thing I did was point the Spotify desktop app to my local music folder in order to initially populate the Local Files list. I did not create any other playlists or move the files around. When the app first indexed all the files, it randomly duplicated the artists.

example of artist name duplication

Re: If a local file is FLAC, the artist name repeats with a semicolon

Yordan — Wed, 06 Aug 2025 08:19:14 GMT

Thanks for the details everyone!

Our tech folks will investigate further. We'll keep you posted here when we have any news to share.

In the meantime, make sure you're always running the latest version of Spotify so you don't miss out on any updates.

Cheers 🤘