Replace local files with spotify versions

[supercoaster]

I have a heap of local files on my mac that I want to put into a spotify playlist. I think most of them would be in the spotify catalogue but some may not be. I know that sometimes spotify will use a spotify catalogue track instead of the local file if it thinks there is a match, but I don't understand the specifics of this behaviour. Can someone please explain when this will and wont happen?

Is there an attempt made to match all local files to a spotify track? Or is it only under specific circumstances?

If I then use another device, will it play the local file or the spotify track? What about downloading for offline?

Does the behaviour differ for free/premium?

Can I delete the local file and keep the spotify track in my playlists?

How can I tell which local tracks have been replaced by spotify tracks, and which havent?

Plan

Free/Premium

Country

Australia

Device

(Android, Macbook)

[dinomight]

Hey, thanks for posting your concerns about Spotify's system of matching local files to the Spotify catalog. I will try to answer your questions as best I can.

Yes, Spotify should attempt to match all the tracks you've added locally, meaning when you add one of these tracks to a playlist on one device it will show up on other devices if it has been successfully matched. If you then play that track on another device through normal streaming, it will play Spotify's copy of the song, not the copy from the original device you added it on. That said, if you have Spotify open on both devices and are also connected to the same WiFi network on both devices, if you download the playlist on the second device for offline listening, it should sync the local tracks that are on the first device, including any tracks that don't happen to be available in the Spotify catalog. Please check out this page for details about working with local files, particularly the section on syncing them to a mobile device or tablet.

There is definitely a difference between free and premium, as you would need premium to actually have access to the download option; in other words, if you're on a free account, your other devices would only have access to the versions of the songs that have been matched and are being played from Spotify's catalog.

If the track has been successfully matched, yes, you should still be able to listen to it as long as you've saved it to your library or a playlist, even if you delete the local copy from your computer.

Basically, if you have a local copy of a track on your computer, Spotify should normally play from that copy, and then if it doesn't have access to it, it plays from the matched copy in the catalog.

If a song has been matched, it should behave just like a standard Spotify track, meaning the information, such as artist, album, etc., have white text, and the album and artist can be clicked on to go to Spotify's artist or album page. If they are not successfully matched, they will be grayed out, and I normally see a "download icon" that indicates it's only a local file.

In my experience, Spotify has generally been pretty good about matching tracks, but sometimes the metadata may vary in some way that prevents this from happening, and I'll usually end up just looking up a good copy through Spotify search instead of relying on my local copy, as it just tends to be easier to work around that way.

I know this was a lengthy response, but I hope all of this info helps you out! Thanks again, and let me know if any more questions about working with your local tracks!

[supercoaster12]

Thanks so much for that. I certainly appreciate the detail!

If that is the case, then I don't think Spotify is matching any of my local tracks. They all have the little download icon and the artist name is slightly grey and can't be clicked on. I know that Spotify has these exact tracks in the catalogue. Do I need to do anything to prompt the match process? I have left it there for several days and nothing has happened, and if I delete the local file then the track cannot be played in Spotify.

If I have a collaborative playlist and add a local track to that, will others be able to play it (if it is matched or not)?

[dinomight · Accepted solution]

No problem, and sorry for the delayed response on my part to your follow up post. Unfortunately, it looks like my information was out of date, as upon further research, I came across this post. It turns out the local file matching feature is no longer being supported, which means you'll have to manually replace any local tracks that you want to play from Spotify's catalog. In answer to your other question, the tracks will only be playable to other users if you have added the Spotify version rather than your local track.

[BoscoDomingo]

I made a solution for this. Sorry for reviving old threads, but they are the ones to pop up when you search on Google, and I made this exactly because Spotify discontinued their service. Hope it's of use to other people searching for this exact thing!

Link to the tool's GitHub: https://github.com/BoscoDomingo/SpotifyMatcher

[Mihail]

Hey folks, 

Thanks for searching for the answer you need here! 

Just jumping in to clarify some things. Keep in mind that the feature to import local files is only available for Premium users. The way this is done is by creating a playlist with the local files on a desktop device and then downloading it on others. Note that the playlist is only playable if downloaded. Detailed instructions on how do manage your local files in Spotify can be found in this support article. 

Hope you find this useful. Keep us posted if you have any questions.

Have a great day.

[boi_social]

"but any local file you add to a playlist that's already on Spotify will get linked to the release that is on Spotify if it's a close enough match."

Could you please expand on that?

Is there more information about this functionality? 

I have added my library which for 80% has proper metadata/ID3 tags and a lot of these songs exist on spotify although when I created a new playlist and added all these songs to that playlist I was NOT able to listen to these on my phone.

Please help!

[boi_social]

U are a boss!!

[Celotto]

Hello sorry to resurrect an old thread but I wanted to check what information was still valid. 

I uploaded my music collection to YouTube music (music I had purchased not music I had made) because I had quite a few oddities that aren’t in normal streaming catalogues. 

I now have a playlist on YouTube music of thousands of my favourite songs using my uploaded music

If I transfer my playlist to Spotify, will it pick up those tracks that it has in its catalogue anyway and make a playlist of those? What happens to the songs it can’t match, do you get a fails report back?

Thanks in advance

[Joan]

Hi there @Celotto,

Thanks for the reply. As @dinomight confirmed earlier in this thread, the local files recognition feature is no longer supported. Whatever you upload as local files will simply be local files that you can play. Also the import process has changed since @Mihail's reply, so check here and here for more info. In regards to importing your music from another service, we don't support that officially but there are third party programs that allow you to do that, so you're welcome to look into those.

Hope this clears things up.

[Tirelli]

First time posting here so please be patient if it's not 100% up to protocol

So I have made an edit of a specific song and intended to move it to my local files, and then the problems began.

Fistly, the song edit in question has been completely replaced by the original song, as if I had never made the edit in the first place. This has happened to two songs now;

Second, no matter how I name the song, it will always default to its original name;

Third, the Local Files folder is leeching off of other places in my PC and grabbing files that aren't even in the selected folder.

If it at all helps, I edited the song using Audacity, and the audio file beeing leeched into the folder is a loose file somewhere in my PC, not directly tied to anything else.

I am more perplexed at the issues I am experiencing than anything, because it is so painfully specific. Nowhere else could I find someone talking about this same kind of issue, so here I am.

Cheers.