[All Platforms] Consolidate duplicates

[Kerumen]

It would be nice if Spotify can recognize identical songs to avoid duplicates in your Liked songs and playlists.

This is pretty common for songs released first as a single then within an album.

For example, if you like the single one, the UI will not show the song as liked when you browse the album. And if you like the song in the album, you'll end up with a duplicated version in your library.

This also happens a lot for songs that you listen in Daily Mix or Discover weekly. If it's not the exact same song you have already liked before, the UI is inconsistent and you can save a duplicate.

Apparently, there is already an internal merge mechanism as the play counter is not split between the different versions of the songs. Maybe this can also be used to consolidate the UI.

Repost of https://community.spotify.com/t5/Closed-Ideas/Your-Music-Remove-Duplicated-Songs/idi-p/4546787 which didn't get enough kudos.

[rgibson27]

Album art can vary by location but the message is the same. When I am listening to music I could have saved in my library already it says I haven‘t so I panic and add it.

Then when I go to my library I see I have 2-3 versions of the same song saved. Can this be fixed?

Like a bubble or asterisk if this song is already in your library or something.

[blabala22]

Sometimes I have a one version of a song that has ten different versions, checkmark should be yellow for other nine versions of that song when I see them on other playlists and albums so that I know I have at least another version of that song in my playlists.

[DaveEric]

I found out you can remove most duplicates with the "Spotipy" module of Python, but it's certainly not the most convenient fix, especially for those who are new to programming. If Spotify wrote their own duplicate finder function which could be run on playlists, that would obviously be a big improvement for a stream service since duplicate versions of songs is a common music streaming annoyance. 

[Malic90]

Looks like im not alone.. When a song is released in multiple versions album version, EP, a special mix, etc. it appears as separate entries on Spotify.

This means I can like the same song multiple times, and Spotify treats each version as if it's a completely different track.The biggest problem? This messes with Spotify's algorithm.

Take the Daylist as an example.

Every few hours, it updates with around 50 songs, mixing new recommendations with songs I've liked before. But since Spotify treats different versions of the same song as separate tracks, I often get "new" recommendations for songs I already like just in a "different" version.

This makes it harder to discover actual new music and clutters my library with duplicate likes.

Another issue:

If I decide to clean up my library by keeping only the liked songs from an album and unliking other versions, this again disrupts the algorithm. Suddenly, Spotify thinks I’ve liked a bunch of “new” songs from the same artist when in reality, I’ve been listening to them for years. This throws off my recommendations and means I get songs in my mixes that don’t really belong there.

Wouldn't it make more sense if all versions of a song were grouped together under one "like"? That way:

• If I like the album version, and someone else likes the EP version, we both have the same liked song.
• Spotify's algorithm wouldn't get confused by duplicate entries.
• Artists wouldn't get inflated play counts just because the same listeners are playing multiple versions.
• Cleaning up your library wouldn't mess up recommendations and cause older tracks to suddenly reappear as "new" likes.

[ColonelSky]

It would be amazing to add this feature, there should be a button that says duplicated music and you can click it and see what songs are duplicated and then you can simply remove them 

[Purpleazalea5]

Spotify will say if there is going to be a duplicate of a song on your playlist only if it’s on the same album. With all these new deluxe albums and singles dropping Spotify needs a feature to tell you if the song will be a duplicate if it is not identical. I don’t need three of the same song on my playlist (because they are on different albums) no matter how much I like it. 

[1stClaas]

I notice many songs are live in 2 or more different versions. Among them studio, album, live x, live y, vinyl, remastered, acapella, etc. etc.
This sometimes is disturbing, when trying to add only once to a playlist or trying to listen to one of those specific versions.
Now, why not adding a meta level where all "streams" are added to the same title (making actual streams on a title in total more accurate by the way), and allowing many other side functionalities like searching for lives or remastered music (often not stated in the title), and allowing listeners to choose their preferred title version.

[Alenjak7]

Generated playlists like the Daily Mixes contain songs you've Liked, of course.

The problem is that many appear as if they're not Liked by not having check marks next to them.

To ensure these songs are Liked, you need to verify by leaving the playlist and searching in your Liked songs playlist, or liking them. The problem with the former is it takes time unnecessarily if you've already liked it, while the problem with the latter is you'll create a duplicate listing in your Liked Songs playlist.

These problems can be avoided by not creating the duplicates. How and why are these duplicates created in the 1st place? They don't serve any purpose and just disorganize Spotify/our playlists, and can mess up your shuffle over time if you add many duplicates.

I've shared a few screenshots below showing how this happens.

Boy Voyage in my Liked Songs.

Bon Voyage in a Daily Mix playlist without a check mark despite being in my Liked Songs. I like it at this point.

After liking it in the Daily Mix playlist, seeing a duplicate in my Liked Songs.

[TheManaDork]

Please please please. Dealing with duplicate songs, different versions being in different playlists, keeping track of what songs I've saved where and what version is hugely frustrating because I have a lot of playlists. I would be so happy to see this added.

[Leah96]

I've been having a similar problem for a long time. The system isn't recognizing the song titles as the same if they are uploaded in a different format, such as an EP vs. a single, or an album, etc. I often have a song that I've enjoyed and added to a playlist, but it won't show I did if I try adding it again later when under another category. The songs are the same track by the same artist, but won't show that you've liked or added to a playlist if the two weren't initially input/ uploaded in the same format. As mentioned earlier, an artist can publish the same song as a single and later under an EP, but they won't show up on Spotify as the same. Weird part is, sometimes it works in the reverse and will recognize the two as the same, but only when you're removing a song from a playlist. 😕