Playing incorrect version of song through Google Assistant

[pearsand]

Plan

Premium

Country

USA

Device

Pixel 3 XL, Google Home

Operating System

Android

My Question or Issue

When I ask for a specific song using the Google assistant, I get a song with the correct title, but not the version I want or expect. The version I get is not even near the top result when I search for it in the app.

For example, if I ask for "Concerning Hobbits" the version I want is from the Fellowship of the Ring Soundtrack, which is the first result. But what I get is a live version from the "Fantasymphony" album, which is the 8th result on the song search list.

Why doesn't it play the top search result for a song when I ask for a specific song?

[Ivan]

Hey @pearsand, 

Thanks for posting - we’re here to help!        

Could you confirm if you observe the same after performing a clean reinstall of the Spotify app on your Android device? This will get you the latest app version with all necessary updates.   

Also, make sure you disable the Shuffle play option in the app settings as well in case it affects the playback of the search results. You can also try specifying the song version when using your voice command. 

Keep us posted! We'll be happy to lend a hand if you need more help.

[pearsand]

Hi Ivan,

Thanks for the suggestions. I tried the clean install, and it does not seem to have fixed the problem. I did verify that shuffle was not on when I tested. I tried just asking for the song as well as asking more specifically. To use the example I started with, I tried asking for "Concerning Hobbits from the Fellowship of the Ring Soundtrack" and I still got the wrong version.

One other thing I tried was unlinking and re-linking my Spotify account to the Google Assistant, and this also did not work. A phone restart also had no effect.

Another piece of information I forgot to add before: I don't remember this being an issue until around 1.5-2 months ago. There are several songs I ask for regularly and they used to play correctly, but then switched to the wrong version.

[Novy]

Hi again @pearsand, 

Thanks for getting back to us. 

Would you mind asking a friend or a family member to log into their personal account using your device to see if they can replicate this?

If possible, you can also try with a different internet connection and let us know if you notice anything new.

Keep us posted.

[pearsand]

Hello,

Unfortunately, no one I see on a regular basis has a Premium account. Would testing it with a free account work, since I think that isn't able to play specific songs?

I was able to test on a different wifi network, and I tested on the cell network as well. Both had the same issue as on my home network.

[Alex · Accepted solution]

Hi there @pearsand,

Thanks for the reply.

With a free account you should be able to play specific albums/playlists, be it in shuffle mode.

What you can try doing is to add the specific version of the track you want to hear to a playlist with a unique name and then try issuing a voice command to play that playlist.

The way Google assistant requests specific tracks from the servers works a bit differently than when you search for a song directly through the app. So on some specific cases, like the one with the song "Concerning Hobbits" you might not always get the track which comes up on top of your search through the app. 

Let us know if playing a specific playlist containing that song version worked out.

Cheers 🙂

[pearsand]

Thank you, that did work! And naming the playlist the same as the song makes it very easy, and surprisingly works. If this happens with more than a few songs it' really going to clutter up my playlist library, so is there a way to get this on a bug list that might be worked on some day? Or this is a problem on google's end? In which case I'll go ask them about it.

[CarlosE]

Hey @pearsand,

Thanks for keeping in touch.

We're glad to know that it worked. We'll make sure to pass it on to the right folks. However, you can also reach out to Google to check if they have any more info about it or if they're aware of this.

If you need a hand with anything else, remember that we're just a post away.

Have a good one 🙂

[horntm]

This issue seems to come and go. Sometimes I'll get the right version of a particular song for a while. Then, a few weeks later, it'll play some weird remix or cover of a song I requested despite also specifying the artist even though it's available in a search through the Spotify app.

This happens on Google Home devices. Perhaps Spotify needs to look into the integration with Google Home/Assistant?

[Pearcie17]

I’ve been struggling with this issue, too. It’s amazing some of the weird versions/artists I end up hearing. 

[Alex]

Hey @Pearcie17,

Thanks for the post.

Have you tried the workaround suggested above?

The right folks at Spotify have been informed about this issue and they are working on improving this.

Cheers.

[Pearcie17]

Thanks, Alex. I just use my phone to select the song I’m after rather than the playlist workaround. It probably only happens about 10% of the time, so it’s not a huge deal. Hopefully the ppl at Spotify can fix it. As the OP said it’d be nice if the most popular choice was auto selected like when you search manually in the Spotify app. It’s interesting that it doesn’t affect all users. I asked a mate of mine who, is Google obsessed, if he ever had the issue and he tried two example songs I gave him that I’d had issues with and he had no troubles. Quite strange.

[Jeremy]

Hi there @Pearcie17,

Thank you for your reply, feedback and confirmation.

As mentioned above, it's being worked on at the moment and the feedback have been passed along to the right team 🙂

Let us know if we can help you with anything else.

Have a great Friday and a wonderful start of your weekend.

Cheers!

[georgeluzie]

For me it is a big deal. Spotify song searches is one of the very few useful voice commands for Google Assistant. I use it directly on my Pixel 3a and it is quite ridiculous.

Today (and that's why I'm here) I tried "Play the song One by Metallica" and Spotify played "One - 1987 / From James' Riff Tapes" from a Remastered Deluxe Box Set.

And similar things happen all the time what really makes me use voice search less often.

I hope this gets fixed soon. I also don't remember this happening that often in the past.

Best regards, Lukas

[Ballsmcgee]

This is a horrible solution because this would mean for all songs you need to make a unique label which is unduly burdensome and impractical. It would make the most sense for Google just to bring up the most relevant or original version of the song that is asked for. For instance, I have found I have asked for a song, and it begins playing the Spanish version. Or I ask for a song and it plays the remix designed for kids, or it plays the acoustic version. When you ask google to play a song it should always either play the original or most popular version. Google you should be smart enough to figure this out.

[EoghanM]

@spotify how does it possibly think that the version of Taylor Swift's 'Shake It Off' that I want should be the cover by "Kidz Bop" or "T-Schwizzle" (I have since blocked those artists). I also don't understand why live or remix versions would play before the original single version. Surely the algorithm could be optimised in that regard... huge annoyance tbh

[andreim2]

Can also confirm this happens. I almost never get the right version of songs when I ask Google Assistant to play something. It's always some weird remix or cover. Not sure on whose end the issue is (Assistant or Spotify).
Maybe it's just something as simple as the search results being sorted the wrong way around and the first one (least relevant) getting picked?

[Philomorph]

I don't know if this will help you all, but I think this is a Google problem, because I have the same issue using Apple Music on Android - especially in the car through Android Auto. I can ask for any song, even specifying the artist and album name, and Apple Music will frequently pick some obscure remix or live version over the original album version.

Examples

"Play Aqualung from the album Aqualung" and I get some weird version by another artist.

"Play Aqualung by Jethro Tull" and I get an obscure live version.

"Play that funky Music by Wild Cherry" and get some remix version by a DJ I've never heard of.

"Play the album version of Play that funky music by Wild Cherry" and get the same remix version.

This has been a problem since I got Apple Music, a new car with the latest version of Android Auto, and a Pixel 6 with Android (v12 and 13 both do this).

It's super annoying and I haven't found a way around it, but I guess I'm glad to find this thread here because it narrows the problem down for everyone.

[pfdm]

Same issue here. Google Assistant plays the wrong version of the song more than 50% of times on Spotify. Instead of playing the original, it plays some wild remix that have like 3 views instead of the original with 231985409128509812 views. A good example is "Diamonds by Rihanna". This makes Spotify Premium useless for me because I only use it to play specific songs on my Google Home devices, and more often than not, it gets the wrong song.

[AchrafAmil]

This is not a solution. You gotta fix the order of relevance of songs in the returned search result no matter the API (Google Assistant or in-app search etc.).