Local files on different device not recognized as same song by playlist

[absorr]

Plan

Premium

Country

United States

Device

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra & Windows 11 Laptop

Operating System

Android 14, Windows 11

My Question or Issue

Hello! I have FLAC files that I have downloaded to both my phone and my laptop. I created a playlist via my phone which includes these local songs. I then went to my laptop, enabled Local Music in the settings, confirmed that all of my songs are showing properly in Local Files, but yet my playlist that I made on my phone with the same songs isn't recognizing them as such. The music is playable through Spotify on both devices, it seems to just have a problem with realizing they're the same song. Is there a workaround for this issue? Or is this a bug?

[Ivelina]

Hello @absorr,

Thanks for posting this thread in the Community and for the provided screenshots!

The behavior might have something to do with the format of these songs, so just to be on the safe side make sure to update your codec pack as it could make a difference.

Additionally, the local files may not be properly synced between your phone and laptop so it's also a good idea to refresh them. The best option would be to have the tracks physically stored on both devices and in this case, you can remove and then re-add them to both your phone and laptop.

If needed, you can also check out this help article from our support site.

Keep us posted.

[absorr]

I think there's a technical issue with the way that Spotify Desktop reads FLAC files. The reason I think this is because I went into the properties for one of them and added the word "TESTING" to the artist name. I then went into Spotify and found that it then multiplied that value I'd entered for artist like 5 times. I tried opening it in another app, such as the default Media Player, and no other app repeats the artist name 5 times, only Spotify is doing this with my files. Furthermore, this is the same file that I'm using between my laptop and phone. I transferred the file between the devices with Google Drive, and then downloading them to the Music directory on each device (so it's a local file on each, no longer on cloud, the cloud was only used to transfer the file). Despite it being the same file, the mobile and desktop versions interpret it differently. Tell me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure this points towards a potential technical bug with the Spotify desktop application.

[Eni]

Hey there @absorr, 

Thanks for getting back to us. 

To narrow down what might be causing this, could you try converting some of the FLAC files to MP3 and see if the issue persists? 

Additionally,  could you check if the same happens if you create a new playlist with those files on the desktop app?

It's also worth checking if the Spotify app is up to date on both devices. 

Let us know how it goes. 

[absorr]

Thanks for the quick responses so far! Converting to an MP3 did indeed get around the issue. I'm not accepting that as a solution as I would highly prefer the uncompressed FLAC format if possible, but it's good to know that that works.

When I add one of these FLAC songs to any playlist from my laptop, it produces the same issue in reverse, as on my mobile it doesn't see it as the same since the list of artists is different (even though it shouldn't be).

[Eni · Accepted solution]

Hi there @absorr, 

Thanks for your reply. 

We appreciate you bringing this to our attention and will make sure to pass it onto the right team, as we always strive to improve your experience. For now, we recommend keeping the app up-to-date to ensure you get the latest fixes and improvements as soon as they're released. 

In the meantime, even though we know it's not ideal, we suggest using the MP3 files.

If you need a hand with anything else, the Community is here for you.