[GH-ISSUE #130] [Feature Request] "appears on" flag and focus on album artist #114

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opened 2026-02-27 04:57:35 +03:00 by kerem · 3 comments

kerem commented

2026-02-27 04:57:35 +03:00

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Originally created by @FISSI0N on GitHub (Dec 12, 2025).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/Googolplexed0/zotify/issues/130

Originally assigned to: @Googolplexed0 on GitHub.

Related Problem/Issue
When downloading an entire artist, the category "appears on" is apparently different from compilations and an addition to it, even though they are similar. But they are different in that they contain more than just compilations that were published by a specific artist where for example just one song is by or with another artist. "Appears on" compilations are usually thematic compilations like best of the 70s etc.

Ideal Solution
Create a config flag similar to "NO_COMPILATION_ALBUMS" to allow filtering those out.

EDIT: as per the second comment, a "NO_VARIOUS_ARTISTS" flag is equally important
EDIT2: as oer comment 3, additionally a "CHECK_ALBUM_ARTIST" flag might also be helpful

Originally created by @FISSI0N on GitHub (Dec 12, 2025). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/Googolplexed0/zotify/issues/130 Originally assigned to: @Googolplexed0 on GitHub. **Related Problem/Issue** When downloading an entire artist, the category "appears on" is apparently different from compilations and an addition to it, even though they are similar. But they are different in that they contain more than just compilations that were published by a specific artist where for example just one song is by or with another artist. "Appears on" compilations are usually thematic compilations like best of the 70s etc. **Ideal Solution** Create a config flag similar to "NO_COMPILATION_ALBUMS" to allow filtering those out. EDIT: as per the second comment, a "NO_VARIOUS_ARTISTS" flag is equally important EDIT2: as oer comment 3, additionally a "CHECK_ALBUM_ARTIST" flag might also be helpful

kerem

2026-02-27 04:57:35 +03:00

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kerem commented

2026-02-27 04:57:36 +03:00

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@FISSI0N commented on GitHub (Dec 15, 2025):

also, weirdly enough some albums from the appears on category apparently don't have the compilation flag, while being a compilation and thus get downloaded despite the no_compilation_albums flag being true.

after some research I found different kinds of compilations:

compilations that were published under a single album artist and but have tracks from different artists and contain the compilations flag
e.g. https://open.spotify.com/album/30gDvYhEgyTbGEdCIY8FWV
compilations that were published under a single album artist and have tracks from different artists (but usually mainly one) and don't contain the compilations flag
e.g. https://open.spotify.com/album/34Uxe13FFYnUa5rvPYuYFK
"true" compilations that weren't published by a single artist and are thus labeled as various artists and contain the compilations flag
e.g. https://open.spotify.com/album/0l36hakh6eix8OnIF5osST
"true" compilations that were published by a single artist and thus don't contain the compilations flag (an edge case of 2)
e.g. https://open.spotify.com/album/0mvD9eqmYwZz0OZHJwOVjp or even worse this one https://open.spotify.com/album/2m9KvwupbWY0tlETmeKLtJ

1 and 2 should be considered part of an artists discography and thus be downloaded when downloading an artist. edge cases are when the "guest" artist that might have just been part of a single song as a track artist on said album (from a different album artist) is the one being downloaded. But it might be hard to implement a specific set of rules for this and downloading those additional albums isn't a dealbreaker as they can still be assumed to be part of an artists discography due to a collaboration.

But 3 is seemingly complicated, but luckily clearly distinguishable. While they should usually be excluded as they mostly just duplicate existing songs, only filtering for the "appears on" category can still include compilations that fall under 1 or 2. when combined with an active "NO_COMPILATION_ALBUMS" flag, properly tagged compilations that fall under 1 are dismissed, even though they should be downloaded. But 3 can be easily filtered out, if there was a "NO_VARIOUS_ARTISTS" flag.
4 however is probably impossible to filter out: they lack the compilation flag and thus count as albums, but can be a real compilation where the publisher is listed as the album artist. I can't think of a way to filter them out, they likely have to be accepted as collateral "damage".

In conclusion, as important if not even more important than a "NO_APPEARS_ON" flag is a "NO_VARIOUS_ARTISTS" flag.

@FISSI0N commented on GitHub (Dec 15, 2025): also, weirdly enough some albums from the appears on category apparently don't have the compilation flag, while being a compilation and thus get downloaded despite the no_compilation_albums flag being true. after some research I found different kinds of compilations: 1. compilations that were published under a _single album artist_ and but have tracks from different artists and contain the compilations flag e.g. https://open.spotify.com/album/30gDvYhEgyTbGEdCIY8FWV 2. compilations that were published under a _single album artist_ and have tracks from different artists (but usually mainly one) and **don't** contain the compilations flag e.g. https://open.spotify.com/album/34Uxe13FFYnUa5rvPYuYFK 3. "true" compilations that weren't published by a single artist and are thus labeled as _various artists_ and contain the compilations flag e.g. https://open.spotify.com/album/0l36hakh6eix8OnIF5osST 4. "true" compilations that were published by a single artist and thus don't contain the compilations flag (an edge case of 2) e.g. https://open.spotify.com/album/0mvD9eqmYwZz0OZHJwOVjp or even worse this one https://open.spotify.com/album/2m9KvwupbWY0tlETmeKLtJ 1 and 2 should be considered part of an artists discography and thus be downloaded when downloading an artist. edge cases are when the "guest" artist that might have just been part of a single song as a track artist on said album (from a different album artist) is the one being downloaded. But it might be hard to implement a specific set of rules for this and downloading those additional albums isn't a dealbreaker as they can still be assumed to be part of an artists discography due to a collaboration. But 3 is seemingly complicated, but luckily clearly distinguishable. While they should usually be excluded as they mostly just duplicate existing songs, only filtering for the "appears on" category can still include compilations that fall under 1 or 2. when combined with an active "NO_COMPILATION_ALBUMS" flag, properly tagged compilations that fall under 1 are dismissed, even though they should be downloaded. But 3 can be easily filtered out, if there was a "NO_VARIOUS_ARTISTS" flag. 4 however is probably impossible to filter out: they lack the compilation flag and thus count as albums, but can be a real compilation where the publisher is listed as the album artist. I can't think of a way to filter them out, they likely have to be accepted as collateral "damage". In conclusion, as important if not even more important than a "NO_APPEARS_ON" flag is a "NO_VARIOUS_ARTISTS" flag.

kerem commented

2026-02-27 04:57:36 +03:00

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@FISSI0N commented on GitHub (Dec 16, 2025):

ok, I hate to expand on this even further. What I posted earlier about the "guest" artist collaborating or being featured on an album is somewhat wrong.
I noticed how much of an issue complications from even 1 and 2 (and thus 4) can be, when downloading an entire artists discography: each song they ever participated on gets downloaded, with "DOWNLOAD_PARENT_ALBUM" set to true this can easily blow out of proportion when said artist was mostly active with other artists for only for a single song per album with just a very small discography of their own.

A "NO_APPEARS_ON" filter would help there too, even though you'd then need to download this other album artists discography (or simply the album). Then the only exception would be if an album had multiple album artists.
Furthermore, I noticed that there might be another issue with how tracks are being listed for download: in many cases an artist's collaborations aren't featured under their appears on page, meaning every track they are part of gets selected for download. Because of the various implications stated before I feel like a check for album artist might be better. By this I mean that not the artist tag of each track is being searched, but rather the album artist tag. A "CHECK_ALBUM_ARTIST" flag could help clear this up (and hopefully doesn't complicate thing). This might be linked to a potential "NO_VARIOUS_ARTISTS" flag as it could make it redundant, despite serving different purposes.
I wonder how the main fork of zotify approach artists' URLs, as it behaved differently.

@FISSI0N commented on GitHub (Dec 16, 2025): ok, I hate to expand on this even further. What I posted earlier about the "guest" artist collaborating or being featured on an album is somewhat wrong. I noticed how much of an issue complications from even 1 and 2 (and thus 4) can be, when downloading an entire artists discography: each song they ever participated on gets downloaded, with "DOWNLOAD_PARENT_ALBUM" set to true this can easily blow out of proportion when said artist was mostly active with other artists for only for a single song per album with just a very small discography of their own. A "NO_APPEARS_ON" filter would help there too, even though you'd then need to download this other album artists discography (or simply the album). Then the only exception would be if an album had multiple album artists. Furthermore, I noticed that there might be another issue with how tracks are being listed for download: in many cases an artist's collaborations aren't featured under their appears on page, meaning every track they are part of gets selected for download. Because of the various implications stated before I feel like a check for album artist might be better. By this I mean that not the artist tag of each track is being searched, but rather the album artist tag. A "CHECK_ALBUM_ARTIST" flag could help clear this up (and hopefully doesn't complicate thing). This might be linked to a potential "NO_VARIOUS_ARTISTS" flag as it could make it redundant, despite serving different purposes. I wonder how the main fork of zotify approach artists' URLs, as it behaved differently.

kerem commented

2026-02-27 04:57:36 +03:00

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@Googolplexed0 commented on GitHub (Jan 4, 2026):

Implemented, thanks for the suggestion and analysis!

@Googolplexed0 commented on GitHub (Jan 4, 2026): Implemented, thanks for the suggestion and analysis!

kerem referenced this issue

2026-02-27 04:57:54 +03:00

[PR #114] [CLOSED] Add lossless support #170