I’m working with the Spotify API and running into an issue when fetching an artist’s discography. The API returns a mixed list that includes both full albums and individual singles, but I need to separate these two types of releases.
When I make a request to get all releases from an artist, I get back everything together. However, when I check the same artist in the actual Spotify app, I can clearly see which items are proper albums and which ones are just single tracks.
Is there a parameter or field in the API response that helps identify whether a release is a complete album or just a single? I’ve looked through the documentation but can’t find a clear way to make this distinction programmatically.
Any suggestions on how to properly filter these results would be really helpful.
the Spotify web API docs are garbage for this. I just look at the uri format patterns - singles have different structures than album tracks. also check the artist’s top tracks list. singles usually appear there but deep album cuts don’t.
the album_type field is pretty unreliable. I check release_date_precision too - singles usually have day precision, albums often just show the year. also check artist features - compilations typically have multiple artists, regular albums dont. It’s hacky but works way better than trusting Spotify’s inconsistent tagging.
Had this exact problem a few months ago building a music discovery app. Use total_tracks + album_type together - way more accurate than just album_type alone. Spotify’s categorization is all over the place. EPs get tagged as albums, promo singles end up in album categories, it’s a mess. My solution: anything with 3 or fewer tracks = single, no matter what album_type says. 4+ tracks = album. Tested this against the actual Spotify app and it matched user expectations way better.
just check the artists array length - singles pack way more collabs than album tracks. also peek at external_urls for different promo links since singles get way more social media push than album stuff.
The album_group parameter saves you processing time. Set it to album_group=album,single,appears_on,compilation and filter server-side instead of client-side. Check the markets field too - singles usually test in fewer markets before global album releases. Don’t ignore the restriction object either. Singles often have different playback restrictions than full albums because of licensing deals. I combined this with basic track count filtering and saw way better accuracy for international artists, where Spotify’s tagging gets messy.
To distinguish between albums and singles in the Spotify API, rely on the album_type property in the response. This will clarify if a release is categorized as an “album”, “single”, or “compilation”. When accessing the /artists/{id}/albums endpoint, include the include_groups=album,single parameter to filter results directly. Additionally, examining the total_tracks field can provide insight, as singles typically contain fewer tracks compared to full albums. These approaches will aid in effectively filtering your results.
Been dealing with this for months while building a recommendation engine. Here’s what finally worked: check the preview_url availability patterns. Singles almost always have preview URLs since they’re for promotion - deep album cuts usually don’t. I also check the images array. Singles typically have way more promotional artwork than standard album covers. Another trick - singles often have identical track names to their later album versions, but different uri values. Cross-referencing these URIs helps you spot when the same song exists as both a standalone single and album track. This caught edge cases that straight metadata filtering missed.
yea, def check album_type, it clearly says if its an album or single. and using the album_group parameter is rly useful too, makes it way easier to filter!
After building several music apps, I’ve found that checking the album_group field with track positioning gives much cleaner results. Singles from promo campaigns show up in the single group, album tracks in the album group. What really boosted my filtering accuracy was checking disc_number and track_number - standalone singles usually have these at 1, but when the same track hits an album later, it gets proper sequence numbers. I also noticed singles often have different available_markets arrays than their album versions, since labels test markets before full album drops. This approach works great for handling re-releases and anniversary editions where the same content appears multiple times in an artist’s discography.
The album_type field works most of the time, but I get better results when I also check release dates. Artists drop singles months before the full album, then throw those same tracks on the complete release. I cross-reference track names and dates to catch these duplicates. Also check available_markets - singles and full albums often have different licensing, so their availability varies by region. This approach cut way down on false positives in my categorization logic.