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POSSIBLE MUSIC BUG: Duplicate artist entries for same artist - Printable Version

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+--- Thread: POSSIBLE MUSIC BUG: Duplicate artist entries for same artist (/t-possible-music-bug-duplicate-artist-entries-for-same-artist)

POSSIBLE MUSIC BUG: Duplicate artist entries for same artist - adusblue - 2025-11-23

Hi all,

I’m running into a weird issue with artist entries in my music library and I’m hoping someone can point me in the right direction.

Summary of the issue:

When I add some artists to Jellyfin, they appear as if they’re two separate entities in different parts of the UI.
Using The Beatles as an example:
  • Under Recently Added Music, The Beatles shows up as one artist entry.
  • Under Album Artists, The Beatles shows up as a separate artist entry.
These two entries don’t seem to be linked:
  • If I mark Favorite Artist on one of them, it does not show up as a favorite on the other.
  • The artist artwork is different:
    • The one under Recently Added Music has no artwork (blank).
    • The one under Album Artists has artwork populated correctly.

Paths shown in Identify:
When I go to the artist page and use Identify, I see that Jellyfin is treating them as if they live in different locations:
  • For the entry that appears under Recently Added Music, the path shows as:

    Code:
    /media/music/The Beatles

  • For the entry under Album Artists, the path shows as:

    Code:
    /config/metadata/artists/The Beatles

So it looks like Jellyfin is treating one as coming directly from the media path and the other from the metadata/config path.
Possible cause: sort tags in FLAC files
I suspect this may be related to the Album Artist / Artist Sort tags in my FLAC files. I’ve been editing those fields (e.g.
ALBUMARTISTSORT
,
ARTISTSORT
, etc.), and I’m wondering if that has caused Jellyfin to treat the same artist as two different entities.
What I’ve tried so far
  • Running Refresh Metadata on the artist and albums
    • Including “all metadata” refresh options
  • Browsing through Artist and Album Artist views to see if anything is obviously mis-labeled
  • Confirmed that file paths for the FLACs themselves are correct (all under
    /media/music/The Beatles/...
    )
So far, none of this has resolved the duplication or linked the two entries together.
What I’m trying to achieve
Ideally, I’d like:
  • Jellyfin to treat The Beatles as one single artist/album artist everywhere (Recently Added, Artists, Album Artists, etc.)
  • One unified artist entry with consistent:
    • Favorites
    • Artwork
    • Metadata and path
Questions
  1. Is there a recommended way to clear or ignore sort tags (Album Artist Sort / Artist Sort) so Jellyfin just uses the main artist name (“The Beatles”) consistently?
  2. Is there a way to remove all sort information from the tags and have Jellyfin rescan so it “forgets” the old artist entity and only keeps a single one?
  3. Is it expected behavior that Identify shows:
    • /media/music/The Beatles
      in one place and
    • /config/metadata/artists/The Beatles
      in another?
Screenshots:        

Environment:
  • Jellyfin version: 10.11.3
  • OS: Docker
  • Client: WebUI in Chrome
  • Library type: Music (FLAC)
Any guidance on how to unify these duplicate artist entries and get Jellyfin to treat The Beatles as a single artist would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

PS:  I am adding all the albums, don't worry, I am a Beatles completist (as one should be!)  Grinning-cat