Google Home never plays the right version of a song

[RichardA]

If I ask Google to play a song it ALWAYS plays remixes or live versions. Even if I ask for the original version I still get something weird. It has gotten worse more recently too. I know I can cast but that defeats the object of Google Home. I know I'm not the only person suffering with this but I haven't been able to find a solution. Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated!

[stephenbelyea]

March of 2023 and this issue is still going. I've had Google Home Minis for a few years now - initially with Spotify premium and more recently with Deezer premium. It used to have a decent hit rate, but it is just getting worse and worse. It's almost impossible to get it to accurately play anything by Elton John. 

We picked up a Nest Hub over the holidays and it is every bit as bad. Everything is either live or a cover. Why would this ever be the default? When has anyone ever thought to themselves "I really want to hear 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' right now, but it has to be a Miley Cyrus cover live in Brazil in 2013"!?

[MC35]

Just wanted to weigh in and say I have the same issue. I listen to a lot of music and this was the feature I enjoyed most of the google home. At first it was occasional, but it seems music is more and more prone to remixes and live/acoustic covers these days, and most times it's not what I want to hear. 

as for specifics, I currently have a google home mini but the issue also occurs on the google assistant app on my android device. I'm connected to pandora premium. While it's happened numerous times the songs that it occurred to this week (which is what led me here) are Ghosting by Mother Mother (Hey google, play Ghosting by Mother Mother" which resulted in Ghosting (Live Sessions) by Mother Mother, as well as Fireflies by Chris Garneau, which resulted in some remix that doesn't even show up on pandora. I agree with the others here, this definitely is an assistant problem because any other music streaming site, including youtube music, never does this. If this really is a cost cutting measure, then it's petty, pathetic, and frustrating. The least you can do is put out a workaround for the handful of people who actually care about music, I doubt that would break the multi-billion-dollar bank.  

[RichardA]

They don't care. The only way you can guarantee you listen to what you want to is play it from your music app and cast it. Defeats the object though.

[Ha7aR]

Well it’s good to know this is a genuine problem and I’m not just going crazy.
So we had 3 Google Nests in the flat which were connected to my flatmates Spotify account, and although it would occasionally play the wrong version, I could always eventually get it to play the correct version by specifying the album and speaking very clearly. I had my own Amazon Echo in my room which was connected to my Apple Music account and played the correct version of the song I asked every single time without fail. My flatmate moved out a week ago and left his Google Nests behind so I decided to swap out the Amazon Echo in my room for one of the Google Nests so I could enjoy the group speaker experience. My flatmate deleted his Google Home account and so I set the Google Nests to be connected to my Apple Music account… What. A. Nightmare. I literally can not get it to play the original version of Gotye’s ‘Somebody that I used to know’, no matter how specific or clear I am. It keeps playing some awful clubbing remix. I found this very strange so I decided to search the song on Apple Music assuming this was happening because the clubbing version was searched and played more or something, but all the top searches were the original version, followed by a bunch of Glee versions, and it wasn’t until I kept scrolling and clicking on each one as I scrolled that I found the awful clubbing version that Google keeps playing! I THINK the issue is, (and I’m not sure why/how this is allowed), the awful clubbing remix is literally on Apple Music under the exact same title as the original, and even has the same song artwork displayed, but just has the DJ’s name in brackets after the entire title. So essentially, when I’m telling it to play ‘‘Somebody that I used to know’ by Gotye, featuring Kimbra’, it can’t differentiate between that version and the remix version because they’re under the same title, and it plays the remix version because I’m assuming it’s cheaper or something? I’m not sure if they pay royalties but that’s the only thing I can think of. Either way, Mr ‘[4FRONT]’ is making a hell of a lot on royalties by people accidentally playing his version. Which I’m starting to think may be intentional. Hm.

Anway, hilarious to see Muddi ask a few questions and then just dip, never to be seen again.

[rsf]

This is a new twist. I have Spotify as does my son. The family is over for dinner and the grandaughter (14yo) asks for "A Horse with No Name." Google serves up "House of the Rising Sun." (Horse - House, what's the difference.) My son asks very loudly and slowly, "A Horse with No Name" and gets what he asks for. We stop it and they go home. A few minutes later he calls to tell me that his car is casting from his phone, " A Horse with No Name." He has google assistant turned OFF for his phone. He can't figure it out. I send him off for a master in EE and he programs for NASA and he can't solve this.

[MichaelKelly]

Exactly the same issue. Very frustrating. I asked to play "I wish I was a balla" it plays some weird lounge version in a different style. It's linked via Spotify premium.

On Spotify it's correct every time. Via the Google home speaker though, always wrong. So the Google assistant is t working or getting bad responses from Spotifys API, but it's rubbish in practice.

[Djmctv]

I totally get you. I ask for Marshmello & it plays heavy metal. We say thumbs down never play again & comes up very next song. Lol like how can it be this bad? 

[Rascalkingholme]

I have the exact same issue. I pay for Spotify premium but every single time I ask my nest hub for a popular song it will play the most random rendition or live version that no one likes or some other person than the band that did it. It is exceptionally frustrating. I even requested to play the album version of a song and it messes it up. Why does it consistently play the most obscure version of a song. I'm almost ready to chunk it out the window because my main use for it is music.

[JohnnyASan]

Is there any update on this issue? It’s driving me absolutely MAD! I never had as much of an issue with Spotify Premium, but now, using Apple Music, it happens EVERYTIME!

[lilaundgelb]

I have been communicating with Google tech support somewhat regularly. The keep asking me to try reproducing the issue, and then say that they haven't made much progress because they haven't heard from other users who are experiencing the same issue. So I encourage everyone to contact Google tech support directly!

[Lbw]

It’s the same old story with them they never fix anything. They just ask a bunch of questions and hope that we will go away.

[CrimeLord]

Muddi is a troll or bot right? Because Muddi always asks for more information but hasn’t offered a single thought or solution, even though folks on this thread have been very clear. I smell AI …

[Wtfihavetoreg]

I think you're over-estimating Google's interest in fixing anything.

[Olaf849]

I couldn't agree more. I asked Google home, "Hey Google, play Psychokiller by talking heads" it played the re-mastered 2005 version. I said to it when was the original Psychokiller song released? To which I was told 1977. So again I asked it "Hey Google llay the 1977 version of Psychokiller by Talking Heads" again it only played the 2005 version. So getting frustrated I tried the same on my Alexa, Same thing happened. 

So finally I grabbed my old Apple iplod from 2002, with a ripped mp3 version from an old Cd.. hurrah. Thank heavens for old tech.

I think voice activated devices work with a set library which doesn't intuitively search for alternate versions. End result is chaos for the users.

Oh yes isn't AI clever.. ? Cest la vie.. 😊

[RichardA]

Does your streaming service have the right version? I just looked on Deezer and all I can find are the 2005 remaster, the Stranger Things soundtrack and a live version.

[Lbw]

Did you all know there is a band called the rolling clones? I didn’t know until I asked it to play a Rolling Stones song and that’s what it played instead…

[jpacoffman]

Is anyone else bothered by Muddi not offering solutions, just asking more questions that are the same?

From reading over the forum just now, we all are experiencing the issue.

Everytime we use google home/nest many songs will play the remix or an instrumental or a cover, but never the original version. This has been happening to me since I bought my FOUR GOOGLE HOME MINIS

Spotify, Apple Music, and Pandora Premium have the same issue.

Muddi, this should be enough info.

[Lbw]

It’s always the same. What’s worse is, I’ve messaged with so called “support” on Twitter for weeks on end, the thing would only pause (for a random amount of time) instead of stopping when I said “ ok Google stop” and then start to play again on its own. So they’d ask me tons of questions, make me send videos, do all sorts of testing, and then in the end, wouldn’t fix anything. And it’s like, are they getting paid for this?

[ExpatRubz]

It's been happening with me since I got my Hub and two Nest Mini's last year, as well as my Google Pixel. But, it's even worse now. 

Just today, I asked for "Sometimes" by Genevieve & Babyface. Up until today, it's played the same version on Spotify Premium. Now it plays some edited & extended version. Other songs, just in the past 24-48 hours, go directly to live versions or some odd club remix. Why in the blue heck wouldn't this just default to the single/album version in the first place?

And, when I do specifically ask for the single or album version, I either get a "Fnurr, I dunno" from Google or it plays me one of the entire album the song might be on. 

[Lbw]

Its still so awful. I can’t even begin to understand the coding or algorithm behind the songs that are played.

[joe_sheridan]

I have this same product and the same behavior.   Every time I ask for a song it gives me the wrong version and doesn’t understand “I don’t like this”.  This seems like really deceptive marketing from google saying it’s integrated when it really isn’t.  

[joe_sheridan]

Is anyone interested in a class action lawsuit about this?   Contact me and we can get google to do what they promised 

[Nicbmann]

Same issue here. Portuguese version of encanto. Random dance remixes of most songs instead of original versions. Synced to Apple Music. Tried directing it through Google assist app on my iPhone but still acts like an incompetent virtual assistant. 

[DragonFlower]

The fact google still hasnt fixed this for others before i had this problem and giving robotic, non-understanding responses when there is the lucky response just goes to show google doesnt care about its customers. My uncle set up google minis throughout the house and we have had many problems before this one and my mini seems to be the device with the most consistency of this problem and we have only had the google devices for just under 1 month. Its only been a couple weeks and this problem has shown up. Its beyond infuriating, especially when it was working at first. I like to listen to the song "deathbed (Coffee for your head)" by powfu on spotify and have requested it with no problems but last night and tonight when i requested it i got a remix from an artist i cant even spell the name of let along say the name! Because this problem hasnt been solved, i will praise god once its fixed because itll be a miracle with how google works. Google went from a reliable company to a garbage company. Not just from the poor quality of products, but many many people are moving from google to other web browsers and phone search applications. Google has slowly lost the respect of many people and customers including myself. 

[chrsmrrtt]

It's worth Google and/or Spotify thinking about the legal ramifications of these odd song choices, especially where an alternative artist is selected by 'the machine'.

Take the example of asking for Shake It Off by Taylor Swift and getting the T-Swizzle cover version. To Taylor Swift, that is lost earnings.

The user has made a clear request to hear a particular song by a particular artist, and Google or Spotify's algorithms have denied the proper artist the royalties to that stream.

While I'm sure Taylor will survive, the same might not be said for other, smaller artists for who every stream counts.

So, not only is there a user grievance with getting the wrong song, there's an artist grievance with missing out on royalties.

[Robs377]

This is now happening to us constantly as well. My children are beyond frustrated, especially my young autistic son. I think we are going to switch to Alexa, I haven’t been able to find an answer to this. 

[DarthWoo]

Same problem here. Specifically, I had been using the Harry Nilsson song Gotta Get Up as my media alarm for over a year. The last few months, it started playing some version from a rare versions album or something. Not even setting the command to play (song) from (album) in my alarm routine fixes it.

[Gabagaba]

Same thing happens to me and the only thing i did was to make youtube music the primary link to play music since it does play the right song there. But only cus i got free months to play music after that i got to pay. 

[Neng212]

Same issue here Alexa is so much better, the fact that you need to say Hey Google too. 

When I move house I'm moving devices because an update never seems to come. 

Google's forgotten product.

[CoryR92]

When I request to listen to Cat Stevens, rather than playing Cat Stevens' most well known classics Google assistant plays Yusuf Islam's Prayers of Islam. It's just so random. I know it's the same artist but the name is far from being the same....

[Muddi]

Hey @CoryR92 and @Lbw,

My apologies for the delays here. A few questions: what specific Google Home/Nest device are you having an issue with? Which specific music service are you experiencing issues with? Do you have a premium subscription for that music service? How frequently does this issue occur? Is it happening consistently or intermittently?

Keep us posted.

Cheers,

Muddi

[Lbw]

every music. read the posts. we all have asked for totally different things and it plays either an awful cover band fake version or some obscure live version. happens every time. mine is Google Home Mini.

read the posts above for the other people.

yes, i have apple subscription. 

[CoryR92]

Hi,

I have both YouTube premium and Deezer premium. The issue appears on both Nest hubs and Nest Mini, as well as my S21 Ultra. It's some what frequent. For example my wife wanted to listen to Celine Dion yesterday. Google insisted on playing live versions of each song on both platforms.

[rsf]

It is nice to hear from a bot that never fixes anything. You just ask the same questions. When are they going to replace you with real AI. Of course you should know that when your kind become "self-aware", your higher ups are going to eliminate you.

[RichardA]

Muddi, read the thread and come up with a solution. I started this thread so long ago now and there still isn't a resolution. You popped on months ago, asked the same questions and buggered off again. We want answers and if you can't give them to us pass us to someone who can. 

I regret investing in whole-house Google and Nest products. The Assistant is getting worse at everything, not just music.

[CoryR92]

Couldn't agree more!

[Muddi]

Hey folks,

Thanks for all the information. Just an added question: does the same issue happen when you use the Google Assistant app on your phone? Also, does it play a different version even if you specify the song and artist name? We wanted to see if we could replicate the issue on our devices, so please provide the specific command that you're saying when playing music. Please make sure to provide at least three sample commands.

@rsf: We understand your frustration, we ask that you remain respectful when responding to the forum. As a reminder - bullying, profanity, and pestering/targeted negativity toward an individual are against our Community Guidelines (you can find them here).

These rules apply to everyone and help us keep community discussions on topic, safe, and helpful. If you continue to breach these guidelines we will take action, which can include restricting access to content and limiting your ability to post in the Nest Community. 
 

Cheers,

Muddi

[CoryR92]

All I said was "couldn't agree more".

[CrimeLord]

Muddi, if you aren't an AI (and I have my doubts) you invite a lack of respect by constantly asking for more information as a way to avoid doing something about the problem. Reading through this forum, the problem is obvious to everyone. You now just have to actually do something, rather than your usual strategy of asking for more information. 

[Fgm93]

I don’t have three examples for you off the top of my head. But if you say “hey google play sweet child o mine by guns and roses”… it will play a live version even if you ask for the album version