From c7ba399dd1057021f6e7344511705ede6955fa28 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Sebastian Mohr <sebastian@mohrenclan.de>
Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2025 23:32:04 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] fix incorrect matches when album is missing or empty

closes #5189
---
 beets/metadata_plugins.py | 4 +++-
 beetsplug/spotify.py      | 8 +++++++-
 docs/changelog.rst        | 5 +++++
 3 files changed, 15 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/beets/metadata_plugins.py b/beets/metadata_plugins.py
index 381881b51..6a75d0f79 100644
--- a/beets/metadata_plugins.py
+++ b/beets/metadata_plugins.py
@@ -371,7 +371,9 @@ class SearchApiMetadataSourcePlugin(
         album: str,
         va_likely: bool,
     ) -> Iterable[AlbumInfo]:
-        query_filters: SearchFilter = {"album": album}
+        query_filters: SearchFilter = {}
+        if album:
+            query_filters["album"] = album
         if not va_likely:
             query_filters["artist"] = artist
 
diff --git a/beetsplug/spotify.py b/beetsplug/spotify.py
index a0a5c4358..e97484bc1 100644
--- a/beetsplug/spotify.py
+++ b/beetsplug/spotify.py
@@ -569,7 +569,13 @@ class SpotifyPlugin(
             query_string = item[self.config["track_field"].get()]
 
             # Query the Web API for each track, look for the items' JSON data
-            query_filters: SearchFilter = {"artist": artist, "album": album}
+
+            query_filters: SearchFilter = {}
+            if artist:
+                query_filters["artist"] = artist
+            if album:
+                query_filters["album"] = album
+
             response_data_tracks = self._search_api(
                 query_type="track",
                 query_string=query_string,
diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index 67c284a88..f4ac99d27 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -11,6 +11,11 @@ New features:
 
 Bug fixes:
 
+- :doc:`plugins/spotify` Fixed an issue where track matching and lookups could
+  return incorrect or misleading results when using the Spotify plugin. The
+  problem occurred primarily when no album was provided or when the album field
+  was an empty string. :bug:`5189`
+
 For packagers:
 
 Other changes: