What are Original Releases?

A song is usually first released to the public as a single, part of an EP, part of an album, or included in a soundtrack.

Songs can later be repackaged or included in other collections such as promotional EPs, albums, or deluxe editions, but the original release denotes the earliest instance of availability. For example, the song "From The Start" was initially released as a single on May 11th, 2023. It later appeared as part of the album Bewitched on September 8th, 2023. While both instances feature the same song, the original release refers specifically to the single from May 11th, 2023.

Different versions of the same song can have different cover art and may be tracked separately in your music player. For instance, depending on how a song is categorized, Spotify might track the minutes listened separately for the single and the album version of the same song. This could result in Spotify Wrapped reporting incorrect listening data, as it would fail to combine the minutes listened across both versions.