Roon Radio prioritizes TIDAL over local versions of songs

[Jose_Albornoz (José Albornoz)]

Roon Core Machine

macOS 11.5 (10.16.0 according to roon info)
Roon 1.8 (build 814) stable
2018 mac mini - 32 GB ram - local ssd - intel core i7

Music stored in local NAS connected over Network Share (SMB)

Networking Gear & Setup Details

ethernet connection, various 10g switches at home.

Connected Audio Devices

Raspberry Pi running dietpi and roon bridge, SMSL M100 MKII USB DAC

Number of Tracks in Library

23,000 tracks

Description of Issue

Roon Radio suggests TIDAL versions of songs that are already in my Library. This doesn’t happen for all the songs, but I’ve noticed it at least since Roon 1.7.

The song being recommended is a good match, the problem is that since it chooses the TIDAL version, it comes with all the downsides of streaming. This means no waveform in progress bar, fragile internet streaming, and most annoyingly it shows the “Add Album to Library” option which is confusing and messy in case I click by accident.

Overall I’d like Roon to only pick TIDAL in case not available locally. It’s worth noting the local version of the album has been identified by Roon correctly.

[Etch_Sketch]

Yes, I’ve experienced this also.

[bassman (PKC)]

I’d be keen to understand if there is a solution to this also. I have a variety of High Res audio downloads in my library (all of which are marked as the primary version if I also own a copy of a lower res version) but Roon Radio always defaults to a low res Tidal version. I like the Roon Radio recommendations, but it would be nice if Roon defaulted to the highest res source, rather than seemingly defaulting to Tidal (which for me is always low res, as I only have a standard subscription and then purchase my most important music in high res). Anyone found a way for Roon to default to always select the highest res source?

[Jose_Albornoz (José Albornoz)]

@noris hi there, could someone from the Roon team chime in?

[Ivan_Justesen]

Roon clearly makes money this way, there no click-through-pay when u play your local files

otherwise it would ofc respect our primary album selection

[Rudiger_Birkemeyer (Rüdiger Birkemeyer)]

I think so too, since version 1.8. the local library doesn’t count anymore. the software is full of advertisements for tidal and quboz

[Jose_Albornoz (José Albornoz)]

are you serious? the Roon team sacrificing user experience for profits? damn, if that’s true that’d be a huge disappointment. It never occurred to me they could be making money off of this, I’m already a paying TIDAL subscriber (outside of Roon).

Could someone from the Roon team at least confirm that this behavior is on purpose?

[terzinator (Chris)]

This is true not only for Roon Radio.

Searching for an album (or when one appears in the recommended list) it seems that streaming versions are prioritized here, too. Sometimes you can’t even FIND your local version.

Maddening. To find the local version, I need to go into TAGS where I’ve tagged all ripped CDs, and locate it that way.

Now, I will say, if I’m listening to Roon Radio as “house music,” while cooking, or just having music on in the background, I don’t really care which version plays. If I’m not listening critically, I’m not gonna be bothered.

[Jose_Albornoz (José Albornoz)]

I feel a bit ignored by the roon team, not quite sure what the best way to get them to chime in is.
@dylan could you loop the right people in?

[garym]

@support will get their attention to this thread.

[Dave_Richardson]

It’s not clear to me how Roon makes money if you stream a song from Tidal instead of playing a local version. Does Tidal pay them something per play?

[ged_hickman1]

No they don’t. Roon makes no money from tidal or qobuz.

[Dave_Richardson]

@Ivan_Justesen

Roon clearly makes money this way, there no click-through-pay when u play your local files

My post was in response to this one. It’s clear to him but it wasn’t to me. My understanding is the same as yours but I thought I’d ask.

[Anthony_B (Tony)]

It is quite the opposite: each Tidal MQA decode costs Roon money.

[ged_hickman1]

Why does Roon Radio favor streaming?

I wish it flowed to us! Unfortunately we get nothing, and it flows away from TIDAL/Qobuz too. We get nothing and TIDAL/Qobuz get your subscription fee no matter if you play or not. They pay a large part of that income to the labels and use the rest to pay their bills. Every time you stream, they pay bandwidth out of their share of your subscription fee. Playing streaming content costs everyone. It doesn’t. We’d need to see your situation with logs to investigate the scenario more closely. Y…

[Dave_Richardson]

That’s what @Danny has said a number of times but the poster I was responding to said it’s clearly the other way around. I’m going with what @Danny has said and am getting off at this station.

[BCBC (Somewhere in British Columbia)]

[Ranko_Labovic]

I am also looking so long on this issue to be explained and solved by Roon, becasue it is realy upsetting! Any progress ?

[Jose_Albornoz (José Albornoz)]

I’m not sure what to do to get their attention. Isn’t tagging @support the correct workflow? Can someone from the Roon team chime in?

[Jose_Albornoz (José Albornoz)]

this solves a different problem. I want to continue using Roon Radio with Tidal songs, my ask is for it to prioritize local versions when possible.

Same applies to song search, often I get TIDAL results for exact matches that are already in my library, as FLAC.