How to avoid buying the same track twice
Duplicate purchases come from several stores, several versions and a busy memory. Check three places before you pay, and keep one record of purchases.
On this page
- Why duplicates happen
- Check three places before you pay
- 1. Your DJ library
- 2. Your store purchase history
- 3. Your buy list
- Upgrade instead of buying again
- A worked example
- What store tools do and don't do
- Write the version, not only the title
- Mark it bought immediately
- Clean up duplicates you already have
- Doing this with CatchIt!
To avoid buying the same track twice, check three places before you pay: your DJ library, your purchase history at the store, and your own buy list. Keep one buy list across every store, write the exact version on each row, and mark tracks as bought the moment you check out. Duplicates happen because finds come from several places, tracks exist in several versions and store carts don't know about each other. None of the stores' own tools solves that across stores, so the fix is a habit.
Why duplicates happen
- Several stores. A track in a Beatport cart and on a Bandcamp wishlist looks like two different to-dos.
- Several captures. You Shazam a track in a club, see it in a tracklist the next week and hear it on a chart a month later. Each time it feels new.
- Long gaps. You bought it last year, didn't play it, and forgot.
- Lost files. A drive dies, the file goes missing, and buying again feels quicker than finding the download.
- Version confusion. You meant to buy the extended mix and bought the radio edit, or bought a remix when you already had the original you wanted.
Check three places before you pay
1. Your DJ library
Search your library for the artist and title before checkout. rekordbox's manual describes a search filter on the Collection that lets you choose a column and type, plus a category filter and sorting. Search by title rather than artist, since artist spellings vary between stores.
2. Your store purchase history
Stores keep a record of what you bought. Beatport's support center refers to your Collection, where the purchase date appears beside each track. Bandcamp's collection includes everything you've paid for, and its help center says you can re-download purchases right from it. If the track is there, you own it, and the next step is a re-download, not a purchase.
Beatport says you can download a purchased track up to 20 times without a streaming subscription, and a streaming plan allows unlimited re-downloads. Customer support can also reset failed downloads from recent orders.
3. Your buy list
If you keep one list of everything you mean to buy, with a status per track, a quick search tells you whether you've already bought it, already rejected it or already have it queued at another store. This is the only check that works across stores.
Upgrade instead of buying again
A common near-duplicate is the lossless copy of a track you already own as an MP3. Buying the WAV or AIFF as a new purchase pays for the track twice. Both big download stores offer an upgrade path instead:
- Beatport. Its support center says you can upgrade a purchased MP3 to a lossless format by paying the difference, listed as 0.70 units of your local currency.
- Traxsource. Its support center says past MP3 purchases can be upgraded to AIFF or WAV at any time, from Upgrade Your Tracks in the account menu.
An upgrade only works at the store where the original purchase sits, so the store column in your buy list pays off here.
A worked example
Here's how the three checks play out for one track, as an illustration. You Shazam a track in a club in March, see it in a DJ's tracklist in May, and spot it on a genre chart in July. In July, your library search by title finds nothing, because the file was on a drive you've since replaced. The store check finds it in your Beatport Collection, bought in March as an MP3. Your buy list shows it as Bought, with Beatport noted. The right move is a re-download, plus a lossless upgrade if you want one, not a second purchase.
What store tools do and don't do
Store features help inside one store, and it's worth knowing their limits.
- Beatport Duplicate Track Detection. Beatport's support center describes it as a reminder when you accidentally add a track to your playlist twice. That's useful for playlists, but it isn't a purchase check.
- Beatport carts. Beatport lets you create custom carts and move tracks between them, individually or several at a time. Multiple carts help you organise, but they also create more places for the same track to sit twice.
- Bandcamp wishlist. Bandcamp says purchased items are automatically added to your collection. A wishlist item from one label won't know you bought the same track elsewhere.
Each tool sees only its own store. The Bandcamp wishlist guide and using the Beatport cart as a wishlist cover those lists in more detail.
Write the version, not only the title
For DJs, the version matters as much as the track. When you add a track to your buy list, write the full title as the store shows it, including the mix name in brackets: Original Mix, Extended Mix, Dub, or the remixer's name. Then, at checkout, compare the version in your basket against the list.
If you heard the track in a set and aren't sure which version it was, listen to the candidates before buying rather than guessing. How to decide which tracks to buy covers what to check on that listen.
Mark it bought immediately
The weakest moment is right after checkout. If your list still says "pending", next month you'll see the track again and wonder. Mark tracks as bought in your list as soon as the purchase completes, before you download or import anything.
A simple status set is enough:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Pending | Kept after listening, not yet bought |
| Bought | Purchased; note the store |
| Rejected | Listened and decided against |
Keeping rejected tracks on record matters too. It stops you re-evaluating, and sometimes buying, a track you'd already decided against.
Clean up duplicates you already have
If duplicates are already in your library, rekordbox can help. Its manual describes the Duplicated File Manager, opened from the File menu with Display All Duplicated Files. It lists tracks with the same title and artist; you can delete unwanted ones or use Merge Duplicate Files to consolidate them into a single file. Check cue points and playlists before deleting anything. How to clean up a DJ library covers the wider tidy-up.
The pillar guide on where DJs buy music explains how to split purchases between stores without losing track.
Doing this with CatchIt!
CatchIt! is a Mac app with a free iOS companion that keeps one record of what you've found, kept, rejected and bought.
- Previous-decision hint. When a track you've classified before shows up again, from a new Shazam, tracklist or chart, the Inbox shows a hint with your earlier decision.
- Merged duplicates. The same track arriving from several sources merges into one row.
- Previous filter. In the Inbox, filter to hide tracks you've classified before, or show only those.
- Done flag. In the Wishlist, mark tracks Done once bought and switch between Pending and Done.
CatchIt! doesn't read your store purchase history or your DJ library, so the library and store checks above still apply. See Core concepts.
Frequently asked questions
- Does Beatport warn me if I've already bought a track?
- The feature Beatport calls Duplicate Track Detection is described in its support center as a reminder when you add a track to a playlist twice. It's about playlists, not purchases. Check your Beatport Collection, which lists purchases with their dates, before buying.
- I lost a file. Do I need to buy it again?
- Usually not. Beatport says you can re-download a purchased track up to 20 times without a streaming plan, or without limit with one. Bandcamp lets you re-download purchases from your collection. Check your store account before paying again.
- How do I find duplicates already in my rekordbox library?
- rekordbox's manual describes a Duplicated File Manager, opened from the File menu with Display All Duplicated Files. It lists tracks with the same title and artist, and lets you delete unwanted copies or merge them into one file.
- Is buying the same track in a different version a duplicate?
- Not if you meant to. An extended mix, a dub and a remix are different tracks for a DJ. The mistake is buying a second version by accident, so write the exact version into your buy list.
Sources
- Beatport Support: Duplicate Track Detection
- Beatport Support: How do I re-download my tracks?
- Beatport Support: How do I use multiple custom carts?
- Beatport Support: Upgrading purchased tracks from MP3 to lossless
- Traxsource Support: How do I upgrade MP3 purchases to uncompressed format?
- Bandcamp Help: How do I edit my Fan Page?
- Bandcamp Help: How do I add music to my collection?
- rekordbox 7.2.18 Operating Instructions (PDF)