diff --git a/android/app/src/main/kotlin/com/novasonic/app/viewmodel/ExploreViewModel.kt b/android/app/src/main/kotlin/com/novasonic/app/viewmodel/ExploreViewModel.kt
index e966eb2..efd051e 100644
--- a/android/app/src/main/kotlin/com/novasonic/app/viewmodel/ExploreViewModel.kt
+++ b/android/app/src/main/kotlin/com/novasonic/app/viewmodel/ExploreViewModel.kt
@@ -102,10 +102,13 @@ class ExploreViewModel(app: Application) : AndroidViewModel(app) {
     }
 
     private fun search(q: String) {
+        // Strip leading aesthetic punctuation (".diedlonely", "†…") so iTunes actually surfaces the
+        // artist instead of nothing. Falls back to the raw query if it was only symbols.
+        val term = q.trimStart { !it.isLetterOrDigit() }.trim().ifBlank { q }
         viewModelScope.launch {
             _state.value = _state.value.copy(isSearching = true, error = null)
             try {
-                val resp = ItunesClient.search(q)
+                val resp = ItunesClient.search(term)
                 val results = resp.results
                 _state.value = _state.value.copy(
                     artists    = results.filter { it.wrapperType == "artist" },
diff --git a/backend/lib/metadata.js b/backend/lib/metadata.js
index 54cf30e..15cf927 100644
--- a/backend/lib/metadata.js
+++ b/backend/lib/metadata.js
@@ -148,7 +148,10 @@ async function lookupItunesTrackMeta(artist, title) {
     // e.g. "don't rush - slowed" → search "don't rush" so iTunes finds the single
     const baseTitle = title.replace(/\s*[-–]\s*\S[^-]*$/, '').trim() || title;
     const searchTitle = baseTitle !== title ? baseTitle : title;
-    const searchArtist = artist.split(/[;,&]/)[0].trim();
+    // Strip leading aesthetic punctuation many artists use (".diedlonely", "†", "✝", "_x")
+    // so the iTunes search actually surfaces them instead of a same-titled track by someone else.
+    const stripLeadSym = s => (s || '').replace(/^[^\p{L}\p{N}]+/u, '').trim();
+    const searchArtist = stripLeadSym(artist.split(/[;,&]/)[0].trim());
     const fetchItunes = (country) => new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
       const url = `https://itunes.apple.com/search?term=${encodeURIComponent(searchArtist + ' ' + searchTitle)}&media=music&entity=musicTrack&limit=10&country=${country}&explicit=Yes`;
       https.get(url, res => {
@@ -159,7 +162,7 @@ async function lookupItunesTrackMeta(artist, title) {
     const normT = normalizeTitle(title);
     const normA = (searchArtist || '').toLowerCase().trim();
     // Split by space OR comma/semicolon/slash so "VXLLAIN, iGRES" → "vxllain" not "vxllain,"
-    const firstWord = s => (s || '').toLowerCase().split(/[\s,;/]/)[0];
+    const firstWord = s => stripLeadSym((s || '').toLowerCase()).split(/[\s,;/]/)[0];
     const strictMatch = results => results.find(t =>
       normalizeTitle(t.trackName) === normT && firstWord(t.artistName) === firstWord(normA)
     );