diff --git a/backend/lib/ytdlp.js b/backend/lib/ytdlp.js
index 9e63adf..f1289ca 100644
--- a/backend/lib/ytdlp.js
+++ b/backend/lib/ytdlp.js
@@ -193,12 +193,13 @@ async function downloadTrack({ jobId, artist, rawArtist, albumArtist, title, alb
   });
 
   // Use original (raw) artist for YTM URL — better ranking since channel is in original language.
-  // NOTE: do NOT append the "Songs" filter param (&params=…). The explicit Songs-tab filter
-  // re-ranks results toward a same-named artist's full discography and drops the exact track.
-  // The default blended search (what the browser shows, even logged-out) ranks the official
-  // track first — which is what we want.
+  // Append the "Songs" filter param so results are restricted to YTM's Songs shelf
+  // (no videos/playlists/clips) — the documented way to song-search YTM. This is cleaner
+  // for normal tracks; for ambiguous artist names yt-dlp's search may still not surface the
+  // exact official track (a known extractor limitation — use the direct link in that case).
+  const YTM_SONGS_PARAM = 'EgWKAQIIAWoKEAkQBRAKEAMQBA%3D%3D';
   const ytmQuery = `${rawArtist || mainArtist} ${searchTitle}${albumQuerySuffix}`;
-  const ytmUrl = `https://music.youtube.com/search?q=${encodeURIComponent(ytmQuery)}`;
+  const ytmUrl = `https://music.youtube.com/search?q=${encodeURIComponent(ytmQuery)}&params=${YTM_SONGS_PARAM}`;
   const expectedAudio = path.join(dir, `${fileBase}.${CONFIG.audioFmt}`);
   const hasAudio = () => fs.existsSync(expectedAudio);