diff --git a/database/music_database.py b/database/music_database.py
index 8691e8d1..263d993e 100644
--- a/database/music_database.py
+++ b/database/music_database.py
@@ -7288,6 +7288,18 @@ class MusicDatabase:
                 variations.append(normalized_name.title())
                 variations.append(normalized_name)
 
+            # Leading-"The" toggle — a leading "The" is noise for artist identity
+            # ("The Black Eyed Peas" == "Black Eyed Peas"). Without this, a request for
+            # one variant never fetches a library track filed under the other, so it
+            # "fails to match" and re-downloads a duplicate. Search BOTH forms; the
+            # confidence scorer still decides (50/50 title/artist), so this only widens
+            # the candidate fetch — it can't merge genuinely different artists on its own.
+            stripped = artist_name.strip()
+            if stripped.lower().startswith("the ") and stripped[4:].strip():
+                variations.append(stripped[4:].strip())     # "The Black Eyed Peas" -> "Black Eyed Peas"
+            elif stripped:
+                variations.append("The " + stripped)        # "Black Eyed Peas" -> "The Black Eyed Peas"
+
             # Add more aliases here in the future
             if "korn" in name_lower:
                 if "KoЯn" not in variations:
diff --git a/tests/test_artist_the_prefix_variations.py b/tests/test_artist_the_prefix_variations.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..29670912
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_artist_the_prefix_variations.py
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+"""Leading-"The" duplicate fix.
+
+A user wanted "I Gotta Feeling" by "The Black Eyed Peas" but owned it under
+"Black Eyed Peas" (or vice-versa). The dedup gate (check_track_exists) fetches
+candidates via _get_artist_variations(), which had no "The" toggle — so the
+owned track was never fetched, the request "failed to match", and a duplicate
+was downloaded. The toggle widens the fetch to both forms; the scorer still
+decides, so it can't merge genuinely different artists.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from database.music_database import MusicDatabase
+
+
+def _variations(name):
+    db = object.__new__(MusicDatabase)          # no DB / network init needed
+    return db._get_artist_variations(name)
+
+
+def test_leading_the_is_stripped_to_search_the_bare_form():
+    v = _variations("The Black Eyed Peas")
+    assert "Black Eyed Peas" in v               # owned-bare form now gets fetched
+    assert "The Black Eyed Peas" in v           # original kept
+
+
+def test_bare_name_also_searches_the_the_prefixed_form():
+    v = _variations("Black Eyed Peas")
+    assert "The The Black Eyed Peas" not in v   # no double-"The"
+    assert "The Black Eyed Peas" in v           # the "The"-variant gets fetched
+    assert "Black Eyed Peas" in v
+
+
+def test_the_band_named_just_the_never_produces_an_empty_search():
+    # "The" alone must not collapse to an empty artist search (which would match
+    # the entire library). Adding "The The" is harmless — the scorer still gates.
+    v = _variations("The")
+    assert "" not in v
+    assert "The" in v
+
+
+def test_a_leading_the_word_is_required_not_a_mid_word_the():
+    # "Theory of a Deadman" starts with "The" but not the WORD "The" — it must not
+    # be stripped mid-word. (It does still get the harmless "The "-prefixed widen.)
+    v = _variations("Theory of a Deadman")
+    assert "ory of a Deadman" not in v          # NOT mangled mid-word
+    assert "Theory of a Deadman" in v
+
+
+def test_the_toggle_lands_the_match_through_the_real_scorer():
+    # End-to-end on the confidence scorer: requesting one variant against the
+    # other owned variant must clear the 0.8 dedup threshold (50/50 title/artist
+    # → 1.0*0.5 + 0.882*0.5 = 0.94), so it's recognized as already owned.
+    db = object.__new__(MusicDatabase)
+
+    class _Track:
+        title = "I Gotta Feeling"
+        artist_name = "Black Eyed Peas"
+        track_artist = "Black Eyed Peas"
+        album = "The E.N.D."
+
+    conf = db._calculate_track_confidence("I Gotta Feeling", "The Black Eyed Peas", _Track())
+    assert conf >= 0.8, conf
+
+    # …and the reverse direction too.
+    class _Track2:
+        title = "I Gotta Feeling"
+        artist_name = "The Black Eyed Peas"
+        track_artist = "The Black Eyed Peas"
+        album = "The E.N.D."
+
+    conf2 = db._calculate_track_confidence("I Gotta Feeling", "Black Eyed Peas", _Track2())
+    assert conf2 >= 0.8, conf2
+
+
+def test_toggle_does_not_falsely_merge_different_the_artists():
+    # "The Police" and "Police" are arguably the same band, but "The Weeknd" vs
+    # "Weeknd" etc. — the toggle only WIDENS the fetch; the scorer still gates.
+    # A clearly different artist must not score as a match just because both
+    # share no "The". (Title differs too — this is the real safety net.)
+    db = object.__new__(MusicDatabase)
+
+    class _Other:
+        title = "Some Other Song"
+        artist_name = "Black Eyed Peas"
+        track_artist = "Black Eyed Peas"
+        album = "Whatever"
+
+    conf = db._calculate_track_confidence("I Gotta Feeling", "The Killers", _Other())
+    assert conf < 0.8, conf