diff --git a/core/downloads/validation.py b/core/downloads/validation.py
index 2fd64e26..e2e14c57 100644
--- a/core/downloads/validation.py
+++ b/core/downloads/validation.py
@@ -50,6 +50,29 @@ def get_valid_candidates(results, spotify_track, query):
 
         scored = []
         for r in results:
+            # SoundCloud-specific: drop preview snippets BEFORE scoring.
+            # Anonymous SoundCloud serves a ~30s preview clip for tracks
+            # gated behind Go+ / login. yt-dlp accepts these as the
+            # download payload, the integrity check catches them
+            # post-download, but the user just sees "all candidates
+            # failed". Filter at search time when we know expected
+            # duration so the matcher never picks a 30s clip for a
+            # 5-minute track. Keep candidates that genuinely are short
+            # (intros, sound effects) when the expected track is also
+            # short.
+            if r.username == 'soundcloud' and expected_duration and r.duration:
+                cand_secs = r.duration / 1000.0
+                expected_secs = expected_duration / 1000.0
+                # Drop if expected is non-trivially long AND candidate is
+                # near the SoundCloud 30s preview boundary OR less than
+                # half the expected duration.
+                if expected_secs > 60 and (cand_secs < 35 or cand_secs < expected_secs * 0.5):
+                    logger.info(
+                        f"[SoundCloud] Dropping preview/short candidate "
+                        f"'{r.title}' ({cand_secs:.1f}s vs expected {expected_secs:.1f}s)"
+                    )
+                    continue
+
             # Score using matching engine's generic scorer (same weights as Soulseek)
             confidence, match_type = matching_engine.score_track_match(
                 source_title=expected_title,
diff --git a/webui/static/helper.js b/webui/static/helper.js
index a2964435..bcee2ca0 100644
--- a/webui/static/helper.js
+++ b/webui/static/helper.js
@@ -3432,6 +3432,7 @@ const WHATS_NEW = {
     '2.4.2': [
         // --- post-2.4.1 dev work — entries hidden by _getLatestWhatsNewVersion until the build version bumps ---
         { date: 'Unreleased — 2.4.2 dev cycle' },
+        { title: 'Drop SoundCloud Preview Snippets at Search Time', desc: 'soundcloud serves a ~30s preview clip for tracks that are gated behind go+ / login (very common for major-label uploads — official content basically doesn\'t exist on soundcloud, so what shows up is bootlegs, fan uploads, type beats, and these 30s previews). yt-dlp accepts the preview as the download payload, the post-download integrity check catches the duration mismatch and quarantines the file, but the user just sees "all candidates failed" with no explanation. now the search-time filter drops candidates whose duration is below half the expected length OR within ~5s of the 30s preview boundary, but only when the expected track is non-trivially long (>60s) so genuinely short tracks (intros, sound effects, sub-minute songs) still pass through.', page: 'downloads' },
         { title: 'Internal: Move Shared Download Dataclasses + Singleton Boot Path', desc: 'internal — two architectural cleanups on top of the download engine refactor. (1) `TrackResult`, `AlbumResult`, `DownloadStatus`, `SearchResult` lived in `core/soulseek_client.py` for historical reasons (they grew up there as the soulseek-only types and got exported when other download sources were added). every plugin imported these from the soulseek module just to satisfy the contract — coupling 8 clients to a sibling source for type imports only. moved them to `core/download_plugins/types.py` (the neutral plugin package) and updated all 14 import sites across deezer/hifi/lidarr/qobuz/soundcloud/tidal/youtube clients + the engine + matching engine + redownload + tests. clean break, no backward-compat re-export. (2) `web_server.py` now boots the orchestrator via `set_download_orchestrator(DownloadOrchestrator())` so the singleton factory + boot path share state — `get_download_orchestrator()` returns the same instance the global handle points at instead of lazily building a separate one. matches cin\'s `get_metadata_engine()` pattern.' },
         { title: 'Internal: Rename `soulseek_client` Global → `download_orchestrator`', desc: 'internal — followup cleanup. the global handle in web_server.py was named `soulseek_client` for historical reasons (the orchestrator was originally just the soulseek client and grew downstream sources around it), but the type has long been `DownloadOrchestrator` not `SoulseekClient`. renamed the global + every parameter/attribute that carried the legacy name across web_server.py, api/, core/downloads/*, core/search/*, core/streaming/*, services/sync_service.py, and the test fixtures (`MasterDeps.soulseek_client` → `download_orchestrator`, `init(soulseek_client_obj)` → `init(download_orchestrator_obj)`, etc). module path `core.soulseek_client` and class `SoulseekClient` (the actual soulseek-only client) are unchanged — only the orchestrator handle renamed. ~250 references touched, suite green.' },
         { title: 'Internal: Drop Backward-Compat Per-Source Attrs', desc: 'internal — followup to cin\'s download engine review. removed the `orchestrator.soulseek` / `.youtube` / `.tidal` / `.qobuz` / `.hifi` / `.deezer_dl` / `.lidarr` / `.soundcloud` attribute aliases that were preserved for backward compat. external callers (core/downloads/, core/search/, web_server.py) all migrated to the generic `orchestrator.client(\'<source>\')` accessor — alias-aware (legacy `deezer_dl` resolves to canonical `deezer`), single source of truth via the registry. the orchestrator\'s own internal `self.soulseek` / `self.deezer_dl` reaches also routed through `client()` so the only place that knows about per-source identity is the registry. test fakes updated to expose `client(name)` instead of stuffing attributes; conformance test pinned to the new accessor contract. zero behavior change — just cleaner shape.' },