diff --git a/api/src/party/numeric-question-generator.ts b/api/src/party/numeric-question-generator.ts
index 2f50fdf..aeaf547 100644
--- a/api/src/party/numeric-question-generator.ts
+++ b/api/src/party/numeric-question-generator.ts
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import type { Question } from "../party-types";
 import {
 	buildQuestionWindow,
 	getQuestionRange,
+	isUsableText,
 	type PartyAnalytics,
 	type PartyQuestionMember,
 	resolveQuestionSong,
@@ -29,7 +30,7 @@ async function getAlbumReleaseYear({
 	db,
 	analytics,
 	index,
-}: BuildNumericQuestionInput): Promise<NumericQuestion> {
+}: BuildNumericQuestionInput): Promise<NumericQuestion | null> {
 	const trackName = analytics?.storyClusters?.[0]?.tracks?.[0]?.name;
 	const track = trackName
 		? await db.query.track.findFirst({
@@ -40,10 +41,13 @@ async function getAlbumReleaseYear({
 	const song = await resolveQuestionSong(db, analytics, {
 		trackName: track?.name ?? trackName ?? undefined,
 	});
+	const subject = [track?.album?.name, track?.name].find((value) =>
+		isUsableText(value),
+	);
+	if (!subject) return null;
 	const correct =
 		track?.album?.release_date?.getFullYear() ??
 		new Date().getFullYear() - 1 - index;
-	const subject = track?.album?.name ?? track?.name ?? "unknown album";
 	return {
 		type: "numeric",
 		text: `What's the release year of ${subject}?`,
@@ -127,7 +131,8 @@ export async function buildNumericQuestion(
 ): Promise<Question | null> {
 	const questions: NumericQuestion[] = [];
 
-	questions.push(await getAlbumReleaseYear(input));
+	const albumYearQ = await getAlbumReleaseYear(input);
+	if (albumYearQ) questions.push(albumYearQ);
 
 	const topTrackQ = await countTopTrackListeners(input);
 	if (topTrackQ) questions.push(topTrackQ);
diff --git a/api/src/party/question-utils.ts b/api/src/party/question-utils.ts
index a9eaee8..aa70709 100644
--- a/api/src/party/question-utils.ts
+++ b/api/src/party/question-utils.ts
@@ -113,7 +113,9 @@ export function getTopClusterArtists(analytics: PartyAnalytics): string[] {
 export function getTopClusterTracks(
 	analytics: PartyAnalytics,
 ): AnalyticsTrack[] {
-	return analytics?.storyClusters?.[0]?.tracks ?? [];
+	return (analytics?.storyClusters?.[0]?.tracks ?? []).filter((track) =>
+		isUsableText(track.name),
+	);
 }
 
 export function pickRelevantTrack(
@@ -164,7 +166,8 @@ export async function resolveQuestionSong(
 		where: { name: trackHint.name },
 		with: { album: true, artists: true },
 	});
-	if (tracks.length === 0) return null;
+	const usableTracks = tracks.filter((track) => isUsableText(track.name));
+	if (usableTracks.length === 0) return null;
 
 	const scoreTrack = (track: (typeof tracks)[number]) => {
 		const artistNames = track.artists?.map((artist) => artist.name) ?? [];
@@ -176,7 +179,7 @@ export async function resolveQuestionSong(
 		return (matchesAlbum ? 2 : 0) + (matchesArtist ? 2 : 0);
 	};
 
-	const chosen = tracks
+	const chosen = usableTracks
 		.slice()
 		.sort((a, b) => scoreTrack(b) - scoreTrack(a))[0];
 	if (!chosen) return null;
@@ -184,6 +187,12 @@ export async function resolveQuestionSong(
 	return song;
 }
 
+export function isUsableText(
+	value: string | null | undefined,
+): value is string {
+	return typeof value === "string" && value.trim().length > 0;
+}
+
 export function getTopTrackListener(
 	track: { memberScores?: { userId: string; score: number }[] },
 	members: PartyQuestionMember[],