The selection of a media content item having preferred instance attributes includes finding a preferred instance of a media content item having two or more different instances by recognizing a first instance of the media content item having a first set of instance attributes and recognizing a second instance of the media content item having a second set of instance attributes. The selection of a media content item having preferred instance attributes further includes selecting either the first instance of the media content item or the second instance of the media content item based on differences between the first set of instance attributes and the second set of instance attributes.