Alicia was a little off-key Sunday when she started singing "If I Ain't Got You" while playing piano onstage -- something people very much so noticed immediately and mocked her over -- although, you wouldn't know it if you missed the live show on air during Super Bowl LVIII.

The reason ... the official Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show video published on YouTube -- which is up right now -- very clearly edited out the minor flub.

Take a listen to the comparisons between the live performance and the version posted on YT ... it certainly seems like editors went back and polished up Alicia's voice. In fact, there's almost no question they did -- as the difference between the two versions is noticeable.

Now, don't get it twisted ... this isn't some huge "conspiracy" involving the National Football League as some have suggested ... it's really just the NFL/Apple Music doing Alicia a solid.

Plenty of folks are already poking fun at Alicia on social media over this, so the bigwigs calling the shots here seem to be throwing AK a life raft. Plus, ya gotta figure they wanna put the best product available in the official version that lives on ... so it's not surprising at all.

With that said, everyone's gonna probably remember ... AK needed a little post-production magic when it's all said and done. No harm, no foul -- she's still an amazing singer!