Verified by Spotify

The Verified by Spotify badge signals to listeners when an artist has met defined criteria across three categories:

Sustained Listener Activity

Criteria that demonstrates that listeners are actively seeking out the artist over a sustained period of time, such as:

• At least 10K monthly active listeners over a consecutive 3 month period
• ≥1K followers

These criteria help us establish a baseline signal of listenership, and also ensure Spotify can conduct thorough, accurate reviews across all criteria by maintaining a manageable and reviewable pool of eligible artists.

We also want to ensure that artists who have made important contributions to music culture and history, as well as those building cultural momentum and relevance, are reviewed, even if their current streaming audience is smaller. Based on editorial considerations, we'll prioritize reviewing artists that reflect cultural relevance and significance.

Platform Compliance

Criteria that ensures an artist is behaving in accordance with Spotify's platform rules, such as:

• Not engaging in repeated spam, impersonation, or violation of Spotify’s platform policies. Please note, if an artist who has received the badge is later found to be in violation of our rules, we reserve the right to remove the badge. This helps preserve trust in the badge as a reliable signal for listeners.

Profile Authenticity

Criteria that help us establish the profile as an artist with an identifiable presence and catalog, such as:

• No deceptive content in the artist bio
• Majority of catalog is music (not noise or spoken word; and not a brand, label, or aggregator)
• The artist has added public markers of authenticity to their profile (i.e., linked social accounts, concert dates, merch, etc.)
• Currently, profiles that appear to primarily represent AI-generated or AI-persona artists are not eligible for review or approval. Profile authenticity requires a clear, accountable identity that listeners can readily understand and trust. We’ll continue to evolve this approach over time based on listener feedback and how the music landscape evolves
• Artists who use AI tools responsibly as part of their creative process are eligible for verification, as long as they present themselves authentically. Learn more about Spotify's AI policies and disclosure.

How the review process works

Meeting the criteria does not guarantee immediate approval as reviews happen on a rolling basis to ensure accuracy and consistency at scale.

Once artists are reviewed and verified, artists will get a notification in Spotify for Artists and they will see the badge appear on their artist profile and in Search, across all surfaces. Not seeing the badge yet does not mean an artist won’t receive it in the future.