Protecting your Spotify artist profile

Artist Profile Protection is an optional feature that adds a review step before releases appear on your profile.

When you turn profile protection on, you can:

• Approve or decline releases before they appear on your profile
• Make sure only approved releases count toward your stats and recommendations
• Use your artist key to automatically approve legitimate releases and save time

If you take no action on a release that needs approval, it will not list you as an artist.

Who should use Artist Profile Protection?

This feature may be a good fit if:

• You’ve experienced repeated incorrect releases
• You have a common artist name
• You're not actively releasing music

You may not need this if:

• You release music frequently and want a streamlined process
• You frequently collaborate with other artists and don't want to add friction to the release process
• You don’t want to manage approvals
• You haven’t experienced mismatch issues

Getting access to Artist Profile Protection

Artist Profile Protection is currently in beta and available to a limited group of artists.

To check if you have access:

1. Log in to artists.spotify.com
2. Go to Settings
3. Look for Artist Profile Protection

If you don’t see it yet, we’re still rolling it out and will expand access over time.

Turning on Artist Profile Protection

For: Artist team Admins and Editors

Once you have access, you can turn Artist Profile Protection on from Settings.

Reviewing releases

When Artist Profile Protection is on, you’ll review and approve releases from most providers before they can list you as an artist on Spotify.

You’ll find these in the Approvals tab by going to Music, then Approvals, on desktop or mobile web.

Releases may list you as a:

• Main artist
• Featured artist
• Remixer
• Orchestra or conductor (classical releases only)
• Actor

Releases requiring approval will show as Needs Approval. Releases delivered with your artist key will show as pre-approved.

You can approve or decline a release, and have up to 28 days after the release date to take action. If you take no action on a release that needs approval, it will not list you as an artist.

Approving a release

When you approve a release, what happens depends on your role:

Main artist

• Appears on your profile as part of your catalog
• Contributes to your stats on Spotify and in Spotify for Artists
• Shows up in recommendations to your listeners
• Is available to use with other Spotify for Artists tools

Featured artist

• Appears on your profile in the Appears on section
• Shows up in recommendations to your listeners

Note: After approval, standard processing times apply before the release appears on your profile and in Spotify for Artists. To avoid delays, review releases ahead of the release date.

Declining a release

If you decline a release:

• It won’t list you as an artist
• It won’t appear on your artist profile
• It won’t contribute to your stats or recommendations

If you need to take further action after declining, you can:

• Report music mixed up with another artist
• Report infringement, including copyright or trademark issues

Note: If there’s another issue with your release - like your role, a typo, or the artwork - you don’t need to decline it for those reasons. Here’s how to fix it.

If you don't take action on a release

If you don’t approve or decline a release by its release date:

• It won’t list you as an artist
• It won’t appear on your artist profile

If you collaborated with other artists, the release may still go live on their profiles if they approve it.

Releases you haven’t approved or declined stay in the Approvals tab for up to 28 days after release.

Need to undo an approval or rejection? Contact us

Artist keys

Your artist key is unique to you and lets trusted distributors deliver pre-approved releases to your protected artist profile.

When a distributor includes your artist key in the metadata:

• The release is pre-approved
• You don’t need to review it manually
• It goes live automatically

This can be helpful if you have a sensitive release or a tight turnaround.

You can find your artist key on the Artist Profile Protection page in Spotify for Artists.

Keeping your artist key secure

• Only share it with distributors you trust
• Never post it publicly

If you think someone has your artist key who shouldn’t, contact us to refresh it. Any legitimate releases sent with the old key that aren’t live yet may need to be approved manually in your Approvals tab.

Understanding your content provider

Your content provider is the company that delivers your music to Spotify. This could be a label, distributor, or delivery platform.

When you’re reviewing releases, checking the provider helps you confirm whether a release is legitimate. The provider name you see may look different from the company name you’re used to working with.

If a provider name looks unfamiliar:

• Confirm the release was delivered by a provider you recognize
• Check with your distributor before approving it

Note: During the beta, releases from most, but not all, providers need approval or an artist key. This may change as we continue testing the feature.