At a time when AI slop it is flood music stream Platforms, Spotify is beta testing a new ‘Artist Profile Protection’ feature that lets artists check releases before they go live on their profiles. The idea behind the new tool is to give artists more control over what tracks are associated with their name on the streaming service.
“Music has landed on the wrong artist pages on streaming services, and the rise of easy-to-produce AI tracks has made the problem worse,” Spotify wrote in a blog post. “This isn’t the experience we want artists to have on Spotify, which is why we’ve made protecting artist identity a top priority for 2026. Today, we’re announcing a first-of-its-kind fix to a problem that’s affected streaming for years.”
Artists in beta have the ability to review and approve or reject releases delivered to Spotify. Only releases they approve will appear on their artist profile, contribute to their stats, and appear in user suggestions.
Spotify’s announcement comes a week after Sony Music said it has requested removal of over 135,000 AI-generated songs featuring its artists on streaming services.
Spotify says that while open distribution has made it easier for independent artists to release music, it also creates opportunities for mistakes and bad actors. Tracks can end up in the wrong artist profile due to metadata errors, confusion between artists with the same name, or malicious attempts to attach music to an artist’s profile.
“When this happens, it can affect your catalog, your stats, your Traffic Radar, and how fans discover your music,” explains Spotify. “We know how frustrating this can be for artists and fans alike, and one of the top requests we’ve heard from artists over the past year is wanting more exposure before music appears under your name.”
Spotify notes that while the new feature isn’t necessary for every artist, it’s designed for artists who have experienced repeated mis-releases, share an artist name, or want more control over what appears on their profile.
Artists included in the beta will see the feature in their “Spotify for Artists” settings on the desktop and mobile web. If they turn on “Artist Profile Protection”, they’ll receive an email notification when music is delivered to Spotify with their name attached to it. From there, they can approve or decline the request.
