If your music is on Spotify, Spotify for Artists should be one of the first artist accounts you set up.

Spotify for Artists is Spotify’s dashboard for artists and their teams. It lets you manage your artist profile, see audience and streaming data, pitch upcoming music, use promotional tools and give other members of your team their own access.

The claiming process is straightforward, but a few things have changed since this article was originally published in 2024.

Step 1: Get your music delivered to Spotify

Your music distributor is the company that delivers your recordings and release information to digital services such as Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music.

Spotify creates an artist profile automatically when a distributor first delivers music for that artist. You do not create the public artist page yourself.

If Syntax Creative distributes your music, Spotify is part of our distribution network.

Step 2: Sign in with a personal Spotify account

Spotify for Artists uses a regular Spotify account for login.

If you already have one, use it. Otherwise, create a Spotify account before requesting access.

Use an account you control and plan to keep. Your login account can be different from the business email Spotify uses to send Spotify for Artists updates.

Also protect the account properly. Our guide to two-factor authentication for musicians covers the basics.

Step 3: Claim the artist profile

Go to Spotify for Artists and request access as an artist or manager.

Then find the correct artist profile and submit the claim.

Spotify may ask you to provide links to the artist’s official website or social accounts to help verify your relationship to the artist.

Spotify manually reviews artist claims, so approval can take a few days.

Only one claim can be pending for an artist profile at a time.

Can you claim Spotify for Artists before your first release?

Yes.

Once your distributor has delivered the first release, ask them for the artist’s Spotify link or Spotify URI, a unique identifier Spotify uses for an artist, album, song or other item in its catalog.

An artist link looks like:

spotify.com/artist/…

An artist URI looks like:

spotify:artist:…

Spotify currently says artists trying to gain access before their first release can contact Spotify with the artist link or URI and the UPC or EAN of the upcoming release.

A UPC, or Universal Product Code, is the identifier used for the release itself. Our guide to ISRCs and UPCs explains the difference between release and recording identifiers.

This is useful because you can get the artist account ready before release day instead of waiting until the music is already public.

What if somebody already claimed the artist?

If the artist team already exists, you cannot submit another claim to join it.

Instead, ask one of the team’s administrators to invite you.

If you do not know who manages the account or cannot reach that person, contact Spotify for Artists support.

Do not create a second Spotify login and try to work around an existing team. Fix the access to the correct one.

Labels and artist teams are different

This distinction is important.

A Spotify artist team is designed for the artist, manager and other people authorized to manage that artist’s Spotify presence.

A label team gives a label access to data for recordings in its catalog based on the label and distributor information Spotify receives with those releases.

Being part of a label team does not automatically give every label employee control over every artist profile.

If someone at a label needs access to an individual artist team, the artist can invite that person when appropriate.

Give everyone their own access

Do not share one Spotify account across the whole team.

Spotify currently uses three main Spotify for Artists access levels:

• Admin: Can use Spotify for Artists tools, edit the artist profile, pitch music, manage campaigns and perform other account functions.
• Editor: Can view data, edit the profile, pitch music and work with many artist and campaign tools.
• Reader: Can view music, audience statistics and artist information without making changes.

Spotify also has a separate Team Admin permission for people who can invite or remove team members and change their access.

Spotify now manages these team permissions through Spotify Manage.

Give people the access they actually need, and remove it when they stop working with the artist.

Claiming your profile no longer means getting the old blue checkmark

This changed in 2026.

For years, claiming Spotify for Artists was closely associated with becoming a “verified artist.”

Spotify now separates those ideas.

A claimed Spotify for Artists profile is identified as a Registered Artist in the artist’s About information.

The newer Verified by Spotify badge is separate. Spotify reviews artists for that badge based on listener activity, platform compliance and signs of an authentic artist identity.

So you should still claim Spotify for Artists immediately.

Just do not expect claiming the account by itself to produce the current verification badge.

What can you do with Spotify for Artists?

Once you have access, there is a lot more to do than look at stream counts.

Manage your artist profile

Admins and Editors can update parts of the public artist profile, including:

• artist bio
• avatar and header images
• image gallery
• social links
• Artist Pick
• merchandise and other supported profile features

Keep the profile current.

If you need a better biography, our guide to writing an artist bio can help. We also have a guide to creating a strong artist press photo.

See your audience and streaming data

Analytics are measurements showing how people are interacting with your music.

Spotify for Artists gives you information about songs, listeners, playlists, audience activity, locations and other performance trends.

Do not judge the artist from one number.

Instead, look for patterns over time. Our guide to using music data analytics explains how to turn those numbers into better decisions.

Pitch upcoming music

Spotify for Artists lets eligible artist teams pitch one unreleased song at a time to Spotify’s editorial team.

An editorial playlist is a playlist selected by Spotify’s own music editors.

Spotify’s technical minimum is seven days before release, but Syntax recommends substantially more lead time for priority releases so distribution, review, pitching and marketing all have time to work.

Our guide to selecting a focus track can help when deciding which song to pitch.

Add Spotify Canvas

Spotify Canvas is a short looping visual that can appear behind a song in Spotify’s mobile Now Playing view.

Admins and Editors can add and manage Canvas through Spotify for Artists.

Our guide to using Spotify Canvas covers the current specifications and creative guidelines.

Use Spotify’s campaign tools

Eligible artists may also see promotional tools inside Spotify for Artists.

For example, Discovery Mode lets eligible teams prioritize selected songs in certain personalized recommendation contexts in exchange for a commission on recording royalties generated through those contexts.

Availability depends on the artist, song, market and distributor.

Claim it before you need it

Your distributor gets the music onto Spotify.

Spotify for Artists gives you the tools to manage what happens around that music once it is there.

Claim the profile. Add the right team members. Update the artist information. Learn the data. Pitch releases early. Then use the tools that actually fit the campaign.

Do not wait until release week to discover nobody knows who has access.