An artist can be verified. This page says exactly what we checked before granting it, because a badge nobody can interpret is worse than no badge at all.
What verified means
We checked that the people behind this profile are the artist or their team.
That is the whole claim. It is a statement about who holds the profile, made by us, at the moment we granted it.
What verified does not mean
- It does not mean the details on the artist's pages are correct, current or complete. The artist maintains those, and we do not check them.
- It does not mean we endorse the artist, vouch for their work, or recommend booking them.
- It does not mean the artist is still active, still represented by the people listed, or still trading.
If you are about to act on something you read here, verified tells you the profile is held by who it says. Everything else on the page is the artist's own word.
How we check
We say that we check, not how. We record internally which method a verification rests on and what the registrar saw, so we can answer for every decision. We do not publish the method: a check that is known in detail is a check that can be built for.
How to get verified
Ask for it from the artist. One request stands at a time, and you can withdraw it until it is reviewed. We look at the request and grant or deny it. We record the decision and when.
Inviting us to your Spotify for Artists team as a Reader, at the address on your Verification page, is one signal we can check when we look at your request: we accept the invitation, confirm the artist is in that team, and leave again. It does not itself file a request or grant a badge, and we do not read your streaming numbers or stay on the team.
We do not charge for verification, we do not sell it, and no plan includes it.
The name and the handle are part of the claim
Once an artist is verified, its name and its handle are locked. The name is the substance of what we verified and the handle is the address we verified it under, so changing either means making the claim again: you request the change, a registrar approves it, and the artist stays verified. The old handle keeps pointing at the artist.
When we withdraw it
We withdraw verification when the basis for it falls away: the evidence turns out to be wrong, the holder loses authority to represent the artist, or the artist is used to impersonate someone.
Withdrawing verification is a restriction, so you get a reason in writing, and you can appeal by replying to it. If we got it wrong we put it back.
If you think a verification is wrong
Report it from the artist's page. Tell us what you think is incorrect and why. We look at every report, and we tell you what we decided.