Spotify for Artists: Set Up Before Release

Spotify for Artists is Spotify’s dashboard for the people behind the music. It shows audience data, lets you edit your profile, and is where you pitch an unreleased song to Spotify’s playlist editors or add a Canvas. None of that works until you have access to the right profile, and the right profile has to be the one your music actually lands on. That set-up work is best done before release day, not during it.

This guide covers how a profile comes into being, how to get access, what you should see in the Upcoming tab, what the pitch and Canvas tools need from you, and what to send us when a release lands on the wrong profile. It is about the tool, not about promotion. The launch plan around it is in the pre-save and release-day guide. Nothing here promises a playlist, a place in a recommendation or a date for the checkmark, because Spotify decides those and its own help pages say so.

Who does what: you, WBBT and Spotify

It helps to be clear about the three parties before anything goes wrong, because each fix belongs to one of them.

Who	What they do
You and your team	Choose the artist name and spelling, ask Spotify for access, edit the profile, send the pitch and (if you have it) add a Canvas.
WBBT	Reviews and delivers the release with the artist details you entered, supplies the identifiers, reviews and delivers Canvas requests on plans that include them, and helps when a release is on the wrong profile.
Spotify	Creates the artist page when the release is processed, grants access, shows the checkmark, decides playlist and recommendation placement, and fixes profile mix-ups through its own forms.

The Spotify for Artists service page says the same thing in short form: we help you find the correct profile and sort out distribution-related mapping, and we do not promise a verification deadline, advertising access or a ranking boost.

Start with the profile your music will land on

Every release carries artist names. Spotify matches those names to an existing profile or creates a new one. The usual failures are two artists who share a name, a respelling between releases (a missing full stop, a different feature credit) and a release that is delivered with no profile link at all.

Spotify’s help page on finding your links explains the fix. Open your artist page, use Share, and copy the link to the artist; hold Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac) while you choose the copy command to get the URI instead. A URL and a URI carry the same artist code in a different format. Spotify says that with its preferred and recommended distributors the artist link can be included when music is delivered, so that the release lands on the right profile. Our own FAQ asks for existing artist identifiers before your next release for the same reason: it reduces mapping errors.

In the Release Wizard this is the Add Artist form. It has two tabs, “New Profile” and “Already in Stores”. The second one says the artist already exists on Spotify or Apple Music and asks for the Spotify URL and the Apple ID, so the release links to the existing profile. Each artist row on a track also has an optional Spotify Artist URL field. If the artist has any music out already, fill it in every time. If the artist is new, leave it empty and keep the spelling identical on every later release. The metadata and artwork guide lists the other name rules the wizard checks.

Getting access to the profile

Spotify’s help page on access describes several routes. Which one you need depends on where your music is.

• Claim an existing profile. Send a request in Spotify for Artists with a link to your website or social channels so Spotify can check who you are. Spotify reviews it by hand and says approval can take a few days.
• Join a team that already exists. You cannot ask to join a claimed profile. Ask the team’s Admin to invite you, and contact Spotify if you cannot reach them.
• Use a preferred distributor. Spotify says that for its preferred providers the access request is granted automatically. It lists those providers on its own page, so check it there rather than assuming.
• Before your first release. Ask your distributor for your artist link or URI, then contact Spotify support with that link and the UPC of the upcoming release.

Only one request can be active for a profile at a time. The Spotify for Artists page in your WBBT account walks through the claim step by step and, if Spotify asks who your distributor is, tells you to choose WBBT Records. Verification itself always happens on Spotify’s side.

Then think about roles. Spotify’s access levels page says Admins and Editors can edit the profile, add a Canvas, pitch upcoming releases and create campaigns, while Readers can see music and audience stats only. Inviting or removing team members is a separate Team Admin permission. Decide who needs which level now, because a manager who can only read cannot send the pitch in release week.

Your release in the Upcoming tab

Unreleased music appears in the Music tab under Upcoming. It only appears after the release has been delivered to Spotify, and on WBBT that comes after our review. A release that is still in review, or that has been returned with a reason, has not been delivered. Our FAQ is plain about the stages: delivered means sent to a store, and live availability still has to be confirmed at the store itself.

Spotify says it can take around 48 hours for a release to show once your distributor has sent it. If it is missing after that, ask your distributor to confirm that it went to the correct artist profile. Compilations, releases where you are only a featured artist and releases where you are listed only at track level do not appear in Upcoming.

Open the release as soon as it appears and check the title, track list, cover, credits and date. The date shown is the earliest day the release is available in any country, and depending on your time zone it may differ from the one you set. To change a detail, Spotify tells you to ask your label or distributor to submit an update, and it gives you Report incorrect release for a release that does not belong to you. At WBBT that means a correction request with the release identifier and the exact fields to change. Do not upload the music again to fix a spelling.

The pitch form in short

From Upcoming, choose a song and complete the pitch form. These are the rules Spotify states, and they decide how you plan.

• Deliver the music at least seven days before release so editors have time to listen. Pitching at that point also adds the song to your followers’ Release Radar playlists.
• Pitch one song at a time. Compilations and songs on which you are only a featured artist cannot be pitched, and a song that is already out can no longer be pitched.
• You can edit the pitch up to release day, but Spotify says there is no guarantee that editors will see the changes.
• Pitching does not guarantee placement, and editors may choose a different song from your release than the one you pitched.

The Free plan needs a release date at least 14 days after you submit, which sounds comfortable. It is less so once review and delivery take their share, so a release submitted on the last permitted day may reach Spotify with little more than the week Spotify asks for. Allow three to four weeks, as the release-day timeline does. What to write in the form, and how a good pitch differs from a weak one, is in the playlist pitching guide.

Canvas: two ways to add one

A Canvas is a short vertical loop that plays in place of the cover on the Now Playing screen. Spotify’s guidelines give it as 3 to 8 seconds long, in a vertical 9:16 shape, as an MP4 or JPG file. Spotify also advises against speech and lyrics, rapid cuts and flashing, and says to keep the key action clear of the player controls.

You have two routes. If you have Admin or Editor access and you are the first main artist on the track (or the main artist on both the track and the release), you can add one yourself in Spotify for Artists, including for an upcoming release: open the track in the Music tab and choose Add Canvas. The other is the request form in your WBBT account, under Tools and then Spotify Canvas, which the pricing page shows from the Basic plan upwards and not on the Free plan.

The WBBT form lists only the tracks that qualify. You upload a 9:16 MP4 or JPEG, say whether it is for adults only and whether it contains explicit content, and confirm that it follows Spotify’s Canvas content policy and that you hold the rights to everything in it. The form states that links and calls to action are not allowed and that any text should relate to the track. The team then reviews it and delivers it, so it does not appear by itself. Each request shows a status (submitted, needs a fix, approved, delivered or rejected), and you can ask for a change or a removal later. Announce a Canvas only once you can see it on Spotify. Check the exact file requirements on the form, because they are what your file is measured against.

The checkmark

Spotify began changing its blue checkmark on 28 January 2026. The “Verified Artist” label is being renamed “Registered Artist” and appears in the About section of the profile. Spotify says the new name reflects that the profile is claimed and actively managed in Spotify for Artists, and that the change does not affect visibility, discovery, royalties or access to the tools.

Our pricing page still lists a “Spotify verified badge” on every artist plan. That line refers to this same checkmark. It is not a separate WBBT badge, nothing in our product switches it on, and Spotify applies it when a profile is claimed and managed. So we cannot promise a date for it, and you should not pay anyone who says they can.

If a release lands on the wrong profile

Do not upload the release again. A duplicate makes the tangle bigger. Work through it in this order:

1. Collect the evidence. Copy the store link of the release, the link of the profile it appears on and the link of the profile it should be on. Take a dated screenshot.
2. Tell Spotify. Spotify’s help page for music mixed up with another artist points you to the content mismatch form in Spotify for Artists. It covers music on a different profile, another artist’s music on yours, and a catalogue split across several profiles. Spotify says it usually replies within a few days.
3. Tell us. Send the incorrect store URL, the correct artist profile URL, the UPC and the ISRCs of the affected tracks, as the WBBT FAQ asks. Because stores show music according to the metadata they receive, the lasting fix often has to come through the distributor.
4. Prevent a repeat. Add the Spotify Artist URL in the wizard for every later release.

If you are planning a new artist name, write to support before you announce it. Each store handles a name change in its own way, and followers, playlists and past statistics are not guaranteed to follow it.

A set-up checklist

When	What to do
Before you submit	Decide the artist spelling. If an artist page exists, copy its link and enter it in the Add Artist form. Check who will need Admin or Editor access.
When you submit	Note the UPC and ISRCs from your release details. For a brand-new artist, keep them for the access request.
After delivery	Allow about 48 hours, then look in Upcoming. Check the title, credits, cover, date and the profile it sits on.
Three to four weeks before release	Send the pitch. Request a Canvas if your plan includes it and you want one on release day.
Release day	Check that the release has moved from Upcoming to Releases, that the profile is the right one and that the Canvas is visible.
Afterwards	Read the audience data. How Spotify recommends music explains what the Source of Streams report shows.

If you would rather prepare the draft in a chat, an assistant connected through WBBT MCP can create and check a release draft, but it never submits it. The artist link is still something you type or paste yourself.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use Spotify for Artists before my first release is live?

Only in a limited way. A new artist has no profile until Spotify processes the first release. Spotify’s help page for that case tells you to ask your distributor for your artist link or URI and to contact Spotify support with it and the UPC of the upcoming release. Once the release is delivered it also appears in the Upcoming tab.

How long does access take?

Spotify says a manual review of an access request can take a few days and gives no more exact time. WBBT cannot speed it up or promise a date, because Spotify grants access. Only one request can be active for a profile at a time, so do not submit it twice.

Can WBBT claim the profile for me?

No. Access is granted by Spotify to the person who asks for it. What we can do is give you the release identifiers and your artist link, show you the steps on the Spotify for Artists page in your account, and help if a release is on the wrong profile.

Does the checkmark make my music easier to find?

Spotify says the change from “Verified Artist” to “Registered Artist” does not affect visibility, discovery, royalties or access to Spotify for Artists tools. It shows that a profile is claimed and actively managed. Nobody can honestly promise reach because of it.

My release is not in the Upcoming tab. What should I check?

First check the status of the release in your WBBT account: a release that is still in review has not been delivered. Spotify says delivery can take around 48 hours to show. After that, send support the release title, the UPC and a screenshot of the Upcoming tab, and say which artist profile you expected. The WBBT FAQ lists what to include.

Who on my team can pitch a song or add a Canvas?

In Spotify’s access levels, Admins and Editors can pitch upcoming releases and add a Canvas, and Readers can only look. Anyone with Admin or Editor access can view and edit a song pitch. Check that your manager or label has the level you intend before release week.

Sources and next steps

These are Spotify’s own help pages behind the facts above. Spotify changes them, so check the current wording before you act on a detail.

• Getting access to Spotify for Artists, Spotify Support (accessed 25 October 2026).
• Access levels in Spotify for Artists, Spotify Support (accessed 25 October 2026).
• Finding your Spotify artist, track, and release links, Spotify Support (accessed 25 October 2026).
• Unreleased music in Spotify for Artists, Spotify Support (accessed 25 October 2026).
• Pitching music and videos to Spotify playlist editors, Spotify Support (accessed 25 October 2026).
• Canvas guidelines and Adding a Canvas to Spotify, Spotify Support (accessed 25 October 2026).
• Music mixed up with another artist, Spotify Support (accessed 25 October 2026).
• Updates to the verification checkmark, Spotify Support (accessed 25 October 2026).

To go further, read the pillar guide on pre-save links and release-day promotion, then the guides on pitching to playlists and on getting your music on TikTok and Instagram. The seven-step distribution guide covers the route to a live release. Compare plans on the pricing page, read the WBBT FAQ, and submit your music when the first release is ready.