At a time when artificial intelligence is becoming more dominant, the music streaming platform has decided to introduce a new feature in the form of a ‘Verified by Spotify’ badge.
Its aim is to help users distinguish real human artists (not songs), compared to those that are AI-generated.
Over the coming weeks, those who have Spotify accounts will begin to see the new badge appear on artist profiles and next to artist names in search.
It will be marked by ‘Verified by Spotify’ text and a light green checkmark icon.
Why is Spotify introducing new ‘Verified’ badges?
Spotify explained: “Music is evolving, and so are the ways you discover and connect with artists.
“In the AI era, it’s more important than ever to be able to trust the authenticity of the music you listen to.
“At Spotify, our focus is providing you with more context about artists and their music, so you can build more meaningful connections with them.”
It adds: “Artist profiles are a key place to learn more about music and artists.
“The new ‘Verified by Spotify’ badge shows an artist profile has been reviewed and meets Spotify’s criteria for authenticity and trust.”
The artists who receive the badge will have “consistent listener activity and engagement” over time, “good standing” with Spotify’s platform policies and “signals of a real artist represented in the profile”.
Spotify shares: “We’ll pair these standards with human review and judgment to identify real artists behaving in good-faith, not just filtering out bad actors, giving you a more reliable signal of the authentic artistry behind the music.”
It claims to ensure more than 99% of the artists Spotify listeners actively search for will be verified, representing “hundreds of thousands of artists”.
Spotify will prioritise artists with “active fan interest”, or who have made “important contributions to music culture and history”, rather than “functional” music creators and “content farms” whose content is primarily designed for “passive or background listening”.
As Spotify is home to “millions” of uploaders and artist profiles, reviews and verification will happen “on an ongoing basis to ensure accuracy and consistency”.
It adds that not seeing the badge on an artist profile “doesn’t mean they won’t receive it in the future”.
As well as the launch of the ‘Verified by Spotify’ badge, users will be able to see additional details about artists’ activity (in beta).
The music streaming platform details: “We’re also introducing a new section (in beta) across all artist profiles – regardless of ‘Verified by Spotify’ status – that highlights key artist details like career milestones, release activity, and touring activity, helping you better understand and connect with the artist beyond the music.
“Much like nutrition facts offer a quick, reliable snapshot on what’s inside packaged food, these details – based on Spotify’s platform data – give meaningful signals of an artist’s authentic activity on Spotify, even for those who haven’t yet met our ‘Verified by Spotify’ criteria.
“You’ll begin seeing this in the About section on mobile across artist profiles in the coming weeks, as well as by clicking ‘Verified by Spotify’ in the banner for verified artists.”
How much is Spotify UK per month?
At the time of writing, there are various UK Spotify subscriptions, ranging from £5.99 to £21.99.
Premium Individual (£12.99 per month) – one Premium account, 15 hours/month of listening time from the audiobooks subscriber catalogue, cancel anytime
Premium Student (£5.99 per month) – one verified Premium account, discount for eligible students, cancel anytime
Premium Duo (£17.99 per month) – two Premium accounts, 15 hours/month of listening time from the audiobooks subscriber catalogue (plan manager only), cancel anytime
Premium Family (£21.99 per month) – up to six Premium accounts, parental controls for the plan manager, 15 hours/month of listening time from the audiobooks subscriber catalogue (plan manager only), ability to create accounts for listeners under 13, cancel anytime
All Premium plans have ad-free music listening, lossless audio quality, can download to listen offline, play songs in any order, listen with friends in real time and organise listening queues.
What do you think of the new ‘Verified by Spotify’ badge? Let us know in the comments below.