The right way to credit featured artists
So you’ve got a friend hopping on a verse. A saxophonist moonlighting on your lo-fi banger. A folk singer lending ghostly harmonies to your sea shanty.
Do you list them as a featured artist?
Sure — but only if you do it properly.
The Basics (Don’t Skip This)
If someone appears on just one or two tracks, and it’s not their project? That’s a featured artist. Not a primary artist. Not your new bandmate. Not your brand expansion.
That means they should be listed using your distributor’s "Add Featured Artist to Track Title?" tool — not by shoehorning their name into your artist name like it’s a brunch reservation.
Bad:
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“Jane Doe & Lil Flute” for one collab? Nope.
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“DJ Crunchwrap feat. Lettuce” across the whole album? Still nope.
Good:
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“Song Title (feat. Lettuce)” — at the track level only. That’s the move.
Don’t Feature the Whole Studio
Let’s be clear: a feature is a spotlight, not a guest list. Don’t credit every session musician, handclapper, or triangle player as a featured artist.
This isn’t your liner notes. It’s a search-and-discovery tool.
Featured artist status should be reserved for notable, spotlighted contributions — a duet, a rap verse, a face-melting solo.
As a general rule:
- If they already have their own artist profile on streaming platforms? Consider a feature.
- If they don’t? Skip it.
Not just because it's tidier — but because there’s no promotional upside if the platform can’t link their name to an existing artist profile. No link = no audience crossover = no point.
Why Does It Matter?
Because Spotify, Apple Music, and the rest of the machines that control our music lives are powered by metadata — the digital sticky notes that say who did what.
If you mess this up:
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Your collaborator won’t show up where fans expect them.
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You might accidentally create a brand new artist profile that splits your streams.
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Your song could end up labeled like “DJ Crunchwrap & Lettuce,” a legal partnership you didn’t sign up for.
The Tech Part (That You Might Skip But Shouldn’t)
When uploading to your distributor:
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Put YOUR name in the Artist Name field (album-level).
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Then, for the track where your guest appears, select: “Yes, add featured artists to track title” (Exact wording will differ by distributor)
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Choose the role: Featured Artist.
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Enter their name.
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Bonus: Map their name to their existing Spotify/Apple/YouTube profile so it doesn’t send their fans into the void.
Formatting Matters (A Lot More Than It Should)
DSPs are weirdly uptight about featured artist formatting — like “oops, you used an ampersand and now your track is in jail” uptight.
To avoid getting benched, stick to this format:
Song Title (feat. Artist Name)
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No ALL CAPS
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No extra punctuation
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No emojis
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No “ft.” or “Feat.” — always use lowercase feat.
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Put the featured artist in parentheses right after the title
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No need to include the feature in the main artist field
Don’t do this:
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“feat. Jane Doe and THE SAX GUY 🎷”
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“Ft. My Bestie”
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“(Featuring: John Smith)”
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“Song Title ft Jane Doe”
The quirks
Each DSP has its peculiarities, but Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, and YouTube Music all expect strict adherence to this format. Some distributors are pickier than others — and might reject your release entirely over something as small as a period instead of a parenthesis. Others may let little inconsistencies sneak past. Fingers crossed!
Oh — and don’t assume autocorrect will save you. If you freestyle with metadata here, you might:
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Delay your release
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Accidentally create a brand new (and wrong) artist profile
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Break the link to your collaborator’s profile
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Get flagged for metadata inconsistency
Treat metadata like classical sheet music. Be exact. Be boring. Be safe.
A Quick Word About Exceptions
If the same artist is featured on every single track of your album? Streaming services might say, “Nice try — that’s not a feature, that’s a duo.”
At that point, you’ll probably need to list them as a primary artist — which can lead to “compound artist” crediting like “Kanye & Garfunkel.” That may split your discography across separate artist pages, confuse your fans, or set off an identity crisis you weren't ready for. Instead, be sure to list each collaborator as separate primary artists.
Read more about multiple primary artist names and compound artist names here.
Yes, Credit Your Guests
But credit them right. No metadata drama. No artist page chaos. No angry triangle players wondering why they didn’t get a feature. No angry superstar wondering whey they DID get a feature when they asked to stay anonymous.
Keep your features featured, your artist names clean, and your crunch-wraps crunchy.
