James Hanley:

The streaming platform is piloting a new opt-in feature that lets artists review and approve eligible releases before they go live.

The company says protecting artist identity has become “a top priority for 2026,” noting that “the rise of easy-to-produce AI tracks has made the [misattribution] problem worse” across streaming services.

Spotify’s new Artist Profile Protection feature — now in limited beta — has been designed to combat ongoing issues with misattributed releases, whether from metadata errors, artists sharing the same name, or “bad actors” who are “maliciously” attaching music to artists’ profiles.

This is one of those things that’s almost unbelievable it hasn’t always been the default. And seeing the Cartel fake AI song appear last week is another reminder why.