How to Format Featured Artists (feat.) for Spotify and Apple Music
Updated 2026-10-21 · 4 sources
Short answer
Put each featured artist in its own artist field with the Featuring (or With) role, never in the primary artist field. Don't type "ft.", "featuring" or "w/". Where a title does show a featured artist, Apple's format is lowercase (feat. Artist) in parentheses or brackets, e.g. "Body Language (feat. Usher & Tinashe)".
The rule from each platform
- Spotify: list each artist in a separate field, set roles at both track and release level, and don't put any artist names in track or release titles [1].
- Apple Music: featured artists get the Featuring or With role and must not be marked Primary. In titles, "feat." and "with" are lowercase, in English, and in parentheses or brackets. No other spelling is accepted ("featuring", "Feat", "w/") [2].
- Apple Music: each artist field can contain only one artist name (no "compound artists") [2].
- Distributors: DistroKid lists primary artists also listed as featured artists as a title problem [3]. Novecore rejects "feat" or "ft" typed into titles and multiple artists in one field [4].
Several featured artists
Apple's examples: two artists are joined with an ampersand, "(feat. Usher & Tinashe)", and three or more use commas with a final ampersand, "(feat. Rick Ross, ScHoolboy Q & Nas)" [2].
Featured artist plus a version
When a title also carries version information, the featured credit comes first in parentheses and the version follows in brackets. Apple's remix example is "MMXX – VIII (feat. Lunice) [Kornél Kovács Remix]" [2].
Examples
| Instead of | Use | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Artist: "Nova Reyes feat. Kai Lane" | Primary: Nova Reyes · Featuring: Kai Lane | One artist per field; the feature has its own role. |
| Golden Hour ft. Kai Lane | Golden Hour (feat. Kai Lane), generated from the featured role | Apple only accepts lowercase "feat." in parentheses or brackets. |
| Midnight Drive (Featuring Kai Lane) | Midnight Drive (feat. Kai Lane) | "Featuring" isn't accepted, only "feat." |
| Body Language (feat. Usher, Tinashe) | Body Language (feat. Usher & Tinashe) | Join the last two names with an ampersand. |
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FAQ
Why isn't the featured artist showing on their Spotify profile?
Usually because their name was typed into the title or into the primary artist field instead of being added as a separate featured artist. Spotify uses artist roles to decide which profiles a release appears on. Your distributor has to send a metadata update to fix it.
Primary or featured: which should I use?
Apple defines Featuring/With as a guest whose contribution is significant but not significant enough for the Primary role. If both artists are equal leads, credit both as Primary, each in their own field.
Can I write "with" instead of "feat."?
Apple accepts lowercase "with" for the With role, under the same parentheses-or-brackets rule. An artist shouldn't have both the Featuring and With roles on the same song.
Related guides
Sources
- Spotify for Artists: Music metadata guidelines
- Apple Music Style Guide 2.4 (Apple)
- DistroKid Help: Release and Track Title Formatting Issues
- Novecore Support: Why was my release rejected?
Platform rules change. Each rule above is attributed to the company or standard that published it, as checked on 2026-10-21. This guide is not legal advice.