Spotify launches a verified badge for artists, and AI-persona accounts won’t qualify

The green checkmark, rolling out over the coming weeks, requires consistent listener engagement, platform policy compliance, and a real-world, identifiable presence. Content farms and AI-generated artist profiles are explicitly excluded at launch.

Spotify has introduced a Verified by Spotify badge, a green checkmark that will appear on artist profiles and next to artist names in search, signalling that the account has passed the company’s review for authenticity and trust. The feature was announced on the Spotify Newsroom and will roll out progressively over the coming weeks.

The timing is not accidental. Spotify has faced sustained criticism over the past year for allowing AI-generated music to accumulate on the platform under fake or misleading artist profiles.

As we  wrote in June 2025, The Velvet Sundown, an AI-generated band whose tracks appeared on users’ Discover Weekly playlists, had no label distinguishing it from a human act. The following month, we covered ...