Proprietary Artist ID Delivery Guide v1

Overview

Having accurate data about artists is fundamental for Spotify to be able to serve artists, providers, and users. There are millions of artists on Spotify, many using the same name. Identifying the correct artist behind all the tracks and albums in our catalog can be a challenge. At many times, a track or album is connected to the wrong artist page. This results in a poor user experience, unhappy artists, and manual work for providers and Spotify to correct.

Sending proprietary IDs to Spotify is a platform feature made to reduce misattribution and is available to all of our music content partners. Proprietary artist IDs can help you make sure your artists’ albums and tracks all show correctly on your specific artists’ pages in Spotify.

Here are answers to some common questions about proprietary artist IDs. If there’s something we haven’t covered, contact us.

What’s a proprietary Artist ID?

A proprietary artist ID is a unique identifier that a music provider creates and assigns to an artist. It’s not the same as the third party identifiers used on databases such as MusicBrainz and Discogs. It’s an identifier you can use to reference your artists specifically. For example, so there’s no confusion with another artist who has the same or a similar name in your own database.

How does Spotify use proprietary artist IDs?

We use proprietary artist IDs to check if your artist already has music on Spotify. If the ID and artist name for the new content matches with an existing album or track we’ve received from you, we will add it to the same artist page. If you’re eligible, it’s possible to specify a specific artist page using a Spotify Artist URI.

Proprietary Artist IDs are important because they’re an effective way to group artists' music. It’s also important to note that proprietary IDs collect content together when the IDs match, but they won’t separate out content when the IDs differ. We also use them to perform catalog clean ups.

Accurate artist pages and clean catalogs mean we can give artists and listeners the best possible Spotify experience.

What’s the best way to format proprietary artist IDs?

There’s no set way for you to format your proprietary artist IDs. They just need to be unique so that you can assign a different ID to each artist, even if they share the same name.

What’s the best way to send proprietary artist IDs?

Include artist IDs within the DisplayArtist or PartyList element in your XML file (depending on your ERN version). This artist ID needs to be added, together with the DDEX Party Identifier (DPID) as shown in these examples:

ERN 3.8.2 (and earlier versions)

<DisplayArtist>

<PartyName>

<FullName>Neversink</FullName>

</PartyName>

<PartyId Namespace="[ProviderDPID]">648799</PartyId

<ArtistRole>MainArtist</ArtistRole>

</DisplayArtist>

ERN 4.1 (and later versions)

<PartyList>

<Party>

<PartyReference>P1</PartyReference>

<PartyName>

<FullName>Neversink</FullName>

</PartyName>

<PartyId>

<ISNI>0000000121699015</ISNI>

<ProprietaryId Namespace="[Provider DPID]">648799</ProprietaryId>

</PartyId>

</Party>

...

</PartyList>

Are ISNIs considered proprietary artist IDs?

No, an ISNI (International Standard Name Identifier) isn't considered a proprietary Artist ID since it’s not created and assigned by a music provider. However, we can receive ISNIs and we'll use them as a grouping identifier similar to proprietary artist IDs. Here are examples of how to include ISNIs in your XML:

ERN 3.8.2 (and earlier versions)

<DisplayArtist>

<PartyName>

<FullName>Neversink</FullName>

</PartyName>

<PartyId Namespace="[ProviderDPID]">648799</PartyId>

<PartyId IsISNI="true">0000000121699015</PartyId

<ArtistRole>MainArtist</ArtistRole>

</DisplayArtist>

ERN 4.1 (and later versions)

<PartyList>

<Party>

<PartyReference>P1</PartyReference>

<PartyName>

<FullName>Neversink</FullName>

</PartyName>

<PartyId>

<ISNI>0000000121699015</ISNI>

<ProprietaryId Namespace="[Provider DPID]">648799</ProprietaryId>

</PartyId>

</Party>

...

</PartyList>

Can proprietary artist IDs be corrected?

Yes. Redeliver a product to correct a previously sent proprietary artist ID.