Spotify now displays songwriter and producer credits for every song

In a move designed to strengthen its relationship with the music industry, Spotify has unveiled a new feature that credits the songwriters and producers for each individual track.

Currently, this functionality is limited to Spotify's desktop app. Users can right-click any song to view the contributors, such as performers, writers, and producers.

For years, Spotify has faced backlash from artists and the wider industry over its royalty structure and free, ad-supported tier. The controversy reached a peak when Taylor Swift pulled her catalog from the platform after Spotify declined to restrict her music to paying subscribers. However, the company has gradually made concessions, such as permitting artists to keep new releases exclusive to premium subscribers for a fortnight. Additionally, last April, Spotify bought Mediachain, a blockchain startup intended to help accurately attribute royalties to the correct rights holders.

As Spotify adds roughly 10 million paid users every half year and prepares for its public listing, the Swedish company is keen to maintain goodwill within the music industry. While this announcement represents a modest move, it does help replicate the detailed credits found on traditional album and single sleeves, which typically list everyone involved in creating the music.

"Songwriters are essential to the music we cherish," stated Tiffany Kumar, Spotify's global head of songwriter relations. "By introducing this credits feature, we hope to shine a light on songwriters and producers, encouraging collaboration and discovery among creators, industry professionals, and listeners."

At present, the information displayed comes from metadata supplied by record labels, meaning some entries may lack complete songwriter or producer data. However, making this information visible could incentivize labels to provide accurate and full credits when they upload music.

"Sharing more data creates more opportunities for songwriters," added Annika Goldman, Spotify's director of music publishing operations. "This is only the first step in bringing songwriter and producer credits to our listeners, and we intend to keep refining this data together with our partners in the music industry."