How to Block an Artist on Spotify
It is quieter than it sounds: the artist leaves the automated surfaces and stays in the playlists you choose to play.
Open the artist's page in the Spotify mobile app, use the three-dot menu, and choose not to play this artist. Their music stops appearing in radio, autoplay, mixes and recommendations.
It is a mobile control. The desktop and web players do not offer it, though the setting applies once it is set.
It does not remove the artist from playlists you open deliberately, and it does not apply to albums you play on purpose.
The distinction between what Spotify chooses and what you choose is the whole behavior of this feature.
Spotify builds a large part of the listening experience algorithmically: radio, autoplay after a track ends, daily mixes, the playlists generated for you. Blocking an artist removes them from that whole category. You stop being served them.
What it does not touch is anything you select yourself. Open a playlist that contains the artist and the track plays. Search for them and they appear. Hit play on their album and it works. Spotify treats your explicit action as overriding your preference, which is defensible and surprises people.
There is one more limit worth knowing: features. A blocked artist appearing as a featured credit on someone else's track is handled inconsistently, so a collaboration can still reach you through a mix.
And the setting is per account rather than per device, so blocking on a phone applies when you listen on a speaker or in a car, even though those interfaces give you no way to set it.
To undo it, return to the artist page in the mobile app and switch it back. Spotify does not keep a list of blocked artists anywhere browsable, which is the main complaint about the feature.
Blocking, step by step
Open the artist's page in the mobile app.
Use the three-dot menu at the top of the page.
Choose the option not to play this artist. It takes effect immediately.
There is no confirmation screen and no list of blocked artists to review afterwards, which is why unblocking means navigating back to the artist.
What stops and what continues
Stops: radio, autoplay, daily mixes, recommendations and the generated playlists.
Continues: playlists you open, albums you play, search results, and anything you select explicitly.
Collaborations and features are handled inconsistently, so a guest appearance can slip through.
Saved tracks by that artist remain in your library; blocking is not a deletion.
The free tier and other players
The control has been limited by tier and by platform over time, and has been described as unavailable on the free plan in some regions.
The desktop app and the web player do not offer the menu item, even where the account has it on mobile.
Third-party players connected to Spotify follow the account's preferences for recommendations but have no interface of their own for this.
If the option is missing on your phone, check the app version first, then the plan.
Hiding songs instead
Individual tracks inside a playlist can be hidden, which keeps the playlist and skips that song.
That is per playlist rather than per account, so the same track hidden in one playlist still plays in another.
For a single song you dislike, hiding is proportionate. For an artist you never want to hear, blocking is the right tool.
Neither affects what other people hear in a shared or collaborative playlist.
Why someone keeps showing up anyway
They are in a playlist you opened yourself, which the block does not override.
They appear as a feature on a track credited to somebody else.
You are listening on a profile other than the one where the block was set.
Or a collaborative playlist is pulling in tracks added by other people, which is outside your preferences entirely.
Questions people ask about blocking artists
How do I block an artist on Spotify?
On the artist's page in the mobile app, open the three-dot menu and choose not to play this artist.
Can I block an artist on desktop?
No. The control is in the mobile app, although the preference applies to the account once set.
Does blocking remove them from my playlists?
No. Playlists you open yourself still play them. Blocking affects radio, autoplay, mixes and recommendations.
Where is the list of artists I blocked?
There is no list. To unblock, go back to that artist's page and switch the setting off.
Does the artist know?
No. Blocking is private and has no effect visible to the artist beyond the loss of your streams.
Why does a blocked artist still appear?
Usually as a featured credit on another artist's track, in a playlist you opened, or on a different profile from the one you set it on.
Keep reading
- followers on an artist profile — Listeners who block are invisible while the number people judge an artist by is the follower count, and followers on an artist profile acts on that.
- how recommendations are built — Blocking edits the input to an automated system, and how recommendations are built explains what it is editing.
- following and unfollowing — The opposite action has its own effects, and following and unfollowing covers them.