Can You Really Block an Artist on Spotify and Other Streaming Platforms?

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Photo Credit: Nadine Shaabana

As the backlash against Travis Scott turns into a boycott, Spotify users are figuring out how to block certain artists. And yes, it’s possible to block artists on Spotify and most other streaming music platforms — here’s how.

Are you tired of hearing a specific artist in your playlists? Don’t want to support an artist by boosting their streams? As a boycott starts to bubble on streaming platforms against Travis Scott, we decided to take a look at how to block artists on Spotify and other music streaming services.

It’s unclear how broad the Travis Scott streaming boycott will become, though reports and online activity show that there’s some traction building on this movement. Others are defending the rapper, at least until more information becomes public. But no matter your reason for choosing to block an artist, most music streaming services support the feature. It’s possible to block streams of artists and they’ll no longer appear in playlists and won’t be suggested by the app’s algorithms.

However, if you go to the artists’ page – you can still play the artist’s music. So let’s dive in – here’s how to block artists on Spotify and other music streaming services.

How to Block Artists on Spotify

1. 1. Navigate to the artist home page.
   2. Click the three dots menu.
   3. Choose ‘Don’t play this artist.’
   4. Repeat for each artist you want to block.

Spotify’s artist blocking feature is the most robust aside from Deezer. Deezer actually has settings for blocking artists entirely.

How to Block Artists on Deezer

All Deezer tier users can choose to block an artist on their account. Here’s how to block an artist on Deezer.

1. 1. While listening to music, select the ‘Unhappy’ emoji.
   2. A menu will appear.
   3. You can choose ‘Do not recommend this track‘ or ‘Do not recommend this artist.‘
   4. The player will take your decision into account.

You can also manage your exclusions on the Deezer website.

How to Block Artists on Pandora

Pandora’s personalized radio stations are great for finding music you like. But getting music you don’t want to hear out of rotation is much harder. You can downvote the artist and song when it comes up – but that doesn’t block artists on Pandora. It does reduce how often that artist appears on radio stations.

How to Block Artists on YouTube Music

YouTube Music does not offer the ability to block or filter artists out of playlists or radio recommendations.

How to Block Artists on Apple Music

You cannot directly block an artist on Apple Music, either. You can vote to ‘love’ or ‘dislike’ songs in Apple Music. The algorithm will take these preferences into account when building playlists based on your listening history. But again, it requires you to ‘dislike’ multiple songs, just like Pandora.

How to Block Artists on Tidal

Tidal allows you to block an artist from the Artist and Track radio playlists. Here’s how:

1. 1. Visit the artists’ Tidal profile.
   2. Tap the radio button next to their name.
   3. Tap one of their songs.
   4. Then hit the block button at the bottom of ‘Now Playing.’