If you've ever scrolled through Spotify and wondered why some artist names appear after "feat." while others get top billing, you're not alone. The distinction between featured artists and main (or primary) artists might seem like music industry jargon, but it's actually a fundamental part of how modern music works. Whether you're an aspiring artist planning your first collaboration or just curious about how the industry ticks, understanding these roles can make all the difference in how your music gets discovered, credited, and paid for.
At Kinjari, we work with independent artists every day who want to get these details right from the start. After all, proper crediting isn't just about ego. It's about ensuring everyone gets represented and paid fairly, and your music shows up where it should on streaming platforms. Let me break down everything you need to know about featured artists versus main artists, why it matters, and how to navigate these waters as an independent musician.
Understanding the Basics: Main Artist vs Featured Artist
What Is a Main Artist?
A main artist (sometimes called a primary artist or lead artist) is exactly what it sounds like. They're the driving force behind a track or album. Think of Ed Sheeran on "Shape of You" or Taylor Swift on "Anti-Hero." These artists typically have the most significant creative input, own or control the master recording, and receive the lion's share of royalties.
When you're credited as a main artist, your name appears prominently on streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. The track shows up in your discography under "Singles & EPs" or "Albums," counts towards your monthly listeners, and you get full access to analytics in your Spotify for Artists dashboard. It's also your song that goes into Release Radar playlists for your followers when it drops.
What Is a Featured Artist?
A featured artist, on the other hand, is essentially a guest performer who contributes to someone else's song. They might rap a verse, sing a chorus, or add instrumental elements, but they're not considered the main creative force behind the track. You'll recognise them by the "feat." or "featuring" tag in song titles, such as "Waterfalls" byJames Hype featuring Sam Harper & Bobby Harvey:
Featured artists still receive royalties for their contributions, but typically at a lower rate than the main artist. Their involvement is usually more limited in scope, and while they benefit from the exposure, they don't control the master recording or have the same level of input in the song's overall direction.
How Credits Work on Streaming Platforms
The way your role gets displayed varies slightly across different streaming services, but there are some consistent patterns worth understanding.
Spotify's Approach
On Spotify, main artists appear directly under the album and track titles. If you click on their name, you'll go straight to their artist profile. The song appears in their main discography, and streams count fully towards their monthly listener count.
Featured artists, however, have a different experience. While their name appears in the song title with "feat." or sometimes in smaller text below, the track doesn't show up in their main discography. Instead, it appears in the "Appears On" section at the bottom of their profile (as shown from Sam Harper's page below, Waterfalls shows in Appears On). They still benefit from monthly listener counts, but they can't access detailed analytics for that track in their Spotify for Artists dashboard.
Apple Music and Other Platforms
Apple Music works similarly, with main artists getting prominent placement and full profile integration. Featured artists appear in song titles but the release shows up in their "Appears On" section rather than their main discography.
This distinction matters more than you might think. When someone discovers your music and clicks through to your profile, you want them to see your best work front and centre. Having tracks buried in "Appears On" sections can make it harder for new fans to find your original material.
The Money Side: How Royalties Work
Let's talk about what matters the most to working musicians. Getting paid properly for your work.
Streaming Royalties
The royalty split between main and featured artists isn't determined by streaming platforms themselves. Instead, it's negotiated beforehand in contracts between the artists involved. However, the way you're credited does affect how those royalties flow to you.
Main artists typically receive a larger share because they usually own or control the master recording. Featured artists earn money too, but it's often based on their specific contribution and what was negotiated upfront.
Performance Rights and Digital Royalties
Under legislation like the Digital Performance Rights Act in the US, featured artists are entitled to a significant portion of certain royalties, specifically 45% of digital performance royalties, regardless of whether they own any rights in the copyright. This is separate from streaming royalties and covers things like digital radio play.
The key here is that to qualify for these payments, you need to be properly credited as a featured artist in the metadata. If you're not credited correctly, you might miss out on money that's rightfully yours.
Geographic Differences
Different countries handle neighbouring rights differently. In Canada, 80% of performer royalties go to featured artists while 20% goes to non-featured performers. In the US, it's 90% to featured artists and 10% to non-featured. These might seem like small details, but they add up over time.
Real-World Examples: When Features Steal the Show
Some of the biggest hits in music history have been driven by featured artists who completely elevated the track. Think about Jay-Z's verse on "Crazy in Love" by Beyoncé, or how Kendrick Lamar's guest appearance on "Goosebumps" by Travis Scott became one of the most memorable parts of the song.
In hip-hop especially, featured artists have become superstars in their own right. Snoop Dogg holds the record for most featured appearances with over 583 tracks, followed by Lil Wayne with 430. These artists built entire careers partly on the strength of their guest verses.
Sometimes the feature becomes so iconic that it overshadows the main artist entirely. "It Wasn't Me" by Shaggy is really carried by RikRok's vocals, and many people probably couldn't tell you who the main artist is on "Regulate" (it's Warren G, but everyone remembers Nate Dogg's smooth chorus).
The Strategic Benefits of Featuring
For Main Artists
Having a featured artist on your track can expose you to their entire fanbase. It's like getting an instant introduction to thousands or potentially millions of new listeners. The collaboration also brings fresh creative perspectives that might push your music in directions you wouldn't have explored alone.
From a business perspective, features can help you tap into different markets or demographics. An indie rock artist featuring an electronic producer might suddenly find their music connecting with the dance music crowd.
For Featured Artists
Being featured gives you exposure to new audiences without the full responsibility of carrying the entire track. It's a lower-risk way to experiment with different sounds or work with artists outside your usual genre. Plus, if the song becomes a hit, you get to share in that success.
Many artists use features as stepping stones to build relationships that lead to bigger opportunities down the line. That guest verse might turn into a full collaboration, a tour opportunity, or connections with industry professionals you wouldn't have met otherwise.
Getting the Credits Right: A Practical Guide
Metadata Matters
When you're uploading music through a distribution service like Kinjari, getting your metadata right is crucial. This includes properly identifying who's a main artist versus who's featured, and making sure everyone's legal names are correctly spelled in the composer and songwriter fields.
The metadata you submit travels to every streaming platform and digital store, so mistakes here can follow your music everywhere. That's why we always recommend taking time to double-check everything before hitting submit.
Best Practices for Credits
As a rule of thumb, if someone contributed significantly to the songwriting, performance, or overall creative direction, they might deserve main artist credit rather than just a feature. However, if they added a verse, chorus, or specific element to what's essentially your song, featuring credit is usually more appropriate.
The key is communication. Have these conversations upfront with anyone you're collaborating with. Agree on credits, royalty splits, and how the song will be promoted before you start distributing.
Multiple Artists and the "Various Artists" Problem
Here's something that catches many independent artists off guard: if you credit four or more artists as main artists on a single track, many streaming platforms will automatically categorise it as "Various Artists". When this happens, the song often doesn't appear properly on any of the individual artist profiles, which defeats the purpose of collaboration.
To avoid this, you might need to designate some contributors as featured artists instead of main artists, even if their contribution was substantial. It's not ideal, but it's better than having your music disappear into the "Various Artists" black hole.
How Kinjari Supports Your Collaborations
At Kinjari, we've designed our platform to make these collaborations as smooth as possible for independent artists. Our $3 monthly subscription covers unlimited releases, so you can collaborate as much as you want without worrying about per-release fees eating into your budget.
We handle all the technical metadata requirements, ensuring your featured artists get properly credited across all 100+ platforms we distribute to. Whether you're releasing on Spotify, Apple Music, or specialised platforms like Beatport or Volumo for electronic music, we make sure the credits appear correctly everywhere.
Our style guide specifically covers how to handle featured artists properly, and we update this regularly with the latest styles and standards. We recommend using the standard "feat." designation and keeping featured artist information in the metadata rather than cramming it all into track titles, which can get messy across different platforms.
Royalty Transparency
One thing I love about our approach at Kinjari is the transparency. You keep 90% of your royalties, and we provide detailed breakdowns of exactly what you're earning from each platform. When you're splitting royalties with featured artists, having clear, accurate reporting makes those conversations much easier.
Our $5 minimum payout threshold means you can get your money quickly, which is especially important when you need to pay collaborators promptly. Nothing kills creative relationships faster than delayed or unclear payments.
The Future of Music Collaboration
The landscape of music collaboration is evolving rapidly. Digital tools now make it possible for artists from different continents to work together seamlessly. Platforms like BandLab have created entire communities around collaborative music creation, while services like SoundBetter connect musicians with session players and featured artists globally.
Social media has also changed how collaborations happen. TikTok duets, Instagram Live sessions, and YouTube collaborations can all lead to official releases. The lines between content creation and music creation continue to blur.
For independent artists, this means more opportunities than ever to find collaborators and build your network. But it also means competition is fierce, and getting your credits and business arrangements right becomes even more important.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Don't Assume Industry Standards
Just because you've seen other artists handle credits a certain way doesn't mean it's the best approach for your situation. Every collaboration is different, and what works for major label artists might not work for independent musicians.
Don't Skip the Contracts
Even if you're working with friends, put your agreements in writing. This doesn't have to be a formal legal document. Even a simple email outlining who's credited how and what the royalty split is can save massive headaches later.
Don't Rush the Release
Give yourself time to get the credits right before releasing. Most distributors, including Kinjari, recommend submitting your music at least two to three weeks before your intended release date. This gives everyone time to review the credits and fix any issues before the song goes live.
Making Your Next Collaboration Count
Whether you're planning your first feature or you're a seasoned collaborator, the key is understanding how these roles work and using them strategically. A well-planned collaboration can introduce you to new audiences, push your creativity in exciting directions, and build relationships that benefit your career for years to come.
The difference between main and featured artist credits might seem like industry bureaucracy, but it has real implications for how your music gets discovered, how you get paid, and how your career develops. By understanding these distinctions and working with a distribution partner that gets the details right, you're setting yourself up for success.
At Kinjari, we're here to support independent artists through every step of this journey. From getting your metadata perfect to ensuring your royalties are calculated correctly, we handle the technical stuff so you can focus on what matters most. Making great music with other talented artists.
Ready to get your next collaboration out into the world? With our unlimited releases for just $3 a month and transparent royalty reporting, you can experiment with different types of collaborations without breaking the bank. Because at the end of the day, music is about connection between artists, sounds, and most importantly you and your fans.
