Sometimes when you attempt to distribute a release you may be blocked from distributing it and receive this message: 

The artist 'XXXXX' is on a Spotify watchlist. Please email support to confirm that you have the rights to distribute material with this artist. 

This is normal procedure to comply with Spotify's requirement for distribution of releases with such artists. Resolving the issue depends on a number of factors:

• If you are using your own Spotify deal (whether a direct deal or a Merlin deal) and:
  • You are a member of Spotify's Preferred Provider Program (PPP):
    
    
  • If you have a parent-child account setup: 
  • Safelist the child account via Royalties > Payees > the specific account > click the Whitelisted button.
  • Distribute the release.
  • Fill out Spotify's clearance form (the form that Spotify gave you access to when you became PPP).
  • After the release is delivered to Spotify we highly recommend that you de-safelist the account so that you can be notified of any future distribution with any watched artist (and can thus fill out Spotify's clearance form if need be).
    
    
  • If you do NOT have a parent-child account setup:
  • Email us stating that you're PPP and that you need your account safelisted in order to distribute a watched artist.
  • Once we respond, you can deliver your release.
  • Once your release is delivered we highly recommend that you email us back  to de-safelist your account so that you can be notified of any future distribution with any watched artist (and can thus fill out Spotify's clearance form if need be).
  • Don't forget to also fill out Spotify's clearance form.
    
    
  • You are NOT a member of Spotify's Preferred Provider Program (PPP):
    
    
  • If you have a parent-child account setup: 
  • Safelist the child account via Royalties > Payees > the specific account > click the Whitelisted button.
  • Distribute the release.
  • Once the release is delivered to Spotify:
    • De-safelist the account so that you can be notified of any future distribution with any watched artist (you will need to email Spotify every time you have a watched artist).
    • Email [email protected] to confirm that you have the relevant sound recording, trademark, and composition rights for the product and provide them with the UPC & Spotify URI that you have retrieved from Scatman.
      
      
  • If you do NOT have a parent-child account setup:
  • Email us stating that you're not PPP and that you need a release with a watched artist distributed.
  • We will deliver the release for you and send you the release's URI.
  • Email [email protected] to confirm that you have the relevant sound recording, trademark, and composition rights for the product and provide them with the UPC & Spotify URI that you have retrieved from Scatman.
    
    
• If you are using a Revelator deal and:
  • You have a parent-child account setup: 
  • Confirm that your client has rights to distribute this artist and that this is not an attempt to distribute fraudulent content.
  • Safelist the child account via Royalties > Payees > the specific account > click the Whitelisted button.
  • Distribute the release.
  • Email us and indicate:
  • That you have distributed a release with a Spotify watched artist.
  • The UPC of your release.
  • Whether the artist from your release is indeed the watched/popular artist, or simply an artist with the same name. If you are unsure, please provide the artist's Spotify Profile ID/URI.
  • Whether you expect to regularly distribute releases with this artist or not.
  • We will fill out Spotify's clearance form to ensure that Spotify doesn't block this release. Note that such releases can be delayed 24-48h as Spotify needs to review and approve the release to go live.
    
    
  • You do NOT have a parent-child account setup:
  • Email us to let us know that you need to distribute a release with an artist on the Spotify  watchlist and indicate:
  • Whether the artist from your release is indeed the watched/popular artist, or simply an artist with the same name. If you are unsure, please provide the artist's Spotify Profile ID/URI.
  • If it is the watched/popular artist, then please also confirm that you have the rights to distribute this artist.
  • We will email you back to confirm that you are clear to distribute the release. Once your release is delivered to Spotify, please email us back on the same ticket/thread and indicate:
  • The UPC of your release
  • Whether you expect to regularly distribute releases with this artist or not.
  • We will fill out Spotify's clearance form to ensure that Spotify doesn't block this release. Note that such releases can be delayed 24-48h as Spotify needs to review and approve the release to go live.