To stop Spotify from playing an artist on your iPhone, go to the artist’s page, tap the three dots under their name, and tap Don’t play this artist. To block just one song, tap the three dots next to it in a playlist and tap Hide this song. Spotify also lets you snooze a song for 30 days, keep a playlist from shaping your recommendations, and turn off Autoplay.
Spotify’s help center documents hiding and snoozing songs, excluding playlists and tracks from your taste profile, and Autoplay. It doesn’t have a help article for the artist option, so that section draws on the option as it appears in the app and a Spotify Community thread about it.
How to Block an Artist on Spotify
- Open Spotify on your iPhone.
- Search for the artist and open their page.
- Tap the three dots below the artist’s name.
- Tap Don’t play this artist.
Result: The option is meant to stop Spotify from playing that artist for you. To undo it, go back to the artist’s page, tap the three dots, and tap the same option again.
How to see which artists you’ve blocked
In the Spotify Community thread, a Spotify Star (a volunteer, not a Spotify employee) explained that blocked artists appear in your account data download, under “bannedArtists” in a file named YourLibrary.json. You request that download from the Privacy settings on your Spotify account page.
How to Hide One Song
Spotify says you can hide songs in playlists made by Spotify or by other people. In your own playlists, you can remove songs instead.
- Open the playlist.
- Tap the three dots next to the song.
- Tap Hide this song.
Result: The song turns gray and gets skipped in that playlist. Spotify notes it can still play in other playlists where you haven’t hidden it. To bring it back, tap the three dots and choose Show in this playlist.
How to Snooze a Song for 30 Days
- Select the song.
- Tap the three dots.
- Tap Hide in this playlist.
- Tap Don’t suggest this song anywhere for 30 days.
How to Keep a Playlist Out of Your Recommendations
If someone else uses your account, or you play music for kids or sleep, you can stop it from shaping Discover Weekly and Wrapped. Open the playlist or track, tap the three dots near the top, and choose Exclude from your taste profile (or Exclude track from your taste profile for a single song).
Spotify says this gives those listens less impact on your recommendations and taste summaries, and takes effect within 48 hours. Discover Weekly may not change until the following week. Spotify also notes that hiding or snoozing a song doesn’t affect your taste profile.
How to Turn Off Autoplay
When an album or playlist ends, Spotify’s Autoplay keeps going with similar songs. To stop that, tap your profile picture, tap Settings and privacy, and under Playback, switch Autoplay off.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do I still hear an artist I blocked?
Some users in the Spotify Community report still hearing an artist after using Don’t play this artist. If that happens, check that the artist is still marked on their page, and try the other controls above, such as turning off Autoplay.
Can I hide songs in my own playlist?
Spotify says hiding works in playlists created by Spotify or others. For your own playlists, remove the song instead.
Related Guides
- How to block explicit content on Spotify
- How to change Spotify privacy settings
- How to turn off shuffle on Spotify
- How to follow and download podcasts on Spotify
Matthew Burleigh has been writing tech tutorials since 2008. His writing has appeared on dozens of different websites and been read hundreds of millions of times.
After receiving his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Science he spent several years working in IT management for small businesses. However, he now works full time writing content online and creating websites.
His main writing topics include iPhones, Microsoft Office, Google Apps, Android, and Photoshop, but he has also written about many other tech topics as well.