Spotify · Updated June 23, 2026

Spotify Fans Also Like: What It Means and How Artists Can Influence It

Spotify Fans Also Like can feel like a little window into whether Spotify understands your audience.

When the section makes sense, it is validating. You see artists your fans actually listen to, artists in the same scene, and possible signals that Spotify knows where your music belongs.

When it looks wrong, it is maddening. You make indie rock and get grouped next to a random EDM artist. You make rap and see artists with no obvious overlap. It can feel like Spotify is sending your music into the wrong room.

Here is the important part: you cannot manually edit Fans Also Like. Spotify says the section is determined by your fans' listening habits, and the more data Spotify has, the better the section gets.

What Is Spotify Fans Also Like?

Fans Also Like is the similar-artist section on a Spotify artist profile. It recommends artists your listeners may also be interested in based on your sound and the listening habits around your audience.

For artists, it matters because it can create a discovery loop. If your profile appears next to artists with the right audience, some of those listeners can discover you from a context that already makes sense.

In my previous Billboard-charting rock band, Dwellings, the Fans Also Like section was one of the early indicators that Spotify was starting to understand where we fit. It was not the whole strategy, but it was a useful signal.

Why Fans Also Like Can Look Wrong

For smaller artists, Fans Also Like can look strange because there may not be enough high-quality listener data yet. If the first people streaming your song come from broad playlists, random playlist swaps, friends with scattered taste, or cheap traffic, Spotify has a noisy picture of who your music is for.

That does not mean the profile is ruined. It means the data is still forming.

The danger is when artists try to "fix" Fans Also Like with more bad traffic. Fake playlist streams, low-quality campaigns, and guaranteed-stream packages can make the audience picture even messier.

Can You Change Spotify Fans Also Like?

You cannot directly edit the artists shown in Fans Also Like. You can influence the inputs by bringing in better listeners.

Spotify's own guidance says artists can help generate more data by encouraging fans to listen, save songs, add music to playlists, and by creating artist playlists with descriptive titles that include your music, songs you listen to, and artists similar to you.

Signals That Help Spotify Understand You

• Real repeat listening: people who come back after the first stream.
• Saves and follows: fans who signal that they want more from you.
• Personal playlist adds: listeners putting your song into their own context.
• Clean audience targeting: traffic from people who already like similar artists, moods, scenes, or genres.
• Consistent release data: multiple songs that attract overlapping listeners over time.
• Artist playlists: playlists that help frame your taste, influences, scene, and adjacent artists.

What Not to Do

Do not buy guaranteed streams to "train" the algorithm. Do not chase random playlists just because they have followers. Do not run broad ads to everyone who likes music. And do not panic if your Fans Also Like section is weird after one release.

The goal is not to force Spotify to think you sound like one specific artist. The goal is to send enough real, consistent listener behavior that Spotify can build a cleaner map around your music.

How to Diagnose Your Fans Also Like Section

Look at the artists showing up and ask better questions:

• Do these artists share listeners with you, even if the genre label looks different?
• Did a playlist, campaign, or collaborator send a sudden wave of unrelated listeners?
• Are your top cities, age ranges, or sources of streams matching the audience you expected?
• Are saves, follows, and repeat listening strong enough to trust the traffic?

Pair Fans Also Like with your music analytics. One weird similar artist is not a crisis. A pattern of bad sources, low saves, and low repeat listening is the real warning sign.

How to Improve Fans Also Like Over Time

Build campaigns around the listeners you actually want. Use content that names the world your music belongs to. Target adjacent artists carefully. Send people through a smart link or landing page you can measure. Watch whether the listeners save, follow, replay, and come back.

If the campaign brings in fans who behave like fans, your algorithmic signals should get cleaner over time. That can help with Fans Also Like, Radio, Discover Weekly, Release Radar, and the broader recommendation system.

Start with the full Spotify algorithmic playlist guide, read the music analytics guide to judge listener quality, and use simpl's Spotify ads team when you need clean listener testing instead of random playlist traffic.

About the author

Anthony Pacheco

Anthony Pacheco is the founder of simpl., a former Sony Music analyst, and a Billboard-charting musician who has helped run 750+ artist marketing campaigns. He writes about real listener behavior, release systems, Spotify ads, and how artists can grow without fake playlist traffic.