At Proton we support various roles for artists on every track. Usually, these roles are simply "Original Artist" or "Remix Artist". But sometimes, you'll have an artist that isn't either of those roles. In this case, you can use the "Featured Artist" role.
The "Featured Artist" role is specifically for artists normally appearing like this:
Max Cooper - "Corporeal" feat. Rob Clouth
In the above example, "Rob Clouth" is the featured artist. When adding the artist to the track inside Proton, you'd select the role "Featured Artist" instead of "Original Artist" or "Remix Artist".
Each of the platforms handle "Featured Artists" a bit differently:
Spotify & iTunes support Featured Artists. Their names will be clickable and correctly displayed like the rest of the artists on your release. (Example)
DJ stores like Beatport still do NOT support Featured Artists. In these cases, Proton will automatically update your track title to include the Featured Artist in the title of the track itself. (Example)
IMPORTANT: If you want the Featured Artist's name clickable on Beatport, then you'd need to add them as an Original Artist or Remix Artist. On Beatport, Featured Artists don't have tracks appearing on their profile.
Where your Featured Artist ends up on Spotify
Spotify will show the release on your Featured Artist's profile either way, but where it lands depends on whether they are also added as a Headline Artist on the release.
Added as a Headline Artist: the release sits in their main discography, alongside their own releases, near the top of their profile. Spotify treats it as their release. It also appears in their Spotify for Artists account, so it can be pitched to Spotify's editorial team.
Not added as a Headline Artist: the release only appears in the "Appears On" section at the bottom of their profile. That section is sorted by popularity rather than by release date, so a brand new release can land right at the bottom, underneath tracks from years ago. It also cannot be pitched to Spotify's curators.
Keep in mind that Spotify and Apple Music allow a maximum of 4 Headline Artists per release. If your release already has 4, there is no room to add the Featured Artist as one.
"feat." does not appear in the track title on Spotify
This one surprises a lot of label managers. Unlike the DJ stores, Spotify does not write the Featured Artist into the track title. Spotify's metadata guidelines ask for featured artists to be delivered in the artist credit instead, so that is how Proton sends them.
Unlike the DJ stores, Spotify does not write the Featured Artist into the track title. Spotify's metadata guidelines ask for featured artists to be delivered in the artist credit instead, so that is how Proton sends them.
On Spotify: the title stays Corporeal, and the credit line underneath reads Max Cooper, Rob Clouth, with Rob Clouth clickable.
NOTE: Featured Artists won't need to sign a contract if their royalty percentage on the track is 0%. If you assign the Featured Artist a royalty rate, then they will need to sign a contract.