Music League has two ways to keep track of other players: following and friending. They look similar at first glance, but they work differently and they exist for different reasons.
The short version
- Follow is one-way. You can follow anyone, and you don't need their permission. They get a notification that you followed them, but they don't have to accept anything. Use it the way you'd use following on Twitter or Instagram — to keep tabs on someone whose music taste you like.
- Friend is two-way. One player sends a request; the other accepts or declines. Once accepted, both players show up as friends on each other's profiles. Use it to mark a real, mutual connection — usually someone you actually know.
You can do both at the same time. Following a friend, or being friends with someone you also follow, is totally fine.
How to follow someone
- Open the player's profile (tap their name or avatar anywhere in the app).
- Tap Follow.
That's it. The other player gets a notification: "[Your name] followed you." They don't have to do anything. Your follow shows up immediately on their Followers list, and they appear on your Following list.
To unfollow, open the same profile and tap Unfollow.
How to send a friend request
- Open the player's profile.
- Tap Add Friend.
They get a notification: "[Your name] sent you a friend request." The request sits in a pending state until they decide.
Until they accept, the button on your end changes to Cancel Request — you can take the request back anytime if you change your mind.
What if I'm the one who got the friend request?
When you open the profile of a player who has sent you a friend request, the Accept button is the most prominent one, with Decline sitting next to it.
- Accept — you're now friends. Both of you get added to each other's friends list and you both get a confirmation notification.
- Decline — the request is removed. The other player is not notified that you declined, so there's no awkwardness if you don't want to accept.
Ending a friendship
Either side can end an accepted friendship at any time. Open the profile, tap Unfriend, confirm. The other player is not notified.
If you want to send a fresh friend request later, you can — unfriending doesn't block anything.
Where do followers, following, and friends live?
On every profile page, there's a stats row near the top showing:
- Leagues — how many leagues this player is in
- Songs — how many songs they've submitted across all leagues
- Followers — how many people follow them (tap to see the list)
- Following — how many people they follow (tap to see the list)
- Friends — how many accepted friends they have (tap to see the list)
Each list is its own page. Tapping a list shows you the avatars and names of every player in that relationship.
Is my followers / following / friends list private?
Right now, no — all three lists are public. Anyone with the link to your profile can see who you follow, who follows you, and who your friends are. Per-section privacy controls are coming in a future release.
What do followers actually get?
For now: a notification when you follow them, a count on their profile, and a public list where they can see you among their followers. A more elaborate activity feed — where you see what your followees are doing across the app — is on the roadmap but not shipped yet.
What do friends actually get?
For now: same as followers — a notification on request, a notification on acceptance, a count on the profile, and a public list. Friend-only profile views, friend-only DMs, and friend-driven league invitations are all on the roadmap. The friendship relationship itself is in place so those features can build on it as they ship.
What can't I do yet?
A few things are explicitly out of scope for the current release. We're not pretending they exist, so you don't have to look for them:
- Block or mute another player. If someone is harassing you, report their messages and comments (see Reporting Chat Messages and Comments) and reach out to the league administrator. If the administrator is the problem, email support@musicleague.com.
- Make your followers / following / friends list private. Coming later.
- Activity feed. Coming later.
- DM a friend. Coming later — for now, chat lives inside leagues, not between individual players.
Can I follow or friend a soft-deleted or banned player?
A player who deleted their account no longer has a profile to visit, so you can't initiate a new follow or friend request on them. If you were already following them or friends with them before they left, the relationship record stays in the database but they won't get notifications and they won't appear in lists.
A player banned from a specific league can still be followed or friended outside of that league — banning is league-scoped, not account-wide.
Side-by-side comparison
| Follow | Friend | |
|---|---|---|
| Who decides? | You. No permission needed. | Both of you. Recipient must accept. |
| States | Following or not following | None → Pending → Accepted (or Declined / Cancelled) |
| Notification on initiate | The followee is notified | The recipient is notified |
| Notification on accept | n/a | The requester is notified that the request was accepted |
| Notification on end | None | None |
| Can I take it back? | Yes — Unfollow anytime | Yes — Cancel a pending request, or Unfriend an accepted one |
| How it appears on the profile | "Followers" + "Following" counts and lists | "Friends" count and list |