The featuring abbreviation comes in two common forms: feat. and ft. Both mean that a guest performer joins the main artist on a track, as in "Night Drive (feat. Lena Cruz)." Feat. is the longer, clearer choice found in official music credits, and ft. is the shorter one people type in playlists, video titles and posts.
Neither form is wrong. The letters simply save space where a title is already long. You read both aloud as the full word, "featuring," never as "feet" or "F T."
Quick facts
Abbreviations
feat. and ft.Most formal
feat., with a periodMost common online
ft., often typed without a periodSaid as
FeaturingUsed in
Track credits, concert posters, video titles, event flyersAlso means
ft. is also feet, and Ft. is Fort in place namesNot the same as
& or and, which name equal partners
Feat. vs ft.: the featuring abbreviation compared
| Form | Feel | Typical home |
|---|---|---|
| feat. | Clear and formal | Official track listings, liner notes, press releases |
| ft. | Quick and casual | Playlists, video titles, social posts |
| feat (no dot) | Informal | Streaming search boxes, file names |
| ft (no dot) | Very informal | Hashtags and text messages |
For a class report, a newsletter or anything a reader might print, use feat. because it cannot be mistaken for a measurement. When a title has to fit a small screen, ft. is perfectly understood. You can find related short words in the common abbreviations section.
How it looks in a real track credit
The usual pattern puts the main artist first, then the title, then the guest in parentheses or brackets.
Playlist entry: "Marco Bell, Summer Lights (feat. Ana Ruiz)." Marco Bell is the lead artist. Ana Ruiz sings a verse or a chorus as a guest. Some apps instead list her name after the main artist: "Marco Bell ft. Ana Ruiz."
The abbreviation stays lowercase inside the parentheses. At the start of a line on a poster, writers often capitalize it: "Feat. the River City Horns."
Featuring outside of music
The word and its short forms travel well beyond song credits.
- Video titles: "Kitchen tour ft. my grandma" means a guest appears in the clip.
- Event flyers: "Open mic night, feat. local poets" lists who will perform.
- Podcasts: an episode title may tag a guest speaker the same way.
- Restaurant boards: menus usually spell it out, as in "a salad featuring fresh peaches," because the short form looks odd next to food.
In each case, the abbreviation points to someone or something that shares the spotlight without being the headliner.
Punctuation and capital letters
Put a period after feat. and ft. in careful writing, since both are shortened words. Inside a title, keep them lowercase unless your style puts every word in capitals. When feat. lands as the last word of a sentence, its dot also ends the sentence.
Avoid writing "Ft" with a capital F in the middle of a title. Readers may take it for Fort, as in a city name. And skip the plural; you never need "feats." or "fts." Two guests are simply listed with a comma or an ampersand after one tag: "feat. Ana Ruiz & Theo Park."
When ft. means feet instead
Outside entertainment, ft. nearly always means feet. A floor plan that reads "12 ft. x 14 ft." is about room size, not guest singers. Real estate listings, hardware labels and science homework all use it this way. See the abbreviation for feet for those rules.
That double meaning is the strongest reason to choose feat. in formal writing. If a reader could stumble, spell the word out.
Featuring, with, and the x sign
Credits use different joiners on purpose:
- feat. or ft. adds a guest to the lead artist's track.
- & or and names partners who share equal billing.
- x between two names marks a joint project or a collaboration, often in fashion and design as well as music.
- w/, short for with, shows up on handwritten flyers and setlists.
Choosing the right one tells fans who leads the project. Curious how short forms differ from acronyms? Acronym vs abbreviation lays it out.
Questions people ask
What is the abbreviation for featuring?
Featuring is shortened to feat. or ft. Feat. is more formal and harder to misread, while ft. is the quick version used online.
Is it feat or ft?
Both are correct. Use feat. in printed or formal work, and ft. where space is very tight or the setting is casual.
Does ft. always mean featuring?
No. In measurements, ft. means feet, and Ft. at the front of a place name means Fort. The words around the letters show which sense the writer had in mind.
Do you put feat. in parentheses?
Often, yes. Many track listings place the guest in parentheses or brackets after the title, though some show it right after the lead artist's name.
Should feat. be capitalized?
Keep it lowercase in the middle of a title. Capitalize it only when it starts a line, such as the first word on a poster.