Currently, connecting Stripe is required to publish your artist page. This is because Stripe is how we process payments and send you your earnings.
We are working on an option that would allow artists to publish a page without Stripe if all of their releases are set to free - so there are no transactions to process. We'll update this article when that option becomes available.
In the meantime, if connecting Stripe is a barrier for you - for example if your country isn't currently supported by Stripe - see What if my country isn't supported by Stripe? for your options.