Spotify Has Acquired WhoSampled To Fuel New SongDNA Feature

Spotify have acquired WhoSampled, one of the largest music database sites, to help fuel its all-new SongDNA software. The streaming giant promises its new feature will identify every individual involved in creating the music users listen to.

Spotify announced on Wednesday (November 19) that it acquired the community-run database tracking sampled music site WhoSampled. The company would announce the acquisition with a blog post, detailing its commitment to expanding song credits and informing listeners who helped create the music they listen to.

Details of the acquisition have not yet been disclosed; however, Spotify confirmed to publication TechCrunch that the company had acquired both the WhoSampled team and its database.

If you’re unfamiliar with what WhoSampled is, you should hand in your music geek card now. The site was launched back in 2008, and would offer an extensive database of songs, samples, covers, artists, remixes and more. According to the website, it’s now tracking more than 1.2 million songs and nearly 622,000 samples.

All of this juicy data is now powering Spotify’s upcoming music discovery tool SongDNA. In Spotify’s own blog post, it would say that this new software would help highlight “all of the contributors who make each song possible, from producers and engineers to songwriters and featured artists”.

Previously, as the streaming giant would also recognise, song credits would only feature topline performance, songwriting and production credits.

WhoSample would share a statement on its website confirming the acquisition, writing:

“This marks an exciting new chapter in our journey – one where WhoSampled will not only continue to grow and improve, but also bring its unique flavour of music discovery to the world’s largest music streaming platform, used and loved by hundreds of millions of fans,” the company said.

In a LinkedIn post, WhoSampled Founder Nadav Poraz said he will be taking on the role of Head of WhoSampled at Spotify.

WhoSampled would also share in its announcement that the acquisition will allow for moderation times for submissions to be sped up, and the site will also be able to remove display ads in the weeks ahead.

SongDNA’s rollout is expected to start on mobile and is expected to land on desktop in the coming months.

Last month, Spotify would also announce a partnership with ChatGPT to help users find songs through AI-powered recommendations, which would be met with backlash.