Spotify has announced that it has acquired WhoSampled. The music sample database will be used for the streaming service’s SongDNA feature, but will continue to exist as a standalone platform.
Launched in 2008, WhoSampled is a music discovery service with over one million song samples. It is largely a community-driven database, where users submit information about how songs are connected. This information is verified by moderators, and added to the database. WhoSampled allows users to discover the origins of their favorite music, and also find out if they have been covered or remixed.
Spotify has announced 2 AI-powered features called SongDNA and About the Song. SongDNA provides an interactive view listing connections between songs, collaborators, samples, and covers. This feature is powered by WhoSampled, which is used for data about samples and covers. It is being rolled out to Spotify Premium users in the “Now Playing” view.
(Image courtesy: Spotify)
The other feature, “About the Song”, displays a summary about the track along with information about the track, such as what inspired it, the stories behind the songs, cultural influences.
Spotify is also expanding Song Credits to highlight everyone who contributed to a song. The feature is being rolled out for mobile devices, and will also be available on desktop in the coming months.
here is the announcement WhoSampled’s website. Don’t read comments there if you value your sanity. But more importantly, WhoSampled confirmed that it will remain as a standalone brand and platform following the acquisition. It also announced some major improvements to the service. Submissions to the database will see rapid moderation, and the website will become completely ad-free in the coming weeks. WhoSampled’s iOS app will switch to a free download model like the Android app. In-app subscriptions will be made free for all users of the WhoSampled iOS and Android apps.
