Spotify acquires music sample database WhoSampled
<p>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. WhoSa...
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.
WhoSampled debuted in 2008, the music discovery service samples over a million songs. 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 to find 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 the connections between songs, collaborators, samples, and covers. This feature is powered by WhoSampled, which is used for the data about samples and covers. It's rolling 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 with information about the track that is playing, such as what inspired it, stories behind the songs, cultural impact.
Spotify is also expanding Song Credits to highlight all people who contributed to a song. This feature is rolling out to mobile devices, and will be available on desktop in the coming months.
Here's the announcement on WhoSampled's website. Don't read the comments there if you value your sanity. But more importantly, WhoSampled confirmed that it will stay on as a standalone brad and platform after the acquisition. It also announced some major improvements to the service. The database will see faster moderation for submissions, and the website will go completely ad-free in the coming weeks. WhoSampled's iOS app will switch to a free to download model like the Android app. In-app subscriptions will be made free for all users of the WhoSampled iOS and Android apps.
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