Spotify acquired WhoSampled in November 2025, adding the sample-and-cover discovery service to its music-data operation. The clearest product result so far is SongDNA, an interactive feature in Spotify’s Now Playing view that lets eligible listeners explore a track’s writers, producers, collaborators, samples, interpolations and covers. Spotify has not disclosed the purchase price or detailed deal terms.
What Spotify acquired
WhoSampled is a music-discovery platform and database focused on relationships between recordings, including samples, remixes and cover versions. Its described audience includes DJs, producers and listeners who want to trace how songs connect.
WhoSampled announced the acquisition in November 2025 through company and founder communications. Founder Nadav Poraz said the service would continue as a standalone platform and brand, while its discovery capabilities would be brought into Spotify. Spotify’s subsequent announcements describe WhoSampled as part of Spotify.
Neither the acquisition announcement nor the cited Spotify material states a purchase price, transaction structure or other financial terms.
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What SongDNA does
SongDNA places a track’s creative lineage inside Spotify’s Now Playing screen. Depending on the track and a listener’s access, the feature can surface:
- writers and producers;
- other collaborators;
- sampled recordings;
- interpolations;
- cover versions; and
- links to related creators and songs.
Spotify describes the feature as a way to move from a song to the people and influences behind it, then continue exploring connected recordings. In Spotify’s March 24, 2026 SongDNA beta announcement, Jacqueline Ankner, Head of Songwriter & Publisher Partnerships, said: “SongDNA is designed to make a song’s creative lineage more transparent so fans can easily explore the people and influences behind the music they love.”
How WhoSampled and SongDNA differ
The acquisition links the two experiences, but they are not the same product. WhoSampled remains a standalone discovery service, while SongDNA is Spotify’s in-app presentation of related music information.
| Dimension | WhoSampled | SongDNA in Spotify |
|---|---|---|
| Where it appears | The WhoSampled platform | Spotify’s Now Playing view |
| Relationships emphasized | Samples, remixes and covers | Samples, interpolations, covers, credits and other contributor links |
| Stated data inputs | Community-built music relationship information | Information from artists and their teams plus community-sourced material; Spotify identifies WhoSampled as the feature’s source |
| Access model | Standalone service | Spotify feature announced as rolling out to Premium users |
The available announcements do not establish that SongDNA appears for every track, account, country or device. They also do not publish a coverage or accuracy rate, so the connections should not be treated as a guarantee that every credit or influence is complete.
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March 24, 2026: beta announcement
Spotify announced SongDNA as a beta and said it was rolling out to Premium users. That announcement introduced the Now Playing experience and its focus on a song’s creative lineage.
April 20, 2026: WhoSampled connection
Spotify’s April 20, 2026 announcement explicitly described SongDNA as powered by WhoSampled and referred to WhoSampled as part of Spotify. Together, the announcements connect the November 2025 acquisition to a visible Spotify product.
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Why this matters for listeners and creators
For listeners
SongDNA can make a familiar recording a starting point rather than an endpoint. A listener can identify a sampled source, follow an interpolation, inspect songwriting and production credits, or find a cover without leaving the listening screen.
For DJs and producers
WhoSampled’s established emphasis on samples, remixes and covers fits workflows that depend on tracing musical relationships. Bringing those relationships into Spotify could reduce the gap between discovering a connection on a specialist database and hearing the related track immediately.
For songwriters and publishers
Showing contributors and musical lineage more visibly may give listeners clearer context about creative work behind a recording. The announcements describe transparency and discovery as the purpose; they do not promise changes to royalty accounting, licensing or credit-dispute procedures.
What the acquisition does not establish
- Spotify has not published a purchase price or detailed deal terms.
- No official source cited here gives a catalog count, user count or audience statistic for the deal.
- SongDNA is not confirmed for every song, Premium account, territory or device.
- The community-sourced component is not a guarantee of complete or error-free credits.
- The stated rationale is music discovery and SongDNA, not training a generative-AI system.
How to look for SongDNA
- Use a Spotify account that is eligible for the announced Premium rollout.
- Start playback of a track in the Spotify app.
- Open the Now Playing view.
- Look for the SongDNA entry or related creative-lineage information.
- If it is absent, the track, account, region, app version or device may not yet be included in the rollout; Spotify’s announcements do not provide a universal availability list.
Because the feature is described as a beta and rollout details can change, availability should be checked against Spotify’s current in-app experience and announcements.
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