Spotify integrates WhoSampled to deepen music discovery with SongDNA

Spotify has acquired the WhoSampled database and team, integrating their data into a new feature, SongDNA, to enrich music discovery. WhoSampled will continue operating as a standalone platform with improved user experience.

What We Know

Spotify completed the acquisition of London-based WhoSampled on November 19, 2025. The deal includes the WhoSampled database and its roughly 10-member team.([techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2025/11/19/spotify-acquires-music-database-whosampled/?utm_source=openai)) WhoSampled’s catalog covers over 1.2 million songs and nearly 622,000 identified samples, covers, and remixes.([techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2025/11/19/spotify-acquires-music-database-whosampled/?utm_source=openai))

Spotify has launched SongDNA, a new discovery tool embedded within the Now Playing view, powered by WhoSampled’s data. The feature visualizes connections among songs—like samples, covers, and collaborations—to help listeners trace creative lineages.([artists.spotify.com](https://artists.spotify.com/en/blog/spotlighting-the-people-connections-and-stories-behind-your-music?utm_source=openai))

The WhoSampled platform and brand will remain intact post-acquisition. Users can expect faster moderation of submissions, removal of display ads, and free access to its mobile apps.([techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2025/11/19/spotify-acquires-music-database-whosampled/?utm_source=openai))

What It Means

Spotify’s acquisition enhances its music discovery capabilities by embedding a rich, community-curated data ecosystem into its platform. SongDNA offers listeners deeper insight into music origins and relationships, potentially increasing engagement and artist discovery.

At the same time, WhoSampled benefits from Spotify’s infrastructure and support—resulting in faster updates, an ad-free interface, and broader accessibility via free mobile apps. This dual strategy strengthens Spotify’s value proposition while preserving WhoSampled’s core identity.

The Backstory

WhoSampled launched in London in 2008 as a crowdsourced database for tracking samples, covers, and remixes. It partnered with Spotify in 2016, allowing users to integrate their Spotify playlists into WhoSampled.([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WhoSampled?utm_source=openai)) The acquisition represents a deeper consolidation of that relationship, bringing the curatorial strengths of WhoSampled fully in-house to enhance Spotify’s discovery ecosystem.

What’s Next

Spotify plans to expand SongDNA across its platforms over time, likely followed by broader rollout beyond the initial deployment. Meanwhile, WhoSampled will transition to ad-free mobile access and faster content moderation in the coming weeks.([techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2025/11/19/spotify-acquires-music-database-whosampled/?utm_source=openai))