Spotify announced on Wednesday that it has acquired WhoSampled, the popular community-run online database dedicated to tracking the intricate relationships between songs, including samples, covers, and remixes. This acquisition was shared publicly alongside the streamer’s announcement of new song credits features.
While the specific financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, Spotify confirmed that the acquisition encompasses both the WhoSampled technical team and its extensive database. Reports indicate the London-based company had a small team of around 10 employees.
Launched in 2008, WhoSampled has cultivated a massive collection of musical information. According to its website, the database currently tracks over 1.2 million songs and contains nearly 622,000 recorded samples, making it an invaluable resource for understanding musical context.
This rich, contextual data is already slated to power Spotify’s upcoming music discovery tool, known as SongDNA, which was also introduced on Wednesday as part of the streaming service’s latest features rollout.
The two companies were not strangers; WhoSampled and Spotify had previously established a partnership back in 2016, which allowed WhoSampled users to access their existing Spotify playlists and saved tracks directly within the WhoSampled application.
In their own announcement regarding the acquisition, the WhoSampled team assured its loyal community that the stand-alone platform and brand would continue to operate following the closure of the deal. They expressed a shared vision with Spotify regarding the importance of musical context and helping listeners delve deeper into the songs they love.
WhoSampled also promised significant user-facing improvements as a result of becoming part of Spotify’s larger business. These enhancements include a faster moderation process for community submissions, the removal of all display advertisements from the site in the coming weeks, and making its mobile apps available as free downloads with free subscriptions.
The WhoSampled team concluded their statement by expressing confidence that they had found the best possible home for their platform, citing Spotify’s “genuine commitment to our mission” and belief in the power of musical context.