Spotify has acquired WhoSampled, a community-run database that tracks sampled music. The company announced the acquisition on Wednesday. The streaming service also shared the news in a blog post about its new song credits features.
The terms of the deal were not made public. However, Spotify confirmed the acquisition includes both the WhoSampled team and its database. The company had a small team of around ten employees.
WhoSampled launched in 2008 and is based in London. It offers an extensive database of songs, samples, covers, remixes, and artists. According to its website, it now tracks more than 1.2 million songs and nearly 622,000 samples. This data is now powering Spotify’s latest features, including an upcoming music discovery tool called SongDNA, which was also announced on Wednesday.
WhoSampled was not a new partner for Spotify. The two companies had previously partnered back in 2016. That integration allowed WhoSampled users to access their Spotify playlists and saved tracks within the WhoSampled app.
In its own announcement, WhoSampled stated that its standalone platform and brand will remain after the deal closes. The company expects to offer user-facing improvements as part of Spotify. For example, moderation times for user submissions will be faster. The site will remove display ads in the coming weeks, and its mobile apps will become free to download with free subscriptions.
The WhoSampled team wrote that through discussions with Spotify, it became clear they share a strong belief in the power of musical context. They share a vision for helping listeners explore the songs they love more deeply. The post stated that Spotify has shown a genuine commitment to their mission and that they could not have found a better home.