Spotify Acquires WhoSampled for Music Insights

Spotify announced on Wednesday the acquisition of WhoSampled, a London-based platform that catalogs music samples, covers, and remixes, integrating its extensive database into the streaming service's ecosystem. The deal, with financial terms undisclosed, includes WhoSampled's team of about 10 staff members and aims to enhance music discovery for Spotify's hundreds of millions of users while allowing the platform to operate independently.

WhoSampled, founded in 2008 by Nadav Poraz out of a passion for hip-hop and sample-based music, has grown into a community-driven resource tracking more than 1.2 million songs and nearly 622,000 samples. The site provides detailed annotations, including timestamps linking to original recordings, and serves over one million users monthly. Spotify and WhoSampled had partnered since 2016, enabling users to access Spotify playlists directly within the WhoSampled app. This acquisition builds on that collaboration, embedding WhoSampled's data to power new tools that reveal the connections and stories behind tracks.

In conjunction with the purchase, Spotify unveiled three features to provide deeper insights into music creation. Expanded Song Credits...