Spotify has purchased the community-driven music database WhoSampled, the company announced on Wednesday. The news was also highlighted in Spotify’s latest blog post detailing its new song credits features. While the terms of the deal were not disclosed, Spotify confirmed to TechCrunch that the acquisition includes both the WhoSampled team and its extensive database. According to PitchBook and LinkedIn, the company operated with a small team of around 10 employees.
Founded in 2008 and based in London, WhoSampled hosts a vast catalog of tracks, samples, covers, remixes, and artist data. Its platform currently tracks more than 1.2 million songs and nearly 622,000 samples. This wealth of information now underpins Spotify’s newly announced features, including its upcoming discovery tool, SongDNA.
Spotify has been familiar with WhoSampled for years—the two companies first partnered in 2016, enabling users to explore their Spotify playlists and saved tracks directly through the WhoSampled app.
In its own announcement, WhoSampled said its standalone platform and brand will remain intact following the acquisition. As part of joining Spotify, users can expect several improvements. Moderation times for submissions will be reduced, display ads will be removed from the site in the coming weeks, and the company’s mobile apps will soon become free to download, with free subscriptions included.
“Through our recent discussions with Spotify, it became clear that we share a strong belief in the power of musical context — and a vision for helping listeners go deeper into the songs they love,” the post penned by the WhoSampled team reads. “Spotify has shown a genuine commitment to our mission, and we couldn’t have found a better home for WhoSampled,” it stated.
