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Spotify Buys WhoSampled to Boost Music Discovery

The platform’s community-built database will feed SongDNA with the site continuing as a standalone brand.

Overview

  • Spotify confirmed the acquisition covers both the WhoSampled team and its database, with financial terms undisclosed.
  • WhoSampled will remain a separate, community-powered platform supported by multiple streaming integrations.
  • User-facing updates are rolling out, including faster moderation, the removal of display ads, and free mobile apps with free in-app subscriptions.
  • WhoSampled tracks more than 1.2 million songs and about 622,000 samples, and its data will underpin Spotify’s new SongDNA feature.
  • The companies have worked together since a 2016 integration that let WhoSampled users access Spotify playlists, and WhoSampled’s staff is reported to be roughly 10 people.