Spotify Confirms Purchase of WhoSampled Platform

Spotify has acquired WhoSampled, the long-running music database of tracks, samples, remixes, and more across over a million digital assets. The deal strengthens Spotify’s push into deeper context-driven listening, giving users clearer insight into how songs are created and connected.

Overall, WhoSampled will remain available as a standalone platform, while its underlying database will be integrated into Spotify’s expanding metadata infrastructure.

More transparency

The acquisition directly supports Spotify’s effort to spotlight creators behind the scenes. Over the last year, Spotify has rolled out tools that highlight the full creative chain of a song:

• Song Credits now offers listings of producers, engineers, writers, and collaborators
• SongDNA provides fans with detailed track-level context, from musical features to creative breakdowns
• New creator-focused pages showcase the teams behind major records
• Spotify has emphasized surfacing “the people, connections, and stories” behind every track, extending visibility beyond performers

In a recent Spotify blog post, Jacqueline Ankner, Spotify’s Head of Songwriter & Publisher Partnerships, says:

“Every song is a collaboration, and every contributor should be seen. With expanded Song Credits, SongDNA, and About the song, we’re giving fans a deeper look at the people and creative threads behind the music they love and giving creators the recognition they deserve. It’s another step in Spotify’s work to champion the people, connections, and stories that bring every track to life.”

• Jacqueline Ankner, Spotify’s Head of Songwriter & Publisher Partnerships

The addition of WhoSampled will help provide a historical lens to complement those tools. Users will gain access to structured information about how music evolves across eras, an area Spotify has been actively expanding.

What Spotify listeners can expect

Listeners can expect enhanced in-app features over time:

• Clear sample, interpolation, and remix attribution
• Easier pathways to explore original recordings
• More accurate metadata for older and newly released music
• Stronger tools for crate-digging and discovery across genres

Spotify says the integration will improve credit accuracy for millions of tracks while giving fans a more complete picture of a song’s creative lineage.

Why This Matters for Artists

The acquisition reinforces Spotify’s commitment to proper attribution, an area of growing importance across the industry. Increased visibility can help:

• Producers and songwriters receive correct credit
• Legacy artists get renewed attention when their work is sampled
• Fans better understand the creative process
• Collaborators build stronger discoverability

For WhoSampled, a platform built over 15 years, joining Spotify brings its database to a global audience inside the world’s largest streaming service. Will this creator deep dive be the next standard for all music streaming platforms?