Spotify Buys WhoSampled To Power SongDNA & Catalog Deals
By Trevor Loucks
Founder & Lead Developer, Dynamoi
Spotify has quietly acquired WhoSampled, the long-running database that maps samples, covers and remixes across millions of tracks, and is folding it into its new SongDNA feature.
The deal turns a beloved nerd tool into a strategic layer of metadata that can reshape how catalog is discovered, credited and priced on the world’s biggest subscription service.
SongDNA Becomes a Marketing Surface
Spotify is pitching SongDNA as a way for listeners to see everyone involved in making a track, surfacing songwriters, producers and session players instead of just the headline artist.
With WhoSampled’s data, SongDNA can also expose sample chains and interpolation histories that rarely make it into basic credits today.
That is more than fan service: it creates new entry points for discovery, from "songs that sampled this break" to "tracks built on the same hook" playlists.
For labels and management teams, those surfaces are prime real estate for inserting catalog, pushing deluxe editions and bundling remixes or alternate versions.
Sample Data as a Catalog Goldmine
WhoSampled has spent years hand-curating who-sampled-what relationships across hip-hop, dance, pop and beyond, a level of detail that is difficult for labels or PROs to replicate at scale.
By owning that graph, Spotify can better understand which catalog moments actually drive streams when they are sampled or referenced.
That could inform everything from personalized playlists to how aggressively the platform promotes sample-based mixes and editorial stories.
It also strengthens Spotify’s position in licensing negotiations, as it gains a clearer view into where value is being created across derivative works.
Expect pressure on rights holders whose sample data is messy or incomplete to clean up registrations so they can fully benefit from the new context layer.
What Labels Should Do Now
Treat SongDNA as both a discovery product and a metadata stress test.
First, audit a representative slice of your frontline and catalog on Spotify once the WhoSampled integration is live: are credits complete, and does SongDNA surface every writer, producer and featured artist you care about?
Second, identify 10–20 flagship sample stories in your catalog—classic breaks, hooks and vocal chops that have been reused across eras—and build marketing campaigns that thread the originals and the biggest modern uses together.
Third, work with your distributors, publishers and neighboring rights partners to reconcile any conflicts in how those works are registered so SongDNA, WhoSampled and your royalty statements tell the same story.
The bigger picture: pairing crowd-loved tools like WhoSampled with platform-native features is Spotify’s answer to criticism that it underserves credits and context.
If it succeeds, the companies that win will be those who treat sample data as a strategic asset, not just a line in the split sheet.
About the Editor
Trevor Loucks is the founder and lead developer of Dynamoi, where he focuses on the convergence of music business strategy and advertising technology. He focuses on applying the latest ad-tech techniques to artist and record label campaigns so they compound downstream music royalty growth.
