Among its recent changes, Spotify has acquired music database WhoSampled, a database for finding samples, cover songs, and remixes.
On Wednesday (Nov. 19), WhoSampled announced that while it will be partnering with the music streaming platform, it will continue to be a standalone website.
"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," reads a statement via WhoSampled.
"Spotify has shown a genuine commitment to our mission, and we couldn’t have found a better home for WhoSampled," the statement said.
The partnership will introduce several new WhoSampled additions, including reduced wait times for submissions, free downloads and free in-subscriptions on Android along with free in-app subscriptions, and no more display ads. The website also teased new feature SongDNA, which will offer further information about song credits and stories behind songs.
The merger comes nearly two months after Spotify co-creator and CEO Daniel Ek announced that he'd be stepping down from the platform in January 2026. Current Spotify presidents Alex Norström and Gustav Söderström will be bumped to co-CEOs on Jan. 1, 2026, while Ek stated that he intends to go from "player to a coach."
In collaboration with Martin Lorentzo, Ek co-founded Spotify in 2006, and as of September 2025, it has grown to 713 million active users. WhoSampled was launched in 2008 by founder and CEO Nadav Poraz, and contains and extensive music database for users to discover the sample origins of their favorite songs.