If you're as much of a music nerd as we are, then you take pleasure in not only listening to songs, but discovering the stories behind them, the tangled web of creative collaboration and cross-fertilization that led to their existence.
First previewed in November last year following its acquisition of WhoSampled, Spotify's SongDNA feature is designed to do just that. An "immersive music experience" that gives listeners an insight into a song's creative lineage, SongDNA has now rolled out to Premium users worldwide in beta as of yesterday (March 24).
Hit the SongDNA icon in the Spotify app's Now Playing view, and you can now check out a list of the writers, producers, engineers and collaborators that worked on a song, discover the origin of any samples it uses, find out which other songs have sampled or interpolated it and even see which artists have covered it.
An interactive map that links a song to its broader creative context, SongDNA lets you click on a songwriter or producer and see a list of other artists they've worked with, following the connections between tracks to "see how artists, eras and genres intersect".
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SongDNA draws on a combination of artist-provided information and community-sourced data from the WhoSampled database. As the feature continues to be developed, artists and labels will be able to review and manage SongDNA information in their Spotify for Artists profile.
SongDNA complements Spotify's existing Song Credits view, which shows you who performed, wrote and produced a song, and the recently launched About The Song feature, which displays story cards for certain songs that reveal "interesting details and behind-the-scenes moments" and explore the meaning behind the music.
“SongDNA is designed to make a song’s creative lineage more transparent so fans can easily explore the people and influences behind the music they love,” said Jacqueline Ankner, Spotify’s Head of Songwriter & Publisher Partnerships.
“By bringing collaborators, samples, and covers together in one place, we’re making it easier for fans to discover new music and see how songs connect and come to life—while giving songwriters, producers, and rightsholders meaningful recognition for the role they play in creating it.”
SongDNA is now rolling out in beta for Premium users globally on iOS and Android devices, and will become available to all Premium users throughout April.
