Spotlight on the People Behind the Music
Spotify announced new features on Wednesday that highlight the producers, engineers, songwriters, background vocalists, and other contributors behind users’ favorite tracks. The updates aim to give listeners a deeper understanding of how their favorite music comes together.
Introducing SongDNA for Deeper Music Discovery
A major part of the rollout is SongDNA, an interactive feature that shows how songs are connected. Users will be able to see which tracks are sampled, who has covered the song, and what other projects the collaborators have worked on. The feature was first spotted in development by reverse engineer Jane Manchun Wong and signals Spotify’s push to make music credits more discoverable.
SongDNA expands on the existing Song Credits tool, which previously highlighted only the primary performer, songwriter, and producer. Data about sampled music will come from WhoSampled, the community-built database that Spotify has acquired. Other music platforms, including TIDAL, offer similar interactive credit exploration.
Swipeable ‘About the Song’ Cards Are Coming
Spotify is also preparing to launch “About the song,” a set of swipeable cards shown in the Now Playing view. These cards will offer details on what inspired a track, the story behind it, and its cultural impact. The information will be sourced from third-party websites such as Wikipedia and news outlets, expanding beyond Spotify’s previous partnership with Genius, which was limited to stories in Genius’ database.
Rollout Timeline and Premium-Only Features
Expanded Song Credits begin rolling out Wednesday on mobile, with desktop support coming in the months ahead. SongDNA and About the Song will be limited to Premium subscribers and won’t launch until early next year. They will debut first as a Spotify for Artists Preview, giving creators time to review and verify credits before the features reach the public.
Featured image credits: Freepik
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