Spotify Launches SongDNA: Tap to Gain Deep Insight into a Song’s Producer, Sample Sources, and Cover Context

Spotify announced on March 24 that it is rolling out a new beta feature called SongDNA, directly integrated into the mobile app’s Now Playing (currently playing) interface. This allows users to simply swipe down to see the complete web of creative connections behind a song—including the songwriters, producers, co-creators, sample sources, interpolation, and the cover versions the song later spawned.

How to use

The experience is very intuitive: while listening to a song in the Spotify mobile app, open the Now Playing screen, scroll down to find the SongDNA card (only supported songs will appear), and tap it to see:

Songwriting partners, producers, recording engineers, and other behind-the-scenes contributors

Which songs this track sampled or interpolated

Which artists later covered this song

Tap any of the creators, and you can continue exploring their other works and collaboration partners—forming a music relationship map that can extend infinitely.

Where the behind-the-scenes data comes from

The link relationships shown in SongDNA come from a combination of two sources: information actively provided by artists and their teams, and community-contributed data. Spotify says that eligible artists and label teams can review and manage their SongDNA content directly in Spotify for Artists’ backend to ensure that the presentation of the creative story aligns with their intent.

Jacqueline Ankner, head of artist-songwriter and publishing partner relationships at Spotify, said: “SongDNA is designed to make the creative context of songs more transparent, so fans can easily explore the people and influences behind the music they love. By integrating collaborators, samples, and covers in one place, we make it easier for fans to discover new music—while ensuring that songwriters, producers, and rights holders receive the recognition they deserve.”

How is it different from About the Song?

SongDNA is not an isolated new feature, but an addition to Spotify’s About the Song feature launched in February this year. The two are positioned differently: About the Song focuses on explaining the creative story background of a single song; SongDNA, using this song as the starting point, lets users enter an interactive world they can keep exploring—tracking the cross-influences between artists, eras, and styles.

Who it’s for and timeline

SongDNA is currently rolling out in beta to Spotify Premium users worldwide on iOS and Android devices, with plans to open it fully to all Premium users in April.

This article Spotify rolls out SongDNA: Tap once to see the song’s producers, sample sources, and cover-story context first appeared on ABMedia.