Spotify is rolling out a suite of new features designed to offer listeners an unprecedented look into the creative process, the people, and the stories behind their favorite music. The updates include significantly expanded music credits, an interactive tool called SongDNA, and "About the Song" cards, aiming to enrich the music discovery experience for users.
Expanded Music Credits Offer Deeper Insights
On Wednesday, the streaming giant officially announced the expansion of its Song Credits feature. Previously limited to top-line performance, songwriting, and production details, the updated credits will now showcase a comprehensive list of contributors, including producers, engineers, songwriters, and even background vocalists. This enhancement provides a more complete picture of the collaborative effort involved in creating a track.
Introducing SongDNA for Interactive Music Discovery
A highlight of the new offerings is SongDNA, an interactive feature that allows users to delve deeper into a song's origins and connections. SongDNA reveals which tracks have been sampled in a given tune, identifies artists who have covered it, and highlights other projects involving the song's collaborators. This feature was first reported by TechCrunch in October, after reverse engineer Jane Manchun Wong spotted references to it in the app's code. The sampled music data for SongDNA is sourced from WhoSampled, an online community-built database recently acquired by Spotify.
It's worth noting that competitor streaming service TIDAL also offers interactive credits, allowing users to explore music through its contributors.
"About the Song" Cards Provide Contextual Stories
Further enhancing contextual discovery, Spotify plans to introduce "About the Song." This feature will present listeners with swipeable cards within the "Now Playing" view, offering insights into a song's inspiration, its backstory, and its cultural impact. These narratives will be drawn from various third-party resources, with direct links provided within the cards. This expands upon Spotify's previous partnership with lyrics site Genius, which offered track backstories but was limited to Genius's database. The new "About the Song" feature will link out to a wider array of informational and news sites, including Wikipedia.
Availability and Premium Access
The expanded Song Credits will begin rolling out on mobile devices starting Wednesday, with desktop availability expected in the coming months.
Meanwhile, SongDNA and "About the Song" are slated for an early next year launch and will be exclusive to Spotify Premium subscribers. Initially, these features will be available as a "Spotify for Artists Preview," allowing artists and other music professionals to review and ensure the accuracy of the credits before they are released to the broader public.
