Spotify

Spotify makes it easier to find the samples behind your favorite songs

Will Sattelberg | Mar 24 2026 - 9:55 am PT

Spotify might be your go-to place to check out new releases or build out yet another playlist, but if you’re looking to learn the background of your favorite songs, you usually need to look elsewhere. A new tool now rolling out to paid users is looking to change that.

SongDNA is the latest addition to Spotify’s Now Playing view, bringing a literal web of samples, producers, collaborators, and more to your listening experience. On any supported track, scrolling down while the Now Playing card is open gives you the ability to explore all of the elements that make a specific song stand out. For example, on Kenrick Lamar’s “Luther,” you can quickly jump to SZA’s artist profile if you’re a fan of her feature, view more songs with some of Lamar’s additional vocalists, and stream the Luther Vandross and Cheryl Lynn song “If This World Were Mine” to check out where the sample originated from.

Even if you aren’t specifically interested in exploring the background of your favorite tunes, SongDNA seems to go further. Returning to the “Luther” example, Spotify will automatically pull up every collaboration between Kendrick Lamar and SZA — and at this point, there are several of them — to make it easier to explore the duo’s entire shared catalog on one specific screen. You can even save these mixes directly as playlists to return to later.

Spotify says it’s pulling these connections directly from a combination of directly-sourced credits via artists and their labels, as well as community-sourced data. This also isn’t replacing existing elements like “About the Song;” rather, it’s acting as a complimentary feature. SongDNA is rolling out in beta globally to all premium subscribers on mobile apps, with a full launch planned for April.

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