- References to SongDNA information found inside the Spotify app
- Designed to provide visual navigation of the songs’ contributors
- Similar to TIDAL Credits, so you can find new music from the creators of what you already like
Spotify appears to be working on a feature very similar to TIDAL Credits that will allow you to discover and find more music from all the people behind your favorite songs.
The feature, called SongDNA, was discovered in the Spotify app code by reverse engineer Jane Manchun Wong, who luckily managed to get the image below on X before Spotify removed the relevant code from the app. It looks to offer a new way to discover music by navigating through songs.
As a musician, it’s a rabbit hole I happily fall down, because I love learning the connections between songs and the people who make them—and I’ve discovered some of my favorite artists through their work with others.
For example, I fell in love with Paula Cole’s voice thanks to her live work with Peter Gabriel, and I sought out more records with producer Jack Antonoff after hearing his work with Taylor Swift.
It’s especially fun in genres like hip-hop and pop, where a whole group of people are behind some of your favorite bangers as well as many others – so if you like the new Taylor Swift album produced by Swedish great Max Martin, the thread of his collaborations will follow you through The Weeknds Can’t feel my faceBritney’s Baby One More Time and the Backstreet Boys’ I want it that way. And it is clearly very well spent.
What do we know about Spotify SongDNA?
As TechCrunch reports, the feature lets you do things like see what other artists have appeared on; Wong’s example was discovering what other songs Rei Ami from KPop Demon Hunters had appeared on
Another engineer, Chris Messina, found more information: the lines of code indicate that SongDNA will contain the entire network of contributors, not just the performers.
Features like this aren’t just good for fans, and for boosting endorsements. They’re also useful for artists and their people too: if you’re looking for someone to make beats, or contribute a very specific style, or to sprinkle their production magic on your songs, this kind of discovery can help you find collaborators all over the world.
TIDAL got there before Spotify, so its TIDAL Credits feature gives us an indication of what to expect: it lets you check out who played the guitar, who recorded the song, who sat behind the mixer, who wrote the lyrics and more.
As TechCrunch points out, you can go even further with data: Pandora’s Music Genome project classifies songs not just by their credits, but by hundreds of different “traits,” including how much groove the song has, what gender the lead vocalist is, whether the guitar is clean, crisp or cranked up to eleven, and so on. This data then drives the personalization engine for pop/rock, hip-hop/electronic, jazz, world music and classical music.
Spotify has now removed the SongDNA code, but when contacted for comment, the streamer declined to comment – indicating that this is indeed a live project, albeit one still shrouded in mystery.
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