As we wrote way back in 2009, London-based startup WhoSampled answers music’s most frustrating question: Where do I recognize that song from?
As with any self-respecting tech startup, WhoSampled is finally rolling out a brand new iOS app today, which is excellent news for music fans around the world. Why? Well, it scans the music on your mobile device to tell you who has sampled, remixed and covered each song.
How it works
Once you’re in the app, you can manually search for artists or tracks, or choose to scan the music from your library. You can log-in using your Facebook credentials, or set up a new account from scratch which takes seconds:
With each artist it detects, you can choose to view some of the samples it throws up or, indeed, the cover version. You can then listen to the different versions within the app, thanks to its integration with the likes of VEVO and YouTube, which delivers the songs side-by-side for comparison.
However, in a nice little money-earning move from the developers, it integrates seamlessly with iTunes too, so you can purchase said music there and then.
WhoSampled also lets you create favorites to listen to later, plus it throws up intelligent contextual recommendations from every sample, cover and remix.
Hitting the App Store later this morning (8am BST, June 19) for a princely $2.99 (£1.99, €2,39), I can’t help but think WhoSampled is the perfect accompaniment to Songkick, which finally landed on Android last week. Both apps scan your existing music and deliver something new at the end of it – live music (Songkick), remixes and covers.
About WhoSampled
WhoSampled delivers a beautifully designed interface with its new app, and everything works as promised. With 150,000 tracks and 50,000 artists in its database, this app is a living and growing archive of musical discovery. Indeed, we’re told that it has catalogued more than 84,000 samples, 41,000 covers and 13,000 remixes to date.
WhoSampled’s data is crowdsourced, with more than 6,300 contributors, though it is checked by the company itself. With 50 active volunteer moderators worldwide, every submission is reviewed before it goes live.
WhoSampled launched in December 2009 and employs a mere five people. The company is located in London’s East End, by Silicon Roundabout. Alongside the likes of Spotify, Shazam, Songkick, SoundCloud and Mixcloud, WhoSampled is one of a group of start-ups establishing London as the home of innovative music services.
“In an age of almost limitless choice, exploring the DNA of your favourite songs through related samples, covers and remixes is a great new way to discover music,” says WhoSampled’s gounder & CEO Nadav Poraz. “Music fans of all genres are fascinated by the connections in their own collections, and with WhoSampled any track can start a musical journey through multiple genres and decades – helping you to discover great new music and share those finds with your friends.
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