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Spotify's New SongDNA Feature Tells You How a Song Was Made

The much-teased feature is rolling out now to Premium users on Android and iOS.

Headshot of Macy Meyer
Headshot of Macy Meyer
Macy Meyer Writer II
Macy is a writer on the AI Team. She covers how AI is changing daily life and how to make the most of it. This includes writing about consumer AI products and their real-world impact, from breakthrough tools reshaping daily life to the intimate ways people interact with AI technology day-to-day. Macy is a North Carolina native who graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill with a BA in English and a second BA in Journalism. You can reach her at mmeyer@cnet.com.
Expertise Macy covers consumer AI products and their real-world impact Credentials
  • Macy has been working for CNET for coming on 2 years. Prior to CNET, Macy received a North Carolina College Media Association award in sports writing.
Macy Meyer
2 min read
SongDNA new feature promo

The feature allows listeners to see every collabortor involved in making a song. 

 Spotify

When Spotify releases its end-of-year Wrapped, detailing my listening history over the last year, I'm 0% surprised when it shows that I've logged over 100,000 minutes on the app. Music is one of life's greatest pleasures, and I love researching everything about how a song was created, from start to finish. 

If you do the same, you might enjoy Spotify's new SongDNA feature. 

The feature rolled out globally to Premium users on Tuesday, March 24. It shows you every person involved in making a song, plus other interesting facts, like covers, which samples the song used, and other music the song's engineers or mixers have worked on. 

@cnetdotcom Just keep swimming… 🏊🏼 @The top 1% listeners of BTS in New York saw the US debut performance of “Swim”at Spotify’s Swimside event. #bts #spotify #arirang #kpop #music @BTS @Spotify ♬ original sound - CNET

How SongDNA works

SongDNA feature on Spotify
Macy Meyer/CNET

For instance, I've been really enjoying the new BTS album Arirang, released last week, especially the song Body to Body. I've been loving the production, so I went for a snoop to see who was involved. 

When I clicked on the song in the app and scrolled down to the SongDNA section, one of the first names I noticed among the collaborators was Ryan Tedder. Known as the lead singer of OneRepublic, he's also responsible for composing, writing and producing some huge hits: Halo by Beyoncé, Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis, Sucker by the Jonas Brothers, many Adele songs, etc. 

Read also: AI-Recommended Music? Spotify Is Giving You the Power to Personalize

With SongDNA, you can now learn more about and give credit to the talented writers, producers, engineers and collaborators behind your favorite music. 

"By bringing collaborators, samples and covers together in one place, we're making it easier for fans to discover new music and see how songs connect and come to life," said Jacqueline Ankner, Spotify's head of songwriter and publisher partnerships. It also means that songwriters, producers and rightsholders get recognition for their role. 

SongDNA has been rumored since the fall, and co-CEO Gustav Söderström recently teased the new feature during his SXSW panel. 

SongDNA is finally rolling out in beta to Premium users on Android and iOS, with the launch expected to finish in April.