Music Discovery App WhoSampled Launches on Android
In WhoSampled, users can search for a particular song or artist, or browse the top charts of samples, covers and remixes. Users can browse based on currently popular songs, or based on the “most sampled” artists of all time, among other options. When viewing an artist, users can view their individual tracks, along with album art and other information, and can tap on a song to view how many times, if any, that song has been sampled, covered or remixed by another artist. If the song itself contains a sample, this is marked as well.
If there are available samples or covers (either in the chosen song, or in another), users can tap on one they’d like to listen to, and are taken to the song comparison screen. This allows users to swipe back and forth between two screens: one for the original song, and one for the song that contains the sample. YouTube integration brings in a video of each song (where available), and timestamps give users a look at the exact time the sample(s) appears in the secondary song. Users can then listen to both songs at their leisure to hear the sample(s) or cover(s) in action.
WhoSampled’s database contains over 95,000 artists and 270,000 tracks, and is updated on a daily basis. The app is community-driven, as users submit the platform’s content, which is then moderated for authenticity before being added to the database. Music doesn’t have to be in a user’s own library to be listened to or researched, but the app does support importing one’s library from their Android device for easy access to samples or covers they may have already heard, but perhaps didn’t know it.
In addition, users can comment on items within the database, from overall artists to individual samples, or share content out to Facebook and Twitter. Users can rate samples from 1-5 points, and can view the overall opinions of the app’s community in doing so. As users browse content, they can view music recommendations based on this activity, which aims to help users discover similar music they might like to purchase. Conveniently, the app offers buy buttons throughout, so users can shop for music from their device.
WhoSampled is available to download for free on Google Play. The app was previously released on iOS devices, but costs $2.99 on iTunes.
