If you’ve ever mistaken Parliament for Snoop or Lou Reed for A Tribe Called Quest, you wouldn’t be entirely wrong. Musicians have been sampling from others for years and instead of arguing about where a sample originated, there’s a new site that offers you the facts. UK-based software consultant Nadav Poraz recently launched WhoSampled – a site that allows users to explore the origins of their favorite songs.
For the past decade, WhoSampled cofounder Nadav Poraz has split his time between being a software consultant and deejay. Poraz started the company as a natural manifestation of his passions.
According to Poraz, 6 out of 13 of this year’s number one songs in the US are based on samples. WhoSampled offers users a side by side comparison of songs like Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” with Boney M’s “Ma Baker” and the Black Eyed Peas “I Got a Feelin'” with David Guetta’s “Love Is Gone”. Visitors get a glimpse of embedded music videos while listening to the songs in their entirety.
“We see WhoSampled first and foremost as a unique service for music discovery.” Says Poraz,”The collaborative nature of our site promotes knowledge sharing and propagates more exposure to and appreciation of music new and old.”
Registered members can also submit their own discoveries to the site for approval. Once samples are uploaded, you can view, discuss and share them with others through Twitter, Facebook and MySpace. The community currently contains 10,000 samples and continues to grow as new users upload their comparisons. To check out the service visit whosampled.com.
