Changes to Web API

[Loneliest_Cabin]

Folks, some news on changes to the web API has been posted on the Spotify For Developers blog.

We want to reiterate the main message from the blog that we're committed to providing a safe and secure environment for all Spotify stakeholders. As such we have recently made some important changes related to access to some of our endpoints and functionality. You can read the details on the blog: https://developer.spotify.com/blog/2024-11-27-changes-to-the-web-api

We are here to listen to any feedback you may have. 

[BlueisDue]

damn, I used this to create / pull playlists - now its no longer working...

[josephlegrand33]

Same as everyone else, this sudden shutdown broke my simple *personal* app (in dev mode as I had no plan of publishing it). I was simply using the tempo information in order to sort my personal playlists by increasing tempo to rate them by difficulty for dance lessons. Now that the audio features endpoint is gone, no more tempo information, and no more possibility to sort my playlists. Really considering switching to a competitor with more concerns regarding their customers.

[murraypaul]

The me/playlists API now returns a null for any playlist that is blocked by the new restrictions.

That seems to be in violation of the documentation for the function, which says it returns a list of SimplifiedPlaylistObjects, not a list of possibly nullable SimplifiedPlaylistObjects.

[presence_user]

Hello, while these changes gets further discussed, can you please restore old web "v1" api, and name the new one "v2". Then, if for any reason you must shut down the v1 endpoints or meet users' complaints only partially, the impaired users will keep using v1 and have 6 months to migrate to different services. 

[robpolachek]

I've been maintaining my Spotify subscription primarily for application development purposes. I won't have much need for it if this isn't resolved, and will be able to rely on my Apple Music subscription exclusively.

[robpolachek]

Spotify's support agents suggested that I submit an extension application *today* so that we might still be considered for access to these APIs. I suggest anyone affected by these changes submit an extension application, if possible. I did notice another user post that Spotify denies extension applications for "personal" applications (i.e., the application must remain in developer mode) so be forewarned.

Context: Per Spotify's announcement (paraphrasing) "Only applications in developer mode are affected by these changes, applications that are already in extension mode are *not* affected by these changes." Unfortunately, it seems new extension mode applications will not be granted access to these APIs.

Spotify should have at least provided a heads-up and allowed extension applications submitted by a specified date (end of year would have been sufficient and reasonable) to be considered for inclusion...maybe that's what they will do but aren't communicating the strategy...one can hope.

If it's any consolation, I had the good fortune of speaking with an executive at a major platform company yesterday who agreed it is extremely poor practice to pull APIs without warning and this move is an astoundingly bad look for Spotify.

[oksimplyalex]

I think that a good bunch of people would really like to have back the metadata API endpoints at least (such as Audio Features), or even a subset of that meta information (tempo, duration, etc.). Unless I'm missing something, restricting to information that is not a product of a proprietary analysis would not allow for advanced AI/LLM training while still giving developers an opportunity to keep innovating and creating interesting and simple apps.

[DubbayouDJ]

FYI, for anyone in a pinch (and okay w/ a slow/sorted workaround)…

Both Zapier and IFTTT (API connector srvcs) [indicate] having access to the “Get Track‘s Audio Features” endpoint — i.e., send a *single * trackID (via whatever trigger method you prefer) and the related ‘audio features’ object data will be returned/placed wherever you want it to go.

Have used both in the past for various needs (including Spotify), but no longer have an active account to verify whether or not their access to the “Audio Features” endpoint is working. (Presumably so though, as per blog notice: “Applications with existing extended mode Web API access that were relying on these endpoints remain unaffected by this change.”

IFTTT:
https://ifttt.com/spotify/queries/get_audio_features_for_a_track

Zapier:
https://zapier.com/apps/spotify/integrations#triggers-and-actions

[presence_user]

Hello, thank you for the idea but that's not suitable. Imagine a search page which returns 50 results and user should be able to play the preview_url 

[presence_user]

The real solution, should Spotify be unwilling to re-introduce preview_url inside the endpoints, is to migrate to other services (ie Apple Music Web Api). But that takes time. We are currently receiving MANY emails from users who cannot use the Spotify feature inside our app. @SpotifyTeam please revert this change or give us the time to migrate to different solutions.

Also, is there a way to speak with the Spotify developers support. It seems that no one is engaging here and we can't find a way to connect on their website.

[YungNelson]

No warning or anything is kind of crazy, I have a school project I've been working on since midsummer and now the entire thing is broken, unlucky I guess but basically all of the endpoints that are unavailable were ones that I needed to use.

Now my project is useless and a gigantic waste of time because of this out of nowhere random change? Seems a little silly to me. I used to tell everyone about how awesome and easy the API was to use and recommended it to anyone who wanted to try out working with an API, however I will not be doing that anymore.

[cjtolj]

My app uses the release radar, an editorial playlist - and you sya it should only affect those in development mode and new apps, but mines production and old and has been affected.....

[MotoringWerkz]

Yeah this is a wild move from @spotify - I think they are doing it to target malicious actors more than new apps tho. I was reading recently about the guy from artist.tools bragging on reddit about how he rotates API keys he literally found on the dark web to run his app. Those are the kinda people they need to crack down on not people making new stuff. Hopefully they find a way to pay more attention to the API and dev areas of their platform. Totally overlooked for the most part.

[w1zardbeard]

Cheers guys, my fun little app i built for my own personal enjoyment, and was planning to use as a portfolio piece to help me career change, is now completely buggered. Built as a bit of a passion project for me to explore random new music on YOUR platform, as i love spotify so much, is useless. Realize, other devs will be more impacted if they have actual users using their apps, but still leaves a horrid taste in my mouth. But hey ho, continue to fence off your resources at a drop of a hat, im sure ill still pay for my subscription like the capitalist cuck i am

[bener]

Hello there,

I was literally working on my university thesis project for over a YEAR which uses Spotify API for many things. One of the best thing was to be able and play songs in my app. My thesis is due in 2 weeks, and Spotify decides to remove half of my functionality?
Thanks I guess.

[eranis54321]

wow. 
I've been working on an app that heavily leveraged these exact APIs for the last few months. Some notice would have been nice at the very least I was literally mid-coding when my whole app basically went dead... There is nowhere else to get data like this out there, so you've effectively just destroyed the last few months of work for me. Much appreciated 

[set2tracks]

Hey Spotify, i'm on a same boat as many developpers here.
7 months building an app for djs, heavily relying on tempo, key, and other audio features.
And i was about to send an extension request...

I think we can all agree that those instant radical restrictions wihout notice aren't fair to all the work people are putting here, trusting and promoting Spotify.

I really wish you could reconsider that brutal decision.

[bener]

Plan

Premium

Country

Hungary

My Question or Issue

Dear Spotify API Team,

I hope this finds you well. My name is Richárd Bene, and I am a graduating student currently finalizing my thesis project—a Spotify-inspired web application developed using React and Firebase. Over the past year, I have been working extensively with the Spotify API to build this project, which demonstrates the integration of music streaming functionalities, including playback previews and other features.

Recently, I noticed significant changes to the Spotify API, including the deprecation of preview playback and several endpoints critical to my application. Unfortunately, this has greatly impacted my project just as I approach my submission deadline on December 14.

I kindly request temporary access to the deprecated API features for approximately one month, solely for the purpose of completing and demonstrating my educational project. Access to these endpoints would allow me to preserve the functionality I have built and showcase my thesis as originally intended.

I completely understand that deprecated features are phased out for various reasons, and I am committed to adapting my project to the latest version of the API in the future. However, a short-term exception would be immensely helpful to ensure my project’s successful completion.

Thank you for considering my request. If needed, I am happy to provide more details about my project or its educational context. Please let me know if there are any additional steps or documentation required.

Looking forward to your response.

Best regards,
Richárd Bene
**bleep**
University of Szeged

[thlucas]

I am disappointed and frustrated by these changes, as I just rolled out changes to the Home Assistant SpotifyPlus integration (974 downloads and counting) that supports all of the deprecated functions!  To just take them away on a major US holiday (Thanksgiving Day) is cruel!  To take them away without giving us (developers) a grace period to try and offer alternative functionality or at the very least return some sort of warning message is poor planning on Spotify's part.  Oh, and don't think for 1 second I believe it's due to a "security issue" as you claim; c'mon Spotify HQ, we are smarter than that!

Spotify dropped the ball on this one!

[doubledherin]

I can't believe this. I've literally been working on my dream project, which leverages both audio analysis and audio features. I can't believe Spotify is doing this, especially after buying Echonest several years ago. Why? Why? Why? This is pretty devastating to be honest.