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. 

[dnguyen800]

I just wanted my Discovery Weekly and Release Radar playlists to be accessible in apps other than Spotify. Thanks for taking that away from me.

[zzptichka]

@soundstat got excited about your service but looks like it's down? Getting error 500 Internal Server Error.

[soundstat]

**bleep**, and we will look into
your case. To use the service, you need to register and obtain an API key.
All requests can only be made with a valid key.

[soundstat]

Please write me and we will look into your case. 

[grapesmith]

Add my name to the list of frustrated users. I was among those who backed up my Discover Weekly playlist every week using the API. I always thought it was cool to see a song in my rotation months after it first showed up in Discover Weekly. I was able to do this because the song would have the green check mark showing it was on my Discover Weekly backup playlist.

[bazingatorade]

Yeah, it's pretty clear that Spotify made a calculated move, and they’re not looking back. The speed and scope of the API shutdown scream strategic protectionism, likely against AI-driven competitors leveraging their data. Whether it’s preempting potential AI-based music discovery tools or just tightening their grip on third-party integrations, they’ve shown they don’t mind burning devs in the process.

At this point, waiting for them to reverse course is wishful thinking. The real move is either pivoting away from Spotify reliance entirely or looking into workarounds (scraping, alternative APIs). Given the history of how big platforms handle these things, the best bet is adapting rather than expecting them to throw devs a bone.

[Roza432]

Time to abandon Spotify. This was its last redeeming feature.

[helvetian]

Here's what I built: https://www.spotysnap.com

Hopefully some of you folks find it useful. The app is currently running in Spotify's development mode so you need to request access with your Spotify email. Should I ever get close to the 25 users limit I will apply for an extension request. 🚀

[bazingatorade]

Cool project !
Hope Spotify will grant you the extension, because they're not very keen on what they call "excessive storing and/or caching of content".

[Woohoo124]

Shall we bring back echonest?

[SheepKid12]

Let me preface my comment by saying I'm not a developer. I'm just a user of said APIs that's probably equally as annoyed as the devs here.

This is going to break how I find new music (I use Discover Quickly as much as I can) and either make me move to a different app with a halfway decent discovery algorithm (*cough cough* YouTube) or use an inferior app experience (the TikTok like things that don't do as well in my experience). It's already breaking too with those null previews...

Edit: I re-did this entire comment as I didn't like how it was worded.

[nikoalex2005]

There are over 200 comments of people voicing their concerns and dissatisfaction with this decision. Why do we still get radio silence from Spotify? Instead of only reiterating the same points made in the blogpost, at least admitting that your decisions have affected countless developers in the Spotify community would be a start...? 

[holamau]

Why? Short and sweet: 

They don't care and they are not going to revert it back.

[grevas]

Hello!

Spotify please give us Discover weekly archives since we cant make our own integrations atm.

[aerodynamicdog]

Yet another small hobby dev and music lover frustrated by these changes. I was already aware of the changes, but was reminded of it again as I found my abandoned Python app today, which now just returns a sad 403 error. Frustrating to see I won't be able to use my script again, just to fetch key and tempo for a bunch of songs, private use too. It's disheartening to see so many other people sharing their concerns in this community topic, both users and developers. A quick Google search shows we're not the only ones missing these simple endpoints like audio features and analysis. Is this really going to prevent others from using machine learning on your music metadata? Who are you really fighting here? Hate to see it when companies turn against their customers and creativity. If you think an AI model can make better playlists than you, maybe it’s time to innovate, not restrict. Hope you can do better.

[grapesmith]

Got the email about their OAuth changes today. Yet another hoop I’m looking forward to dealing with.

[djk-tel]

It says right in the Developer Agreement that your not allowed to store / use any of their data for anything else!

[djk-tel]

Also had a look at your search API and you can’t search for tracks by their Title / Artist / Album?   That pretty basic starting point for any Music Database service

[mirzaghalib]

Thanks for the update! It’s great to see Spotify prioritizing security while keeping developers informed. I’ll check out the blog post for more details. Are there any specific changes to the API that you think will impact developers the most? Looking forward to seeing how this affects current integrations!

[holamau]

lol

"keeping developers informed"

lol