NFC Spotify Casting

Description

Inspired by vinyl-emulator. Hankhank's original version can be seen in this Reddit post. Plays Spotify albums, playlists, and podcasts on any device Spotify can connect to. Spotify URIs are stored on NFC tags that are stuck on the back of printed album covers (or whatever image/art you want). Tapping the album art on the NFC reader plays the album, playlist, or podcast.

Materials needed

• A Raspberry Pi with a connection to the internet.
• Python 3.6 or greater installed on the Raspberry pi.
• A premium Spotify account.
• An NFC reader. I used the ACR122U.
• NFC tag stickers. I used the NTAG215 stickers.
• Something to put the NFC tag stickers onto (album art).
• Software to write the URIs to the NFC tags. I used the free NFC tools app on Android.

Instructions

1. Download this repository onto the Raspberry Pi. You can do this using git clone in a command line or going to the repo page and clicking code -> download zip -> and then extract the files to your desktop.
2. Follow the commented instructions in constants.py and fill out the file.
3. Edit line 8 in startup.sh so that it changes directory to the correct path.
4. Install the following Python packages with this command: sudo pip3 install -U package-name-here
   1. nfcpy
   2. spotipy
5. Write Spotify URIs to NFC tags and apply them to whatever you chose, like album art. Spotify URIs can be found in the Spotify desktop app by right clicking the three dots next to an album, playlist, or show -> click share -> hold down the alt key on Windows or command key on Mac -> click the newly shown Copy Spotify URI button.
6. Set the file startup.sh to an executable. You can do this by typing sudo chmod +x pathto/filename in the terminal.
7. The Spotify app usually needs to be open on the device before running the program to be shown in the devices list.
8. Type ./startup.sh into the Raspberry Pi terminal.
9. Type y if you want debugging enabled or n if you don't.
10. Select which device you would like to use by entering its number.
11. Touch a tag to the NFC reader and take it off the reader after a second or two. Enjoy!

The first time you run the program and after any update you will need to log in. Doing so is a very simple process.

1. First, run the program with ./startup.sh
2. Enable debugging by typing y and hit enter.
3. Read the instructions printed to the console or watch this video for more help.