Raspberry Pi Spotify Display

Note

This program technically displays Last.fm data, not Spotify directly. So please have a Last.fm account and link your Spotify account to it otherwise the program will not work. The data should be the same, Spotify's API just doesn't provide the necessary data, and Last.fm's API is much easier to use with far fewer restrictions.

This is a little program that displays whatever song you are currently listening to on Spotify on a Waveshare e-Paper display connected to a Raspberry Pi. It uses a WebSocket connection for real-time updates.

Required Hardware

• Raspberry Pi (any model but I recommend using a Raspi Zero 2 W).
• Waveshare 2.13" e-Paper Display (HAT mode recommended).
• 5V 3A Power Supply (or a PiSugar battery pack).

Required Software

• Any OS will work, I have only tested on Raspberry Pi OS Lite 32-bit though.
• Python 3.10+
• Waveshare e-Paper display library. Currently only supports Waveshare 2.13" e-Paper HAT.
• Python packages: requests, Pillow (PIL), websocket-client

Installation

1. Set up your Raspberry Pi

1. Install Raspberry Pi OS (or your preferred OS) on your Raspberry Pi.
2. Connect the Waveshare e-Paper display to your Raspberry Pi according to the manufacturer's instructions.
3. Enable SPI interface on your Raspberry Pi:

   sudo raspi-config
   

   Navigate to "Interface Options" > "SPI" > "Yes" to enable SPI.

2. Install the Waveshare e-Paper library

# Clone the Waveshare e-Paper library repository
cd ~
git clone https://github.com/waveshare/e-Paper.git

3. Install required Python packages

You can now install all required dependencies using the provided requirements.txt file:

# Install required system packages
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y python3-pip python3-pil python3-numpy

# Install Python dependencies from requirements.txt
cd ~/raspi-spotify
pip3 install -r requirements.txt

4. Clone this repository

# Clone this repository
cd ~
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/raspi-spotify.git
cd raspi-spotify

5. Configure the API endpoint

The script uses a WebSocket API endpoint to fetch your currently playing Spotify track in real-time. By default, it uses:

wss://api.kyle.so/spotify/current-track/ws?user=mrdickeyy

Note that this API is mine and NOT official. I'm not affiliated with Spotify or Last.fm. You will need to replace the user parameter with your own Last.fm username, NOT your Spotify username.

You'll need to either:

1. Set up your own API endpoint that returns your Spotify data in the same format
   • Source code for my API is here
2. Or modify the script to use a different method to fetch your Spotify data

Running the Program

Manual Run

To run the program manually:

cd ~/raspi-spotify
python3 spotify.py

The display will update in real-time as you play, pause, or change songs on Spotify, from anywhere in the world.

Run as a Service (recommended)

To have the program start automatically when your Raspberry Pi boots:

1. Create a systemd service file:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/spotify-display.service

2. Add the following content:

[Unit]
Description=Spotify e-Paper Display
After=network.target

[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/bin/python3 /home/pi/raspi-spotify/spotify.py
WorkingDirectory=/home/pi/raspi-spotify
StandardOutput=inherit
StandardError=inherit
Restart=always
User=pi

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

3. Enable and start the service:

sudo systemctl enable spotify-display.service
sudo systemctl start spotify-display.service

4. Check the status of the service:

sudo systemctl status spotify-display.service

Troubleshooting

• If you encounter issues with the display, check the SPI interface is enabled.
• Ensure the Waveshare e-Paper library is correctly installed.
• Check that all Python dependencies are installed correctly: pip3 install -r requirements.txt
• If you experience WebSocket connection issues, check your network connectivity.
• Check the logs for any errors:

  sudo journalctl -u spotify-display.service
  

Customization

You can modify the spotify.py script to change:

• The WebSocket connection settings
• The display layout
• The API endpoint for fetching Spotify data

License

MIT License