Load Spotify Data to a Database Using Embulk

Jerod Johnson
Jerod Johnson
Director, Technology Evangelism
Use CData JDBC drivers with the open source ETL/ELT tool Embulk to load Spotify data to a database.

Embulk is an open source bulk data loader. When paired with the CData API Driver for JDBC, Embulk easily loads data from Spotify to any supported destination. In this article, we explain how to use the CData API Driver for JDBC in Embulk to load Spotify data to a MySQL dtabase.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData JDBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Spotify data. When you issue complex SQL queries to Spotify, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Spotify and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations client-side (often SQL functions and JOIN operations).

Configure a JDBC Connection to Spotify Data

Before creating a bulk load job in Embulk, note the installation location for the JAR file for the JDBC Driver (typically C:\Program Files\CData\CData API Driver for JDBC\lib).

Embulk supports JDBC connectivity, so you can easily connect to Spotify and execute SQL queries. Before creating a bulk load job, create a JDBC URL for authenticating with Spotify.

Using OAuth Authentication

Spotify uses OAuth 2.0 for authentication. You will need to create an application in the Spotify Developer Dashboard to obtain your client credentials.

Setting Up Your Spotify Application

  1. Visit the Spotify Developer Dashboard.
  2. Log in with your Spotify account and click Create app.
  3. Provide an app name, description, and set a Redirect URI (e.g.,
    http://localhost:33333
    for desktop applications).
  4. Copy your Client ID and Client Secret from the app settings.

Connection Properties

After setting the following connection properties, you are ready to connect:

  • AuthScheme: Set this to OAuth.
  • InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to manage the process to obtain the OAuthAccessToken.
  • OAuthClientId: Set this to your Spotify application's Client ID.
  • OAuthClientSecret: Set this to your Spotify application's Client Secret.
  • Scope: Set this to the required OAuth scopes (space-separated). The default includes all read scopes needed for the tables in this profile.
  • CallbackURL: Set this to the Redirect URI configured in your Spotify application (e.g., http://localhost:33333).

Example Connection String

Profile=C:\profiles\Spotify.apip;AuthScheme=OAuth;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;OAuthClientId=your_client_id;OAuthClientSecret=your_client_secret;CallbackURL=http://localhost:33333;

Available OAuth Scopes

  • user-read-private: Read access to user's subscription details and explicit content settings.
  • user-read-email: Read access to user's email address.
  • user-library-read: Read access to a user's saved tracks, albums, episodes, shows, and audiobooks.
  • playlist-read-private: Read access to user's private playlists.
  • playlist-read-collaborative: Read access to collaborative playlists the user follows.
  • user-follow-read: Read access to the list of artists the current user follows.
  • user-read-playback-state: Read access to a user's player state (device, current track, progress).
  • user-read-currently-playing: Read access to a user's currently playing content.
  • user-read-playback-history: Read access to a user's recently played tracks.
  • user-top-read: Read access to a user's top artists and tracks.

Built-in Connection String Designer

For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Spotify JDBC Driver. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.

java -jar cdata.jdbc.api.jar

Fill in the connection properties and copy the connection string to the clipboard.

Below is a typical JDBC connection string for Spotify:

jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\Spotify.apip;AuthScheme=OAuth;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;OAuthClientId=your_client_id;OAuthClientSecret=your_client_secret;CallbackURL=http://localhost:33333;

Load Spotify Data in Embulk

After installing the CData JDBC Driver and creating a JDBC connection string, install the required Embulk plugins.

Install Embulk Input & Output Plugins

  1. Install the JDBC Input Plugin in Embulk.
    https://github.com/embulk/embulk-input-jdbc/tree/master/embulk-input-jdbc
  2. embulk gem install embulk-input-jdbc
    
  3. In this article, we use MySQL as the destination database. You can also choose SQL Server, PostgreSQL, or Google BigQuery as the destination using the output Plugins.
    https://github.com/embulk/embulk-output-jdbc/tree/master/embulk-output-mysql
    embulk gem install embulk-output-mysql
    

With the input and output plugins installed, we are ready to load Spotify data into MySQL using Embulk.

Create a Job to Load Spotify Data

Start by creating a config file in Embulk, using a name like api-mysql.yml.

  1. For the input plugin options, use the CData API Driver for JDBC, including the path to the driver JAR file, the driver class (e.g. cdata.jdbc.api.APIDriver), and the JDBC URL from above
  2. For the output plugin options, use the values and credentials for the MySQL database

Sample Config File (api-mysql.yml)

in:
	type: jdbc
	driver_path: C:\Program Files\CData[product_name] 20xx\lib\cdata.jdbc.api.jar
	driver_class: cdata.jdbc.api.APIDriver
	url: jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\Spotify.apip;AuthScheme=OAuth;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;OAuthClientId=your_client_id;OAuthClientSecret=your_client_secret;CallbackURL=http://localhost:33333;
	table: "Albums"
out: 
	type: mysql
	host: localhost
	database: DatabaseName
	user: UserId
	password: UserPassword
	table: "Albums"
	mode: insert

After creating the file, run the Embulk job.

embulk run api-mysql.yml

After running the the Embulk job, find the Salesforce data in the MySQL table.

Load Filtered Spotify Data

In addition to loading data directly from a table, you can use a custom SQL query to have more granular control of the data loaded. You can also perform increment loads by setting a last updated column in a SQL WHERE clause in the query field.

in:
	type: jdbc
	driver_path: C:\Program Files\CData[product_name] 20xx\lib\cdata.jdbc.api.jar
	driver_class: cdata.jdbc.api.APIDriver
	url: jdbc:api:Profile=C:\profiles\Spotify.apip;AuthScheme=OAuth;InitiateOAuth=GETANDREFRESH;OAuthClientId=your_client_id;OAuthClientSecret=your_client_secret;CallbackURL=http://localhost:33333;
	query: "SELECT ,  FROM Albums WHERE [RecordId] = 1"
out: 
	type: mysql
	host: localhost
	database: DatabaseName
	user: UserId
	password: UserPassword
	table: "Albums"
	mode: insert

More Information & Free Trial

By using CData API Driver for JDBC as a connector, Embulk can integrate Spotify data into your data load jobs. And with drivers for more than 200+ other enterprise sources, you can integrate any enterprise SaaS, big data, or NoSQL source as well. Download a 30-day free trial and get started today.

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