Use the CData ODBC Driver for Spotify in SAS for Real-Time Reporting and Analytics

SAS is a software suite developed for advanced analytics, multivariate analysis, business intelligence, data management, and predictive analytics. When you pair SAS with the CData ODBC Driver for Spotify, you gain database-like access to live Spotify data from SAS, expanding your reporting and analytics capabilities. This article explains how to create a library for Spotify in SAS and create a simple report based on real-time Spotify data.

The CData ODBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Spotify data in SAS due to optimized data processing built into the driver. When you issue complex SQL queries from SAS 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 (often SQL functions and JOIN operations) client-side. With built-in dynamic metadata querying, you can easily visualize and analyze Spotify data in SAS.

Connect to Spotify as an ODBC Data Source

Information for connecting to Spotify follows, along with different instructions for configuring a DSN in Windows and Linux environments (the ODBC Driver for Spotify must be installed on the machine hosting the SAS System).

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.

When you configure the DSN, you may also want to set the Max Rows connection property. This will limit the number of rows returned, which is especially helpful for improving performance when designing reports and visualizations.

Windows

If you have not already, first specify connection properties in an ODBC DSN (data source name). This is the last step of the driver installation. You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure ODBC DSNs.

Linux

If you are installing the CData ODBC Driver for Spotify in a Linux environment, the driver installation predefines a system DSN. You can modify the DSN by editing the system data sources file (/etc/odbc.ini) and defining the required connection properties.

/etc/odbc.ini

[CData API Sys]
Driver = CData ODBC Driver for Spotify
Description = My Description
Profile = C:\profiles\Spotify.apip
AuthScheme = OAuth
InitiateOAuth = GETANDREFRESH
OAuthClientId = your_client_id
OAuthClientSecret = your_client_secret
CallbackURL = http://localhost:33333

For specific information on using these configuration files, please refer to the help documentation (installed and found online).

Create a Spotify Library in SAS

Connect to Spotify in SAS by adding a library based on the CData ODBC Driver for Spotify.

1. Open SAS and expand Libraries in the Explorer pane.
2. In the Active Libraries window, right-click and select New.
3. Name your library (odbclib), select ODBC as the Engine, and click to Enable at startup (if you want the library to persist between sessions).
4. Set Data Source to the DSN you previously configured and click OK.

Create a View from a Spotify Query

SAS natively supports querying data either using a low-code, point-and-click Query tool or programmatically with PROC SQL and a custom SQL query. When you create a View in SAS, the defining query is executed each time the view is queried. This means that you always query live Spotify data for reports, charts, and analytics.

Using the Query Tool

1. In SAS, click Tools -> Query
2. Select the table sources and the table(s) you wish to pull data from. Then, click OK.
3. Select columns and right-click to add filtering, ordering, grouping, etc.
4. Create a local view to contain the query results by right-clicking the SQL Query Tool window, selecting Show Query, and clicking Create View. Name the View and click OK.

Using PROC SQL

1. In SAS, navigate to the Editor window.
2. Use PROC SQL to query the data and create a local view.
   NOTE: This procedure creates a view in the Work library. You can optionally specify a library in the create view statement.

   proc sql;
     create view albums_view as
     select 
       , 
        
     from 
       odbclib.albums 
     where 
       Id = '4aawyAB9vmqN3uQ7FjRGTy';
   quit;
   

3. Click Run -> Submit to execute the query and create a local view.

Report On or Visualize Spotify Data in SAS

With a local view created, you can report, visualize, or otherwise analyze Spotify data using the powerful SAS features. Print a simple report using PROC PRINT and create a basic graph based on the data using PROC GCHART.

Print an HTML Report

1. In SAS, navigate to the Editor window.
2. Use PROC PRINT to print an HTML report for the Spotify Albums data.

   proc print data=albums;
     title "Spotify Albums Data";
   run;
   

   

Print a Chart

1. In SAS, navigate to the Editor window.
2. Use PROC GCHART to create a chart for the Albums data.

   proc gchart data=albums;
     pie  / sumvar=
         value=arrow
         percent=arrow
         noheading
         percent=inside plabel=(height=12pt)
         slice=inside value=none
         name='AlbumsChart';
   run;