Visualize Spotify Data in TIBCO Spotfire through ODBC
This article walks you through using the CData ODBC Driver for Spotify in TIBCO Spotfire. You will use the data import wizard to connect to a DSN (data source name) for Salesforce and build on the sample visualizations to create a simple dashboard.
Connect to Spotify as an ODBC Data Source
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.
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
- Visit the Spotify Developer Dashboard.
- Log in with your Spotify account and click Create app.
- Provide an app name, description, and set a Redirect URI (e.g.,
http://localhost:33333
for desktop applications). - 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.
Create Visualizations of Spotify Tables
Follow the steps below to connect to the DSN and create real-time data visualizations:
- Click Data -> Add Data ...
- Click Other -> Load data with ODBC, OLE DB, or ADO.NET data provider.
- In the Data Source Type menu, select ODBC Data Provider and click Configure.
- Select the DSN.

- Select the tables that you want to add to the dashboard. This example uses Albums. You can also specify an SQL query. The driver supports the standard SQL syntax.

- If you want to work with the live data, click the Keep Data Table External option. This option enables your dashboards to reflect changes to the data in real time.
If you want to load the data into memory and process the data locally, click the Import Data Table option. This option is better for offline use or if a slow network connection is making your dashboard less interactive.
- After adding tables, the Recommended Visualizations wizard is displayed. When you select a table, Spotfire uses the column data types to detect number, time, and category columns. This example uses in the Numbers section and in the Categories section.

After adding several visualizations in the Recommended Visualizations wizard, you can make other modifications to the dashboard. For example, you can zoom in on high probability opportunities by applying a filter on the page. To add a filter, click the Filter button. The available filters for each query are displayed in the Filters pane.