A Note on Spotify's API Restrictions
Spotifort was originally a simpler concept: connect your Spotify account, see which artists from your Liked Songs are playing Treefort, done. No setup required.
In February 2026, Spotify restructured their Developer API. Development Mode apps are now limited to 5 authorized users, require a Premium account, and lost access to key endpoints including related artists, batch artist lookups, and genre data.
Extended Quota access — which would remove these restrictions — requires a registered business entity and 250,000 monthly active users. That's an unreachable bar for a non-commercial, open-source project built for a music festival in Boise.
What This Means for You
Because of the 5-user limit, Spotifort can't share a single Client ID with everyone. Instead, each user creates their own Spotify Developer app, making them user #1 on their own app. No limits, no waitlist.
The process takes about 2 minutes. The setup guide walks through it step by step.
What Spotifort Could Be
Without these API restrictions, Spotifort could offer:
- One-click connection — No developer app setup, just authorize and go
- Similar artist recommendations — "You like Band A, check out Band B who's also playing" (Related Artists endpoint)
- Richer genre data — Better genre matching from Spotify's own database
- A simpler experience — No Premium requirement, no desktop-only setup step
This project would be better, simpler, and more accessible if Spotify offered a tier for non-commercial, open-source community projects.
How Similar Artists Works
Spotify's Related Artists endpoint — which powers "Fans Also Like" recommendations — is blocked for Development Mode apps. Without it, Spotifort can't access Spotify's algorithmic recommendations.
Instead, Spotifort uses genre tags from Last.fm and MusicBrainz — two public music databases — to find other Treefort artists that share genres with artists you like.
This is genre overlap, not algorithmic recommendation. It's broader and less precise than Spotify's "Related Artists," but still useful for discovering new artists at the festival. If you like an indie rock band, you'll see other indie rock acts playing Treefort.
Results may be limited for smaller or local artists who aren't well-cataloged in these public databases.
If You Agree, Say Something
Spotify has a developer community forum where you can share feedback on their API policies. If you think there should be a path for open-source, non-commercial projects to access the API without enterprise-level requirements, consider adding your voice.
Be constructive. Spotify has legitimate reasons for tightening API access — abuse, scraping, and security concerns are real. But there's room for a middle ground that supports community projects.