Marcify - Playlist Generator

Generate personalized Spotify playlists based on your favorite artists. Enter a seed artist, adjust the settings, and create a playlist with similar music.

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How It Works

1. Login with your Spotify account
2. Enter a seed artist (e.g., "Radiohead", "Kendrick Lamar")
3. Adjust the sliders to customize your playlist
4. Generate recommendations and preview the tracks
5. Save the playlist directly to your Spotify account

Technical Background

Since Spotify deprecated their /recommendations API endpoint in November 2024, this app uses an alternative approach:

• Last.fm API finds artists similar to your seed artist
• Spotify Search API fetches top tracks from those artists
• The results are combined into a personalized playlist

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Quick Start with Docker

The fastest way to get Marcify running. No need to clone the repository.

Step 1: Get API Credentials

Spotify:

1. Go to Spotify Developer Dashboard
2. Create a new app
3. Add redirect URI: http://localhost:5000/spotify-oauth2callback
4. In User Management, add your Spotify email
5. Copy Client ID and Client Secret

Last.fm:

1. Go to Last.fm API
2. Create an API account
3. Copy your API Key

Step 2: Download and Configure

# Download the compose file
curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/marwonn/marcify/master/docker-compose.ghcr.yml

# Edit and fill in your API credentials
nano docker-compose.ghcr.yml

Fill in your credentials in the environment section:

environment:
  - SPOTIFY_CLIENT_ID=your_spotify_client_id
  - SPOTIFY_CLIENT_SECRET=your_spotify_client_secret
  - REDIRECT_URL=http://localhost:5000/spotify-oauth2callback
  - SECRET_KEY=change_this_to_a_random_string
  - LASTFM_API_KEY=your_lastfm_api_key
  - USERNAME=your_spotify_username

Step 3: Start

docker compose -f docker-compose.ghcr.yml up -d

Open http://localhost:5000 in your browser.

Useful Commands

# View logs
docker compose -f docker-compose.ghcr.yml logs -f

# Stop
docker compose -f docker-compose.ghcr.yml down

# Update to latest version
docker compose -f docker-compose.ghcr.yml pull
docker compose -f docker-compose.ghcr.yml up -d

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Deployment on a Server

For server deployment, change the REDIRECT_URL to match your server:

- REDIRECT_URL=http://your-server-ip:5000/spotify-oauth2callback

Or with a domain and reverse proxy (nginx/traefik):

- REDIRECT_URL=https://marcify.yourdomain.com/spotify-oauth2callback

Important: Update the redirect URI in your Spotify Developer Dashboard to match.

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Alternative Deployment Options

Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/marwonn/marcify.git
cd marcify
cp .env.example .env
nano .env  # Fill in your credentials
docker compose up -d

Deploy on Render (Free Cloud Hosting)

1. Fork this repository
2. Go to Render Dashboard
3. Create a new Web Service and connect your fork
4. Set Build Command: pip install -r requirements.txt
5. Set Start Command: gunicorn wsgi:app
6. Add environment variables
7. Deploy

Run without Docker (Development)

git clone https://github.com/marwonn/marcify.git
cd marcify
python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt
cp .env.example .env
nano .env
flask run

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Environment Variables

Variable	Description
SPOTIFY_CLIENT_ID	From Spotify Developer Dashboard
SPOTIFY_CLIENT_SECRET	From Spotify Developer Dashboard
REDIRECT_URL	OAuth callback URL (must match Spotify app settings)
SECRET_KEY	Random string for Flask sessions
LASTFM_API_KEY	From Last.fm API
USERNAME	Your Spotify username

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Playlist Settings

Setting	Description
Seed Artist	The artist to base recommendations on
Variety	How many different artists to explore (1-10)
Discovery	Balance between seed artist and new artists (1-10)
Track Count	Number of songs in the playlist (1-20)
Fallback Genre	Used when the seed artist can't be found

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Troubleshooting

Problem	Solution
"Error during authentication"	Redirect URL must match exactly in Spotify settings and compose file
No recommendations found	Check that LASTFM_API_KEY is set correctly
403 Forbidden from Spotify	Add your email in Spotify Dashboard → User Management
Container won't start	Check logs with docker compose -f docker-compose.ghcr.yml logs

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Links

• Spotify Developer Documentation
• Last.fm API Documentation

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License

Published under the GNU General Public License v3.0. See LICENSE for details.