Analog Soul, Digital Heart: Build a Spotify Record Player with Raspberry Pi
Working hard or hardly working? (You can tell I’ve been doom scrolling) Here’s another project from reddit by u/akz-dev that really caught my eye with its sleek retro and minimalistic design. A digital record player with a functional record spinning and tone arm!
What They Built (And How It Connects To The Past)
Using a Raspberry Pi Zero 2W, u/akz-dev developed a Spotify streamer by embedding RFID tags into tiny vinyl-themed coasters, the device “plays” specific albums or playlists when a coaster is placed on the platter with the RFID reader. The spinning stepper motor and functional tone arm are equipped with a Hall effect sensor. Moving the needle onto the “record” plays the music, seamlessly blending the tactile ritual of analog media with the infinite library of digital streaming.
This project has a perfect blend of sensors and components for creating a functional and immersive tool. We live in an era where music has become background noise, by having you physically place the records you aren’t just playing music but making a commitment to a specific album. It just goes to showing that the best way to make technology a bit better is to make it slightly less convenient.
What's Next?
The next logical step for this project is “Physical Fidelity.” While the RFID triggers the playlist, the u/akz-dev could integrate a rotary encoder into the tone arm or platter for physical “scrubbing” or track skipping based on the needle’s position. Imagine if moving the tone arm closer to the center of the tiny record actually skipped to the next track on the Spotify API. Time to see if we can turn this tactile remote into a fully interactive DJ deck!
Checkout the github page if you wanna create your own digital record player here!
