The code can then be transformed into an error correcting code, such as a forward error correcting code. Spotify’s patent is not very clear on what convolutional encoding is performed: I recommend you check out these MIT lecture notes to learn more about convolutional codes. Convolutional codes add redundancy to data to make it possible to decode the data if errors are introduced during transmission. These 45 bits are then convolutionally encoded. The media reference can be expressed as a 37 bit binary number:ĭef check_crc(data, polynomial, check_bits):ĭata = Let’s start with the media reference 57639171874 which points to the following playlist: spotify:user:spotify:playlist:37i9dQZF1DWZq91oLsHZvy ( Indie x Running). If Spotify encoded a whole URI, it would look something like this (and would be harder to scan): Media references let Spotify track which codes are scanned, enable them to theoretically re-map codes, and just look better when encoded. Spotify maintains a database of media reference to URI mappings. The media reference is what gets encoded into the barcode and links the barcode to the URI. Media reference #Ī media reference is first generated by Spotify for a Spotify URI. I find it easier to understand Spotify Barcodes by starting with the URI and working through the encoding process. I will include some more resources if you want to keep learning. This article is going to be a little bit more technical than part 1 as I try to explain exactly how Spotify encodes their barcodes. Thanks to a little more digging and a lot of help from someone on Stack Overflow I can now do that conversion. Ludvig Strigeus, a key early developer at Spotify and the person who invented Spotify Codes, even stopped by and shared some more information on their creation and the rationale behind them!Īt the end of part 1 I wrote that I wasn’t sure about some of the details, so I was not able to implement my own barcode to URI converter.
I shared it on reddit where it generated a lot of interesting discussion. If you haven’t read that post you should check it out. In part 1 I dove into Spotify Codes and explained the general technical concepts of how they work.
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