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Use Python Requests to Interact With the iTunes API to Search for Music Info

Tutorial on using Python Requests and using Apple iTunes Music API, where we will be doing the following:

  • Basics of using the Requests module
  • Query iTunes API on Songs by Artist
  • Query iTunes API on Artists Info
  • Query iTunes API on All Albums by Artist
  • Query iTunes API on Top 5 Albums
  • Query iTunes API on Multipe Artists

Resources:

Install the Request Module:

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$ virtualenv -p /usr/bin/python .venv
$ source .venv/bin/activate
$ pip install requests

Basic Usage of Requests:

In this demonstration we will only use the GET HTTP Method.

Make the GET Request to the endpoint:

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>>> import requests
>>> response = requests.get('https://itunes.apple.com/search?term=guns+and+roses&limit=1')

View the HTTP Status Code of the Response:

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>>> response.status_code
200

To view some of the status codes of the request library:

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>>> requests.codes.ok
200
>>> requests.codes.no_content
204
>>> requests.codes.temporary_redirect
307
>>> requests.codes.permanent_redirect
308
>>> requests.codes.bad
400
>>> requests.codes.not_found
404
>>> requests.codes.bad_gateway
502

Call .ok for the status lookup, the boolean answer will indicate if it responded with a 200 OK:

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>>> response.ok
True

Measure the amount of time the request took:

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>>> response.elapsed.total_seconds()
0.706043

View the content of the response:

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>>> response.content
'\n\n\n{\n "resultCount":1,\n "results": [\n{"wrapperType":"track", "kind":"song", "artistId":106621, "collectionId":5669937, "trackId":5669911, "artistName":"Guns N\' Roses", "collectionName":"Greatest Hits", "trackName":"Sweet Child O\' Mine", "collectionCensoredName":"Greatest Hits", "trackCensoredName":"Sweet Child O\' Mine", "artistViewUrl":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/guns-n-roses/106621?uo=4", "collectionViewUrl":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/sweet-child-o-mine/5669937?i=5669911&uo=4", "trackViewUrl":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/sweet-child-o-mine/5669937?i=5669911&uo=4", \n"previewUrl":"https://audio-ssl.itunes.apple.com/apple-assets-us-std-000001/Music6/v4/f2/7d/73/f27d7346-de92-bdc6-e148-56a3da406005/mzaf_2747902348777129728.plus.aac.p.m4a", "artworkUrl30":"https://is3-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Music/v4/3c/18/87/3c188735-e462-3c99-92eb-50fb06afa73f/source/30x30bb.jpg", "artworkUrl60":"https://is3-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Music/v4/3c/18/87/3c188735-e462-3c99-92eb-50fb06afa73f/source/60x60bb.jpg", "artworkUrl100":"https://is3-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Music/v4/3c/18/87/3c188735-e462-3c99-92eb-50fb06afa73f/source/100x100bb.jpg", "collectionPrice":9.99, "trackPrice":1.29, "releaseDate":"1987-07-21T07:00:00Z", "collectionExplicitness":"notExplicit", "trackExplicitness":"notExplicit", "discCount":1, "discNumber":1, "trackCount":14, "trackNumber":2, "trackTimeMillis":355267, "country":"USA", "currency":"USD", "primaryGenreName":"Rock", "isStreamable":true}]\n}\n\n\n'

View the content in json format:

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>>> response.json()
{u'resultCount': 1, u'results': [{u'collectionExplicitness': u'notExplicit', u'releaseDate': u'1987-07-21T07:00:00Z', u'currency': u'USD', u'artistId': 106621, u'previewUrl': u'https://audio-ssl.itunes.apple.com/apple-assets-us-std-000001/Music6/v4/f2/7d/73/f27d7346-de92-bdc6-e148-56a3da406005/mzaf_2747902348777129728.plus.aac.p.m4a', u'trackPrice': 1.29, u'isStreamable': True, u'trackViewUrl': u'https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/sweet-child-o-mine/5669937?i=5669911&uo=4', u'collectionName': u'Greatest Hits', u'collectionId': 5669937, u'trackId': 5669911, u'collectionViewUrl': u'https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/sweet-child-o-mine/5669937?i=5669911&uo=4', u'trackCount': 14, u'trackNumber': 2, u'discNumber': 1, u'collectionPrice': 9.99, u'trackCensoredName': u"Sweet Child O' Mine", u'trackName': u"Sweet Child O' Mine", u'trackTimeMillis': 355267, u'primaryGenreName': u'Rock', u'artistViewUrl': u'https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/guns-n-roses/106621?uo=4', u'kind': u'song', u'country': u'USA', u'wrapperType': u'track', u'artworkUrl100': u'https://is3-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Music/v4/3c/18/87/3c188735-e462-3c99-92eb-50fb06afa73f/source/100x100bb.jpg', u'collectionCensoredName': u'Greatest Hits', u'artistName': u"Guns N' Roses", u'artworkUrl60': u'https://is3-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Music/v4/3c/18/87/3c188735-e462-3c99-92eb-50fb06afa73f/source/60x60bb.jpg', u'trackExplicitness': u'notExplicit', u'artworkUrl30': u'https://is3-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Music/v4/3c/18/87/3c188735-e462-3c99-92eb-50fb06afa73f/source/30x30bb.jpg', u'discCount': 1}]}

View the request headers:

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>>> response.headers
{'Content-Length': '650', 'x-apple-translated-wo-url': '/WebObjects/MZStoreServices.woa/ws/wsSearch?term=guns+and+roses&limit=1&urlDesc=', 'Access-Control-Allow-Origin': '*', 'x-webobjects-loadaverage': '0', 'X-Cache': 'TCP_MISS from a2-21-98-60.deploy.akamaitechnologies.com (AkamaiGHost/9.3.0.3-22245996) (-)', 'x-content-type-options': 'nosniff', 'x-apple-orig-url': 'https://itunes.apple.com/search?term=guns+and+roses&limit=1', 'x-apple-jingle-correlation-key': 'GUOFR25MGUUK5J7LUKI6UUFUWM', 'x-apple-application-site': 'ST11', 'Date': 'Tue, 08 May 2018 20:50:39 GMT', 'apple-tk': 'false', 'content-disposition': 'attachment; filename=1.txt', 'Connection': 'keep-alive', 'apple-seq': '0', 'x-apple-application-instance': '2001318', 'X-Apple-Partner': 'origin.0', 'Content-Encoding': 'gzip', 'strict-transport-security': 'max-age=31536000', 'Vary': 'Accept-Encoding', 'apple-timing-app': '109 ms', 'X-True-Cache-Key': '/L/itunes.apple.com/search ci2=limit=1&term=guns+and+roses__', 'X-Cache-Remote': 'TCP_MISS from a23-57-75-64.deploy.akamaitechnologies.com (AkamaiGHost/9.3.0.3-22245996) (-)', 'Cache-Control': 'max-age=86400', 'x-apple-request-uuid': '351c58eb-ac35-28ae-a7eb-a291ea50b4b3', 'Content-Type': 'text/javascript; charset=utf-8', 'apple-originating-system': 'MZStoreServices'}

Python Requests and the iTunes API:

Search for the Artist Guns and Roses and limit the output to 1 Song:

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>>> import requests
>>> import json
>>> a = 'https://itunes.apple.com/search?term=guns+and+roses&limit=1'
>>> b = requests.get(a).json()
>>> print(json.dumps(b, indent=2))
{
  "resultCount": 1,
  "results": [
    {
      "collectionExplicitness": "notExplicit",
      "releaseDate": "1987-07-21T07:00:00Z",
      "currency": "USD",
      "artistId": 106621,
      "previewUrl": "https://audio-ssl.itunes.apple.com/apple-assets-us-std-000001/Music6/v4/f2/7d/73/f27d7346-de92-bdc6-e148-56a3da406005/mzaf_2747902348777129728.plus.aac.p.m4a",
      "trackPrice": 1.29,
      "isStreamable": true,
      "trackViewUrl": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/sweet-child-o-mine/5669937?i=5669911&uo=4",
      "collectionName": "Greatest Hits",
      "collectionId": 5669937,
      "trackId": 5669911,
      "collectionViewUrl": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/sweet-child-o-mine/5669937?i=5669911&uo=4",
      "trackCount": 14,
      "trackNumber": 2,
      "discNumber": 1,
      "collectionPrice": 9.99,
      "trackCensoredName": "Sweet Child O' Mine",
      "trackName": "Sweet Child O' Mine",
      "trackTimeMillis": 355267,
      "primaryGenreName": "Rock",
      "artistViewUrl": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/guns-n-roses/106621?uo=4",
      "kind": "song",
      "country": "USA",
      "wrapperType": "track",
      "artworkUrl100": "https://is3-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Music/v4/3c/18/87/3c188735-e462-3c99-92eb-50fb06afa73f/source/100x100bb.jpg",
      "collectionCensoredName": "Greatest Hits",
      "artistName": "Guns N' Roses",
      "artworkUrl60": "https://is3-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Music/v4/3c/18/87/3c188735-e462-3c99-92eb-50fb06afa73f/source/60x60bb.jpg",
      "trackExplicitness": "notExplicit",
      "artworkUrl30": "https://is3-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Music/v4/3c/18/87/3c188735-e462-3c99-92eb-50fb06afa73f/source/30x30bb.jpg",
      "discCount": 1
    }
  ]
}

From the response we got a "artistId": 106621, lets query the API on the ArtistId, to get info of the Artist:

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>>> a = 'https://itunes.apple.com/lookup?id=106621'
>>> b = requests.get(a).json()
>>> print(json.dumps(b, indent=2))
{
  "resultCount": 1,
  "results": [
    {
      "artistType": "Artist",
      "amgArtistId": 4416,
      "wrapperType": "artist",
      "artistId": 106621,
      "artistLinkUrl": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/guns-n-roses/106621?uo=4",
      "artistName": "Guns N' Roses",
      "primaryGenreId": 21,
      "primaryGenreName": "Rock"
    }
  ]
}

Query all the Albums by Artist by using the ArtistId and Entity for Album:

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>>> a = 'https://itunes.apple.com/lookup?id=106621&entity=album'
>>> b = requests.get(a).json()
>>> print(json.dumps(b, indent=2))
{
  "resultCount": 13,
  "results": [
    {
      "artistType": "Artist",
      "amgArtistId": 4416,
      "wrapperType": "artist",
      "artistId": 106621,
      "artistLinkUrl": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/guns-n-roses/106621?uo=4",
      "artistName": "Guns N' Roses",
      "primaryGenreId": 21,
      "primaryGenreName": "Rock"
    },
    {
      "artistViewUrl": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/guns-n-roses/106621?uo=4",
      "releaseDate": "2004-01-01T08:00:00Z",
      "collectionType": "Compilation",
      "collectionName": "Greatest Hits",
      "amgArtistId": 4416,
      "copyright": "\u2117 2004 Geffen Records",
      "collectionId": 5669937,
      "artworkUrl60": "https://is3-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Music/v4/3c/18/87/3c188735-e462-3c99-92eb-50fb06afa73f/source/60x60bb.jpg",
      "wrapperType": "collection",
      "collectionViewUrl": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/greatest-hits/5669937?uo=4",
      "artistId": 106621,
      "collectionCensoredName": "Greatest Hits",
      "artworkUrl100": "https://is3-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Music/v4/3c/18/87/3c188735-e462-3c99-92eb-50fb06afa73f/source/100x100bb.jpg",
      "trackCount": 14,
      "currency": "USD",
      "artistName": "Guns N' Roses",
      "country": "USA",
      "primaryGenreName": "Rock",
      "collectionExplicitness": "notExplicit",
      "collectionPrice": 9.99
    },

Get the Top 5 Albums by the Artist:

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a = 'https://itunes.apple.com/lookup?id=106621&entity=album&limit=5'

How to get AMG ID (all music id):

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>>> a = 'https://itunes.apple.com/search?term=jack+johnson&limit=2'
>>> b = requests.get(a).json()
>>> print(json.dumps(b, indent=2))
{
  "resultCount": 2,
  "results": [
    {
      "collectionExplicitness": "notExplicit",
      "releaseDate": "2005-03-01T08:00:00Z",
      "currency": "USD",
      "artistId": 909253,

Query Multiple Artists by using the amgId’s:

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>>> a = 'https://itunes.apple.com/lookup?amgArtistId=468749,5723'
>>> b = requests.get(a).json()
>>> print(json.dumps(b, indent=2))
{
  "resultCount": 2,
  "results": [
    {
      "artistType": "Artist",
      "amgArtistId": 468749,
      "wrapperType": "artist",
      "artistId": 909253,
      "artistLinkUrl": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/jack-johnson/909253?uo=4",
      "artistName": "Jack Johnson",
      "primaryGenreId": 21,
      "primaryGenreName": "Rock"
    },
    {
      "artistType": "Artist",
      "amgArtistId": 5723,
      "wrapperType": "artist",
      "artistId": 78500,
      "artistLinkUrl": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/u2/78500?uo=4",
      "artistName": "U2",
      "primaryGenreId": 21,
      "primaryGenreName": "Rock"
    }
  ]
}

If we Query the ArtistId from the previous response we will get the same artist:

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>>> a = 'https://itunes.apple.com/lookup?id=909253'
>>> b = requests.get(a).json()
>>> print(json.dumps(b, indent=2))
{
  "resultCount": 1,
  "results": [
    {
      "artistType": "Artist",
      "amgArtistId": 468749,
      "wrapperType": "artist",
      "artistId": 909253,
      "artistLinkUrl": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/jack-johnson/909253?uo=4",
      "artistName": "Jack Johnson",
      "primaryGenreId": 21,
      "primaryGenreName": "Rock"
    }
  ]
}

Only get the Artist Name:

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>> b
{u'resultCount': 1, u'results': [{u'artistType': u'Artist', u'amgArtistId': 468749, u'wrapperType': u'artist', u'artistId': 909253, u'artistLinkUrl': u'https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/jack-johnson/909253?uo=4', u'artistName': u'Jack Johnson', u'primaryGenreId': 21, u'primaryGenreName': u'Rock'}]}

>>> b['results'][0]['artistName']
u'Jack Johnson'

Printing out the Artist Name and Genre with String Formatting:

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>>> print('Artist: {artist_name}, Genre: {genre_name}'.format(artist_name=b['results'][0]['artistName'], genre_name=b['results'][0]['primaryGenreName']))
Artist: Jack Johnson, Genre: Rock