Why I Added a Now Playing Feature to My Portfolio

As a developer who loves music, I wanted to showcase my personality beyond just code and projects. Adding a "Now Playing" feature to my portfolio was the perfect way to do this.

The Inspiration

I was browsing through developer portfolios and noticed how some included personal touches like favorite quotes, hobbies, or current activities. Music has always been a big part of my life - whether I'm coding, debugging, or just relaxing. Why not share what I'm listening to in real-time?

Technical Implementation

The implementation involved several components:

Last.fm Integration

Used Last.fm's Web API to fetch recent tracks and current playback status
Implemented API key authentication for secure data access
Created a backend API route to handle Last.fm data securely

YouTube Search Integration

Added YouTube search scraping to fetch track thumbnails and metadata
Implemented HTML parsing to extract video information from search results
Created a unified interface for track data enrichment

Real-time Updates

Implemented polling mechanism to check for currently playing tracks
Added fallback to most recent track when not actively playing
Created efficient caching to minimize API calls

Challenges Faced

API Rate Limits: Last.fm's API has rate limits, so I implemented caching and efficient polling strategies.
Web Scraping Reliability: YouTube search results parsing can break with layout changes, requiring robust error handling and fallbacks.
Data Consistency: Ensuring track information matches between Last.fm and YouTube sources, with proper fallbacks when data is unavailable.
Privacy Considerations: Handling music listening data responsibly without exposing sensitive user information.

The Result

The "Now Playing" feature adds a dynamic, personal touch to my portfolio. Visitors can see what music I'm currently enjoying, which helps break the ice and shows I'm more than just a developer - I'm a person with interests and personality.

It also serves as a technical showcase of my ability to integrate multiple APIs, handle real-time data, and create smooth user experiences.

Future Enhancements

I'm planning to add:

Integration with official music platform APIs (Spotify, Apple Music)
Music history timeline display
Social sharing features for currently playing tracks
Enhanced metadata fetching from multiple sources
Better error handling and offline fallbacks

This feature not only makes my portfolio more engaging but also demonstrates my passion for both technology and music.