Scrobbling / Last.fm support using Chromecast Audio

[peterpixel]

I would love to get a Chromecast Audio, but I really enjoy tracking my songs via Last.fm. Will the songs you listen to be scrobbled (i.e. submitted to last.fm) when you are streaming or casting via the Chromecast Audio? And if not, are there any workarounds to achieve this? 

I have searched online, but so far I haven't been able to find an answer. 

EDIT (14 Aug 2017): There seems to be a solution, discussed here: https://community.spotify.com/t5/Android/Scrobbling-Last-fm-support-using-Chromecast-Audio/m-p/18291...

[keef]

I'm no software engineer but shouldn't the scrobbles be coming from Spotify servers?

The user has authenticated onto the service via mobile app/chromecast, therefore the option could come under that users settings on the server.

I'm also an iPhone user so no workaround for me.

[iamseiko]

To anyone still looking for a solution, there is a project open on Github that solves this issue: https://github.com/erik/lastcast

You can run it on your laptop when you are streaming, or run it on a server. I set up the app on my raspberry pi so it is always running and whenever there are songs streaming on a Chromecast, scrobbles them to Last.FM. A much better solution than most of the workarounds posted o this thread.

[peterpixel]

 Does anyone know if Deezer supports something like spotify connect? I.e.: remote controlling one device via another? I know that chromecasting essentially does this, but only allows controlling a chromecast device.

[peterpixel]

Last.fm submission can be done in various ways. I think Spotify does it on the client side, i.e.: your local app submits your scrobbles to last.fm, much like you used to have a Foobar2000 last.fm plugin. 

The (better?) alternative would be to do it server side like you describe, the way that rdio used to do it and Deezer currently does. 

[yoshi5000]

If you can't find Spotify in the Simple Last.fm app, remember to enable the option for broadcasting what you are listening to in the Spotify app. (Forgot the exact setting name) I had almost given up hope for this issue when I found it and now it scrobbling works great with Chromcast and Simple last.fm scrobbler.

[Mstrcrz]

Testing your solution now on a desktop I keep on 24/7 - thank you!

[smawuascht]

As an iPhone User it looks like there's no workaround.

I tested with the Spotify app and the Spotify connect feature of the Chromecast Audio.


No scrobbling whatsoever 😞

[smawuascht]

Do you know if this can be installed on a Synology NAS?

Thanks a lot 🙂

[Joe]

Hey, sorry to go a little off topic but have you got spotify installed on your NAS? Could you post a link to somewhere I could find more information?

[nicolasaiz173]

But we still want a native solution from Spotify. Without external apps or tools.

[Bramvh]

This Lastcast option actually works amazingly well once you got it installed, I tested this on a windows machine. The install is a bit more tricky than the linux/macOs setup because of some possible Visual C++ tooling you have to install first. 

I was planning on buying a raspberry pi so this will be a nice first test run 😉

If anyone is having problems with this install on windows, feel feel to hit me up!

[jonikse]

@Bramvh, good for you man making it work with Windows. How this is relevant for main topic, I fail to comprehend. You can simply use Spotify Windows app to achieve the same.

Main problem with solutions provided so far is that you need to have some additional HW running (Android/PC) to scrobble (and no solution for iOS). This is inconvenient at least and technically unecessary as Spotify should be able to scrobble from server side as mentioned above many times.

[Bramvh]

@jonikse this is merely a temporary solution for the people who are willing to go through the effort, what's wrong with providing a (little) more tedious workaround for a problem that doesn't seem to be getting fxed soon? The guy who wrote this is actually a mac guy and provided clear documentation for this setup on mac and linux

I would love to get your detailed instruction on how you can achieve the same result with the Spotify windows app... pls I insist 🙂

We all agree that the scrobbling should happen server side yes, but it's another company doing the scrobling so it makes sense that it hasn't happend yet

[jonikse]

@bramvh, my bad. I'm using win desktop client mainly with direct output to my sound system, therefore I got it mixed a bit. That said, technically, you can not even start spotify on chromecast audio from PC 🙂 There is of course workaround  but... its already double workaround 🙂  Cheers!

[scporse]

EDIT: This setup doesn't work, after all 😞

The most recent solution that has been proposed in this thread, to get last.fm scrobbling to work when casting from an Android device, seems not to work.

What does look to be working, however, is the following procedure:

- Disable scrobbling in the Spotify app itself and make sure "Device broadcast status" is enabled

- Install the official Last.fm app which goes by the name "Last.fm" and set it up

Be aware that, although the configuration as decribed above should actually work, it might be a while before your scrobbles are actually submitted to last.fm.

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/lastfm/comments/5jmbr6/scrobbling_while_using_spotify_via_chromecast/

[Re-Offender]

Running the official Last.fm app should be enough for scrobbling to work via Chromecast. No need to disable scrobbling in the Spotify app.

[scporse]

I don't see why you would want scrobbling enabled both in the Spotify app and the official last.fm app, as to me that seems to be asking for problems.

I tested the solution you proposed just recently and couldn't get it to work reliably at all. Best case scenario, the first track i started playing would be scrobbled and then all the rest would not.

[peterpixel]

I recently stumbled across a very obvious solution to this problem:

https://spotifyscrobbler.com

The solution is very elegant: the web-app grabs your current playing song via the Spotify API and subsequently submits them to Last.fm (also via the Last.fm API). Songs that are played via the Desktop / Android / iOS apps are NOT scrobbled. 

I've tested it out, it works. However, there seems to be an issue with song duplication, as discussed in this reddit thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/lastfm/comments/6eq183/scrobbler_for_amazon_echo_and_spotify_connect/

These seem to be resolved in this beta project (by the same dev): listen.nz

Since Spotify most likely will not bother with back-end last.fm integration anytime soon (as discussed here), this points to a very obvious solution to universal scrobbling from any device: simply connect the two API's (last.fm and Spotify), which is what the developer has done. 

[Bramvh]

It seems like the mobile last.fm app is indeed the best solution for now. I've been testing this as well so let me elaborate my findings for the people who want some more insight into the process

Scrobbling to Last.fm can happen with the official vendors' tools in 2 ways:

1) Spotify desktop and mobile app submits information to lastfm if scrobbling is enabled in the settings

2) Lastfm mobile app listens to Spotify mobile app and pulls information if 'Device broadcast status' is enable in the settings

As we all know, the Spotify apps built in in the Google Cast devices (Chromecast, Gooogle Home etc) are not able to let scrobbling happen. This means you should let the mobile Lastfm app do it when playing on these devices, this is simply done by making sure your phone is connected and the Spotify app playback is synchronised (i.e.'listening'), that way the Lastfm app will pick it up. This only works if you have actually clicked 'continue' on the mobile prompt asking you where to play the music

When spotify is in this 'listening' mode (i.e. not playing but showing whats playing where) the built-in scrobbler will not be used even if its enabled so it's ok to have both scrobbling methods activated.

FYI: double scrobbles

Following this setup, this is the reason why people have double scrobbles sometimes

-if you listen on your laptop: Spotify itself is able to do scrobbling + if your mobile app is connected, the Lastfm app will as well, resulting in double scrobbles

- if you listen on your phone: Spotify itself is able to do scrobbling + the Lastfm app, if enabled, will as well, resulting in double scrobbles

In short:

When listening on cast devices, make sure your phone is connected via wifi and let the mobile last.fm app do the scrobbling. It's important that you have verified on your phone that spotify is playing on another device.

On the other hand, if you are listening to the mobile or desktop app, disable all native (built-in) spotify scrobbling if you want to avoid double scrobbles, or preferably disconnect your phone so only the native scrobbling is active.

This is what I have tested at home, for the aformentioned apps on Windows and Android. I haven't tested this for the Spotify Web player.

[hans-jürgen · Accepted solution]

It should work with the new Spotify Scrobbling (Beta) method by Last.fm which is account-related, not app-related and can be enabled in your Applications settings. See my posting here:

https://community.spotify.com/t5/Other-Partners-Web-Player-etc/Spotify-Scrobbling-Beta-Last-fm-Suppo...

And also the official announcement thread on the Last.fm support forum:

https://getsatisfaction.com/lastfm/topics/spotify-scrobbling-beta