Raspberry Pi Button-Controlled YouTube Music Player

Here's what we're going to get.

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This article continues from the previous post about building a
push‑button panel. The button hardware is already prepared.

Required Hardware

  • Raspberry Pi (any model)
  • Internet connection
  • Debian-based OS (tested with the latest Raspbian)
  • Female header wires for GPIO connections
  • Power adapter capable of 2A or higher
  • AUX cable
  • USB-powered speakers

Interfacing the Button Panel

The button panel was previously designed with hardware debouncing
circuits.
Each button has its own debouncing circuit to eliminate noise from
tactile switches.

Connection to the Raspberry Pi is straightforward.

Power

  • VCC → Raspberry Pi 3.3V
  • GND → Raspberry Pi Ground

Signal Lines

Each button connects to a GPIO input pin.

  • BTN1
  • BTN2
  • BTN3
  • BTN4
  • BTN5
  • BTN6

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Software

This implementation extends the structure introduced in the article:

Running Asynchronous Jobs with Push Buttons.

Dependencies

Ensure the following tools are installed and updated.

youtube-dl

youtube-dl is preinstalled on Raspbian but should be updated.

MPV Player

MPV is used for playback.

Reasons:

  • Very lightweight
  • Clean command line interface
  • Supports external control through FIFO pipes

The system communicates with MPV through a Linux FIFO file.

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Implementation Overview

Python is used in this project, but any language capable of handling
GPIO interrupts and process control would work.

Button Behavior

Button Action

BTN1 Play Playlist 1
BTN2 Play Playlist 2
BTN3 Play Playlist 3
BTN1--3 (while playing) Stop playback
BTN4 Skip to next song
BTN5 Toggle Play/Pause
BTN6 Unused

Python Implementation

Imports

import RPi.GPIO as GPIO
import time
import subprocess
import signal
import os
import errno

GPIO Configuration

Disable warnings and select BCM pin numbering.

GPIO.setwarnings(False)
GPIO.setmode(GPIO.BCM)

Button Pin Mapping

BTN_1 = 18
BTN_2 = 17
BTN_3 = 27
BTN_4 = 23
BTN_5 = 22

Configuration Variables

FIFO_FILE_PATH = "/home/pi/Desktop/fifo"

YOUTUBE_PLAYLIST_1_URL = "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=xxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
YOUTUBE_PLAYLIST_2_URL = "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=xxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
YOUTUBE_PLAYLIST_3_URL = "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=xxxxxxxxxxxxxx"

ENABLE_VIDEO = False
ENABLE_SHUFFLE = True

LOG_FILE_PATH = "/home/pi/Desktop/log.txt"

GPIO Input Setup

GPIO.setup(BTN_1, GPIO.IN)
GPIO.setup(BTN_2, GPIO.IN)
GPIO.setup(BTN_3, GPIO.IN)
GPIO.setup(BTN_4, GPIO.IN)
GPIO.setup(BTN_5, GPIO.IN)
GPIO.setup(BTN_6, GPIO.IN)

MPV Communication (FIFO)

A FIFO file is used to send commands to MPV.

If the file exists from a previous execution, it must be removed first.

silentremove(FIFO_FILE_PATH)
subprocess.Popen(["mkfifo", FIFO_FILE_PATH])

Command Construction

get_mpv_run_command() generates the command used to start MPV.

Playlist Execution

exec_playlist() launches MPV with the playlist URL.

Button Callbacks

  • BTN1--BTN3 → start playlist playback
  • BTN4 → write playlist-next command to FIFO
  • BTN5 → write cycle pause command to FIFO

Full MPV command list:

https://mpv.io/manual/master/#list-of-input-commands

Main Program Loop

The system relies on GPIO interrupt callbacks.

The main program only needs an infinite loop.

while True:
    time.sleep(1)

The program exits on KeyboardInterrupt (Ctrl+C) and terminates the
MPV process.

All logic resides in a single Python module.

main.py

The full implementation is available on GitHub.

Deployment

The script should run automatically at system startup.

Two common options:

  • Cron jobs
  • Desktop autostart

This implementation uses Desktop autostart.

Step 1 --- Create Autostart Directory

mkdir /home/pi/.config/autostart

Step 2 --- Create Desktop Entry

nano /home/pi/.config/autostart/main.py.desktop

Step 3 --- Add Configuration

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Exec=/usr/bin/python /home/pi/main.py

Save and exit.

The program will now run automatically at boot.

Implementation Notes

Audio Noise

Connecting speakers directly to the Raspberry Pi 3.5mm audio jack
produced noticeable noise.

Attempts to resolve the issue:

  • Driver updates
  • Switching media players

The issue persisted.

Solution:

Use an external USB audio adapter.

This removed the noise and improved audio quality.

Button Debouncing

The system uses both hardware and software debouncing.

Hardware:

  • RC filtering
  • Schmitt trigger gates

Software:

bounce_time = 100ms

Adjust this value depending on the type of push buttons used.

YouTube Playlist Visibility

MPV can only access public playlists.

Ensure the playlist privacy setting is:

Public

Otherwise MPV cannot retrieve the playlist content.

Conclusion

This project demonstrates a simple hardware interface for controlling
streaming music with physical buttons.

The system is easily customizable.

Possible extensions:

  • Volume control buttons
  • Additional playlists
  • OLED display for track info
  • Bluetooth audio output

The button interface can control any software task supported by the
Raspberry Pi.