This RFID Jukebox Simplifies Music Selection

Modern music streaming services and apps are objectively better than physical media in every way—with the possible exception of sound quality. But those of us who grew up with physical media often find ourselves feeling nostalgic for the experience of actually “putting on” an album. Our smartphones might give us access to virtually every song ever made at a very low cost, but they can’t provide the tactile sensation of laying a needle on vinyl or even sliding a cassette into a tape player. Fortunately, redditor Billythekido’s “RFID Jukebox for Grown-Ups” merges that sensation with modern convenience.

This RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) music player is designed for two things: simplicity and tactility. Instead of selecting songs from a smartphone app, the user simply places an RFID tag into the jukebox. Each of those tags is printed with an album’s artwork, and will automatically play the corresponding album. The only controls are a power button, a skip song button, volume buttons, and two potentiometers for adjusting the brightness and contrast of the LCD screen. Other than those, the only other visible components are the speaker itself and the small LCD screen.

This jukebox was built around a Raspberry Pi Zero W, which has all of the music stored locally on a micro SD card. The album tags are read by a Mifare RC522 RFID reader module. A Python script is used to play the album that a tag is connected to. Theoretically, it could play anything, such as a playlist or genre. The audio output is handled by an Adafruit I2S 3W Class D mono amplifier through a single small speaker. That likely wouldn’t satisfy audiophiles, but it gets the job done. Finally, all of the components are housed within a simple 3D-printed enclosure. It may not be packed full of features, but the RFID Jukebox for Grown-Ups definitely succeeds in being simple to use.