Developers · API | Before The Data

The Before The Data API.

Secure, read-only access to the curated artist intelligence that powers the BTD dashboard: artist identity, current platform metrics, song-level data, historical movement, spike signals, signing indicators, and freshness metadata.

This is a focused scouting shortlist, not a bulk catalog of every artist on streaming services. Fields are intentionally allowlisted so customer integrations receive useful product data without BTD operational records or customer activity data.

Base URL: https://beforethedata.com/api/v1

Machine-readable contract: https://beforethedata.com/openapi.json

Authentication

Send your organization API key as a Bearer token from your server:

# Server-side request
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
     https://beforethedata.com/api/v1/artists

Never put the key in browser, mobile-app, or public repository code. Keys are organization-scoped, revocable, and can be limited to specific data scopes.

Endpoints

GET /api/v1/health Service availability

GET /api/v1/artists List, search, filter, and paginate artists

Use name, added_since, tier, limit, and the opaque cursor. Add include=history when a list response needs historical metric points.

GET /api/v1/artists/{id} One artist with historical movement

GET /api/v1/added Artists added in the last 7 days

Change the window with days, from 1 to 90.

GET /api/v1/spikes Recent trusted movement signals

Use days, from 1 to 30. Responses identify the comparison window and shared BTD signal engine.

GET /api/v1/signings BTD signing status and P-line indicators

Signing indicators are contextual signals, not definitive proof of an artist relationship.

Response shape

Successful responses use one stable envelope. Artist records include identity, links, metrics, songs, freshness, provenance, and data-quality state. Editorial and signing notes only appear when the organization key includes those scopes.

{
  "data": [
    {
      "id": "artist-id",
      "name": "Artist Name",
      "metrics": { ... },
      "songs": [ ... ],
      "freshness": { ... },
      "provenance": { ... },
      "data_quality": { ... }
    }
  ],
  "meta": {
    "api_version": "v1",
    "count": 1,
    "next_cursor": null,
    "generated_at": "ISO-8601 timestamp",
    "request_id": "support reference"
  }
}

Error codes

Errors use { "error": { "code", "message", "request_id" } }. Keep the request ID when contacting support.

# Invalid query parameters
# Missing or invalid API key
# Key lacks the required scope
# Artist not found
# Minute or daily quota exceeded
# Authentication, usage controls, or data temporarily unavailable

Rate limits

Default first-customer allowance: 10 requests per minute and 1,000 requests per UTC day, enforced per organization. Polling newly added artists every 15 minutes uses 96 requests per day. The response includes current minute-limit headers:

X-RateLimit-Limit: 10
X-RateLimit-Remaining: 9
X-RateLimit-Reset: 1786206900

Getting access.

API access is not included with the standard Before The Data subscription. It's a separate tier, built for teams that need programmatic scouting intelligence integrated into internal tools, label CRMs, sync workflows, or scouting platforms.

To request a key or discuss enterprise pricing: chad@beforethedata.com

Request an API key.

Tell us about your use case. We'll get back to you within 48 hours.

Email Chad →

chad@beforethedata.com

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