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How to Make Discord Music Bot Python

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Discord is a popular chat application commonly used by gamers. Many people love to play music while gaming, and Discord bots can be used to make this possible. A Discord music bot is a bot that can play music in a Discord server/channel. Python is one of the popular programming languages used to create these bots. In this blog post, we will explain how to make a Discord music bot using Python.

Video Tutorial:

What’s Needed

Before we start, you need to make sure you have the following things:

  • A Discord account and a Discord server/channel
  • Basic knowledge of Python programming language
  • A text editor, such as Sublime Text, Atom, or PyCharm
  • Audio files you want to play on your music bot
  • The discord.py and the FFmpeg-Python library installed on your system

What Should I Pay Attention to?

When developing a Discord music bot, there are a few things to consider:

  • Most Discord music bots use YouTube to search and play music. However, using YouTube’s API violates their terms of service, and you run the risk of getting banned. Therefore, it is recommended to use an alternative source of music, such as SoundCloud or Bandcamp.
  • Keep in mind that playing copyrighted music without permission is illegal. Therefore, it is important to only use music that you have the rights to use.
  • Ensure that your bot has permissions to play, pause, and skip songs in the voice channel.
  • Take care when testing your bot, as it can be annoying to other members in the voice channel if the bot is constantly playing or skipping music.
  • Make sure you follow Discord’s terms of service when creating your bot.

Method 1: Setting Up the Bot

Before we can start coding, we need to create and set up a bot account. Follow the steps below to create a bot account and invite it to your Discord server:

  1. Go to the Discord Developer Portal and log in with your Discord account.
  2. Create a new application by clicking on the New Application button. Give your application a name and click on Create.
  3. Click on the Bot tab in the left-hand menu and click on the Add Bot button. Confirm the pop-up message by clicking on Yes, do it!.
  4. Under the Bot section, you will find the token for your bot. Copy this token and keep it safe. You will need it later in your code.
  5. Click on the OAuth2 tab in the left-hand menu and select the bot scope. Then, select the permissions your bot needs, such as Send Messages, Read Message History, Connect, and Speak.
  6. Copy the generated link and open it in your browser. Select the server/channel where you want to invite your bot and click on the Authorize button.

Method 2: Installing Required Libraries

To create our Discord music bot, we need to install the discord.py and FFmpeg-Python libraries. The discord.py library allows us to interact with the Discord API, while the FFmpeg-Python library is required to play audio files. To install these libraries, you can use pip, the package installer for Python. Follow the steps below to install the required libraries:

  1. Open your terminal or command prompt.
  2. Type pip install discord.py and hit Enter. Wait for the installation to complete.
  3. Type pip install ffmpeg-python and hit Enter. Wait for the installation to complete.

Method 3: Setting Up a Voice Client

To play music in a voice channel, we need to connect to the voice channel first. Discord.py provides a VoiceClient class to handle voice connections. Follow the steps below to set up a voice client:

  1. Import the following modules at the top of your Python file:

    import discord
    from discord.ext import commands
    import asyncio
    import ffmpeg

  2. Create an instance of the Discord client by typing:

    client = commands.Bot(command_prefix='!')

  3. Create a function to handle voice connections:

    async def connect(ctx):
    channel = ctx.author.voice.channel
    await channel.connect()

  4. Create another function to handle disconnections:

    async def disconnect(ctx):
    await ctx.voice_client.disconnect()

  5. Add the functions to the client using the decorators:

    @client.command()
    async def join(ctx):
    await connect(ctx)

    @client.command()
    async def leave(ctx):
    await disconnect(ctx)

  6. Run the client by typing:

    client.run('YOUR_BOT_TOKEN')

    Replace YOUR_BOT_TOKEN with the token you copied earlier.

  7. You can now use the commands !join and !leave to connect and disconnect the bot from a voice channel.

Method 4: Playing Music

To play music in a voice channel, we need to download and decode audio files and send them to the voice client. Discord.py provides a VoiceClient.play() method to handle playing audio. Follow the steps below to play music:

  1. Create a function to download and decode an audio file:

    def play_song(ctx, url):
    with open('file.mp3', 'wb') as f:
    f.write(requests.get(url).content)
    source = ffmpeg.input('file.mp3')
    audio = source.audio
    audio = ffmpeg.filter(audio, 'volume', volume=0.4)
    audio = ffmpeg.filter(audio, 'aecho')
    audio.export('file_processed.mp3', format='mp3')
    voice_client = ctx.voice_client
    audio_source = discord.FFmpegPCMAudio('file_processed.mp3')
    if not voice_client.is_playing():
    voice_client.play(audio_source, after=lambda e: print('Player error: %s' % e) if e else None)

  2. Create a command to play a song:

    @client.command()
    async def play(ctx, url):
    await play_song(ctx, url)

  3. Test the bot by typing !join to connect the bot to a voice channel and !play [URL] to start playing music. Replace [URL] with the URL of the audio file you want to play.

Why Can’t I Play Music on My Bot?

There are several reasons why your bot might not be playing music:

  1. The bot is not connected to a voice channel. Use the !join command to connect the bot to a voice channel.
  2. The bot doesn’t have the necessary permissions to play music in the voice channel. Check that the bot has the necessary permissions, such as Connect, Speak, and Play.
  3. The audio file is not supported by Discord. Discord only supports certain audio formats, such as MP3, WAV, and OGG. Convert the audio file to a supported format and try again.
  4. The audio file is too long. Discord has a maximum length of 2 hours for audio files. If the audio file is longer than 2 hours, it will not play.
  5. The bot is not running. Make sure that the bot is running by running the command !play.

Suggestions

  • Try to create a queue system to play multiple songs in a row.
  • Use different music services for your bot, like Spotify or Apple Music.
  • Check out Discord.py’s documentation for more advanced features.

FAQs

Q: How do I deploy my Discord music bot?

A: There are many ways to deploy your Discord music bot, such as using a cloud service like AWS or Heroku, or running it locally on a Raspberry Pi. Make sure to follow the platform’s instructions on how to deploy a Python application.

Q: How do I stop the bot from playing music?

A: You can stop the bot from playing music by disconnecting it from the voice channel using the !leave command.

Q: How can I add a feature to my bot?

A: To add a feature to your bot, you need to write the required Python code and add it to your bot’s source code. You can also use third-party libraries or APIs to add more functionality.

Q: How many audio files can I play at once with my bot?

A: Discord allows only one audio file to play at the same time per channel.

Q: Why is my bot lagging?

A: Your bot might be lagging if the audio file is too large or if there are other processes running on your computer that are taking up resources. Try reducing the audio file size or restarting your computer to free up resources.

Conclusion

In this blog post, we have explained how to make a Discord music bot using Python. We have covered the necessary steps to create and set up a bot account, install required libraries, set up a voice client, and play music. We have also provided some suggestions and answered some frequently asked questions. With this guide, you should be able to create your own Discord music bot and share it with your friends and fellow gamers.