Query Top Played Tracks Globally And By Country
Last updated: July 2, 2026
Quick Overview
The question asks the candidate to demonstrate their ability to query and manipulate data to retrieve the top played tracks both globally and by specific countries using SQL or Python.
Spotify
July 2, 20268
0
155 solved
The question asks the candidate to demonstrate their ability to query and manipulate data to retrieve the top played tracks both globally and by specific countries using SQL or Python.
This question is typically asked during the technical screen to evaluate a candidate's proficiency in data manipulation and querying. Since Spotify relies heavily on data to drive decisions and improve user experience, the interviewer is looking for a candidate who can effectively extract meaningful insights from large datasets. The ability to write efficient queries and understand data structures is crucial for a Machine Learning Engineer in this role.
What the Interviewer Expects
- Demonstrates understanding of SQL syntax and functions for querying data.
- Can explain how to filter and aggregate data to find top tracks.
- Shows familiarity with data structures relevant to music streaming.
- Provides a clear example of how to implement the query in Python if applicable.
- Discusses potential performance considerations for large datasets.
Key Topics to Cover
How to Approach This
- Clarify the schema and expected output format before writing queries.
- Use CTEs (WITH clauses) to break complex queries into readable steps.
- Consider window functions (ROW_NUMBER, RANK, LAG, LEAD) for ranking and sequential analysis.
- Watch for NULLs, duplicates, and edge cases in JOINs and GROUP BY.
- For pandas, prefer vectorized operations over row-by-row iteration.
Possible Follow-up Questions
- How would you optimize this query for large datasets?
- Can you explain how you would handle missing data in your analysis?
- What additional metrics might you consider when analyzing track popularity?
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Practice SQL ProblemsSample Answer
Approach
To query the top played tracks globally and by country, I would start by understanding the data schema. Typically, there would be a table containing track information with fields like track_id, `cou...
SQL Query
For the SQL part, I would write a query like this:
SELECT track_id, SUM(play_count) AS total_plays
FROM plays
GROUP BY track_id
ORDER BY total_plays DESC
LIMIT 10;
This query retrieves th...
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