How to make a Spotify QR code for a song or playlist

How to make a Spotify QR code

1. Open Spotify on your phone or computer and go to the song, album, playlist, artist or podcast.
2. Tap the three dots (or right-click on a computer), choose Share, then Copy link.
3. Optional: the link may end with ?si= followed by a string of characters. You can delete that part; it only records who shared the link, and the link still works without it.
4. Open a QR code generator, choose the Link type and paste the link.
5. Style it with your colours, a frame and a label such as "Scan to play".
6. Download PNG for sharing online, or SVG or PDF for print, and test it with an iPhone and an Android phone.

Spotify Codes vs QR codes

Spotify has its own scannable format called Spotify Codes: a row of bars shaped like a sound wave, shown with the cover art in the app. They look good, but they only work inside the Spotify app. Someone has to open Spotify, go to Search, tap the camera icon and scan. A normal phone camera sees them as a picture.

A QR code made from a Spotify link works with any camera on any phone. If the person has Spotify installed, the link opens in the app; if not, it opens the Spotify web player or page in their browser. That makes a QR code the safer choice for anything printed for the public.

• Use a Spotify Code for Spotify fans, on social posts, merch or album art where the look matters and your audience already uses the app.
• Use a QR code for posters, gig flyers, wedding tables, gifts and anywhere you cannot be sure people have Spotify.

Apple Music and other music QR codes

The same method works for every music service, because each one has a share link. A music QR code generator only needs that link.

• Apple Music: tap the three dots on a song, album or playlist, choose Share, then Copy. The link starts music.apple.com.
• YouTube Music: tap the three dots, choose Share and copy the link.
• SoundCloud, Deezer, Tidal and Amazon Music all have a Share option with Copy link in the same menu.
• Bandcamp and your own website: copy the address from the browser bar.

One code for every music app

A QR code holds one link, so a Spotify code sends Apple Music users to Spotify's web player. For a single or album release where fans use different services, point the code at a page that lists every platform instead.

That can be a page on your own website with a button for each service, or a multi-platform music link page. A page you control is the better long-term choice: you can add new platforms or swap the featured track later without reprinting, because the QR code keeps pointing at the same page.

Ideas for song and playlist QR codes

For printed gifts, a framed song print or a card, add the song title and artist in text beside the code. It tells people what they are about to hear, and it still means something years later if the link ever stops working.

• A song QR code inside a birthday or anniversary card, pointing at "our song".
• A wedding playlist on the tables, so guests can add requests or play it on the drive home.
• Gig posters and flyers that link to a band's latest release.
• A shop or café playlist on the counter for customers who ask what is playing.
• Merch, vinyl sleeves and CD inserts that link to the digital version.
• A podcast episode on a conference slide or leaflet.

Getting the code right

Check that the playlist is public if you want everyone to see it, and scan the code with a phone that is not logged in to your Spotify account. A playlist that opens for you may show an error for others.

Printed codes should be at least 2 cm wide on cards and larger on posters. Album artwork makes a tempting background, but a QR code needs strong contrast to scan, so put it on a plain light panel next to the artwork rather than on top of it. If you add a logo, keep it small; the generator raises error correction automatically so the code still scans, and it test-scans your design as you edit.

The code itself is static. It holds the Spotify link directly, so it will not expire. If Spotify removes the track or you delete the playlist, the code will open an empty page, so point long-lived print at something you will keep.