QR Codes Hidden in Records and Music - Where Analog Meets Digital

Engraving QR Codes on Records - Digital Amid the Analog Revival

Sales of analog records (vinyl) have made a dramatic comeback since the start of the 2020s. According to statistics from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), record sales in the United States reached about 1.2 billion dollars in 2022, surpassing CD sales. In Japan, too, new specialist record stores have been opening one after another, and interest in analog records is growing, mainly among the younger generation.

Amid this wave of the analog revival, more and more artists are printing QR codes on record jackets and label sides (the label at the center of the disc). Scanning them gives access to digital content that physical media alone cannot provide, such as streaming of bonus tracks, music videos, documentaries of the recording sessions, and PDFs of the lyric sheet.

You pick up an analog record, drop the needle, and while listening to the music, scan the QR code on the jacket to watch a video message from the artist. This experience is a way of enjoying music unique to the present day, savoring the warmth of analog and the convenience of digital at the same time.

QR Codes at Live Venues - From Set Lists to Merchandise

The use of QR codes at live venues does not stop at electronic tickets. Systems are spreading in which QR codes are placed at various spots inside the venue, and scanning them gives access to that day's set list, the artist's profile, and a page for pre-ordering merchandise.

The link with merchandise sales (merchandising) in particular ties directly to artists' revenue. Merchandise booths after a show tend to have very long lines, but if you pre-order through a QR code, all you need to do is pick up your items at a dedicated lane. According to a survey by Pia Research Institute, the size of the live entertainment market reached 685.7 billion yen in 2023. Making merchandise sales more efficient is one of the challenges for the industry as a whole.

At festivals, there are also operations in which a QR code is printed on a wristband, and cashless payment, area entry management, and checking the timetable are all completed with a single QR code.

Making Song Credits Transparent

One of the long-standing challenges of the music industry is the opacity of song credits (lyricists, composers, arrangers, performers, engineers, and so on). On streaming services, song credit information is often not displayed sufficiently, making the contributions of behind-the-scenes creators hard to see.

In response to this problem, efforts have begun to attach QR codes to songs and albums so that scanning them displays complete credit information. Not only lyricists and composers but also mixing engineers, mastering engineers, session musicians, and even the names of studios: the names of everyone involved in making a song are recorded.

Spotify strengthened its song credit display feature in 2024, but there is a limit to the amount of information it can display. An external page reached via a QR code can provide, without limit, the detailed information fans want to know, such as behind-the-scenes stories of the recording, a list of the equipment used, and sources of inspiration, in addition to the credits.

Street Musicians and Tipping QR Codes

The spread of cashless payments is fundamentally changing the income structure of street musicians (buskers). In the past, tossing coins into a guitar case was the standard way of tipping, but now that more people do not carry cash, digital tipping via QR code is becoming the new standard.

It is a system in which a QR code is displayed on the street, and scanning it lets you send any amount through a payment app such as PayPay or LINE Pay. In the UK, a program has been run that distributes contactless payment terminals to buskers who perform in London Underground stations, and QR code payment is also spreading as part of this.

The advantage of tipping via QR code is that it lowers the psychological hurdle around the amount. There is no need to search for coins, and it is done with just a few taps on a smartphone, so the psychological barrier of "it is embarrassing to put in only 100 yen" disappears. On the other hand, because payment fees are deducted, there is also the challenge that the ratio of fees becomes high for small tips.

The Future of Music and QR Codes

The use of QR codes in the music industry plays the essential role of "bridging the physical and the digital." The record, a 19th-century technology, and the QR code, a technology from the end of the 20th century, merge in the hands of 21st-century listeners. This combination of technologies that transcends eras is opening up new possibilities for the music experience.

Going forward, the link between NFTs (non-fungible tokens) of songs and QR codes is also attracting attention. A system in which scanning the QR code that comes with a record grants ownership of limited digital art or unreleased recordings of that song as an NFT has the potential to further raise the value of records as collector's items.