While they had a bit of a shaky start when they came out, QR codes have now become a popular tool for sharing content and for promoting pages or products online.
The advantages of QR codes are that they’re very portable, they’re unique, and they can be used just about anywhere—they can be scanned with a smartphone camera to quickly get anyone to a specific page on the web.
Bandzoogle has recently released QR code share options in our Music, Store, Blog, and Calendar features to help our members promote their music more broadly. And nowhere can QR codes be used more effectively than in tandem with your live events.
Here are five ways you can use QR codes to elevate your live shows:
1. Put QR codes on a poster
The most obvious choice for a QR code placement is to have one ready to scan on a show poster. These codes can link to event details that you’ve added to a tour calendar on your website. Bandzoogle makes this easy by automatically generating QR codes for events added through Calendar features on your website.
When you have your QR code generated for your event, include that graphic in an obvious place on your poster. Add the QR code graphic to one of the poster corners, or near the poster header, and make it big enough for people to easily scan with their phone camera.
2. Add free download QR codes to your tickets
Free music downloads are one of the best and easiest ways to incentivize other purchases that musicians rely on, and that applies to show tickets!
If you are providing printed tickets for attendees, consider adding a QR code to that ticket, for attendees to scan and receive a free download of a track or album. Bandzoogle provides QR Codes for individual tracks and full albums within the ‘share’ settings, so it’s easy to find and use these options.
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3. Offer a QR code set list menu
Have you ever seen a live show and said to yourself ‘I love this song they’re playing’, but after the show can’t remember the track name to buy or download it later? For your next show, try making a set list ‘QR code menu’ to guarantee that anyone in the audience who falls in love with a song in your set can find it later on.
Restaurants commonly do this now for their food menus. You can do it for your music, too: put out a printed set list that includes QR codes for each track you’re playing that night, making it easy for fans to scan your track codes so they can keep hearing your music after the show’s over.
Set lists also make a nice memento for a show. There’s almost always someone who wants a signed setlist—they’re great for fan engagement after an event, they’re cheap to print, and easy to hand out at the door or from a merch table.
4. Include QR codes on your merch
QR codes can be part of a brand itself, so don’t forget to incorporate these into the merch items you sell.
Print QR codes on tags and apply them to your clothing and merch items. You can direct visitors to your store page, a mailing list signup form, or a free download they can claim with their purchase.
If you’re really creative, incorporate a download code in your merch designs and print that code on the merch itself—that’s the ultimate move in making a track shareable between fans. Anyone wearing your band shirt is a free walking billboard for your music, so don’t miss the opportunity for your fans to promote you just by looking great.
QR codes are effective for things like physical music packages too. It’s easy to provide free downloads of digital music through QR code as a ‘thank you’ for someone shelling out money for that pricier vinyl purchase. (And it means they can hear your music when they’re away from a record player, too!)
5. Distribute QR Stickers
While these are often considered merch items, stickers can often be a great way to passively promote your music. I’m sure we’ve all been to music venues where the bar fridges are covered in band stickers, or bars with live music where the bathroom stalls and mirrors are basically a giant billboard for all the artists that played that room before.
You would probably be pretty amazed at how many people have looked at a sticker in a scenario like this. So make sure that when you hand out stickers to the venue owner / bartender, (or when you’re being a rock and roll vandal putting stickers on the green room mirror) that your stickers display a QR code for a free download.
Of course if you sell stickers with your merch that’s great too—get your fans to stick these up and proudly spread the word for you.
You don’t have to feel limited to these uses either! As a digital tool intended to help musicians share their music to an even further reach, QR codes can help unleash many creative ways to spread the love and continue building your fanbase through music.
