Which code where
| Job | Code type | Static or dynamic | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Streaming and latest release | URL | Dynamic | Merch table, posters, stage front |
| Mailing list | URL | Dynamic | Set list sheet, merch table, flyers |
| Tips | URL | Dynamic | Tip jar, merch table |
| Tonight’s set list | URL | Dynamic | Stage front, merch table |
| Merch shop | URL | Dynamic | Merch table when it is unstaffed, posters |
| Gig dates | Event or URL | Dynamic | Flyers, posters |
The merch table
The merch table is the one place at a gig where a fan is standing still, has just heard you, has their phone out and wants something. Two codes on a tent card do the work: “Listen” and “Mailing list”. The listen code opens a page with every streaming service, so the fan picks theirs. Do not send them to one service; the Spotify type page covers when a direct code is right. Make it dynamic and repoint it each time you release something.
A third code for the merch shop covers the moment the table is unstaffed or someone wants a size you have run out of.
The set list and the mailing list
A set-list code on the stage front and the merch table opens tonight’s songs with a link to each one. Fans who liked the third song find it without asking. It is dynamic and gets repointed before each gig, which takes a minute in the van.
The mailing list is the code that matters in five years. Platforms come and go and their algorithms decide who sees your posts; an email list is yours. One field, email, and a promise of what they get. Put the code on the set-list sheet, the merch table, the back of every flyer and the last slide if you use a screen.
The tip page
For buskers, pub gigs and open mics, the tip code has replaced the coins. It goes on the tip jar and the merch table and points at your own tips page, with your name and photo on the page so a fan sees they have the right place. Level Q so you can put your logo in the centre; a design with your name in it is harder to swap for a fake. The logo guide shows how much of the code a logo can safely cover.
Getting the poster right
Venues are dark, walls are painted black and the lighting is red. Codes that would scan anywhere else fail here.
- Contrast: black on white, always. A code in your album’s colours will not scan under a red gel. Give the white area behind the code a proper margin. The colour guide has the numbers.
- Poster sizes: A3 read from 1 m needs 10 cm. A4 needs 7 cm. Flyers held in the hand, 2.5 cm. Check with the size calculator.
- Matte paper. Gloss under a spotlight is a mirror.
- Stage-front codes: read from 3 m or more by someone at the barrier, so 30 cm, and lit by something white.
- Tent cards on the merch table: 4 cm, laminated, because beer.
- One word each: “Listen”, “Mailing list”, “Tips”.
Do this
A 10 cm level M black-on-white code on a matte A3 poster with a clear white margin, 'Listen' beneath, pointing at a dynamic link to a page listing every streaming service.
Not this
A 3 cm code in the album's dark red on a glossy black poster, in the bottom corner under a red gel, pointing at one streaming service that half the room does not use.
In practice
Stick one poster to the venue wall at soundcheck and scan it from where the crowd will stand, with the stage lights on. If it does not read, swap the poster for the one with the bigger code. Carry both.
Security note
A tip code is money, so it is the one someone might swap. Keep it on your own table, laminated rather than a sticker, with your name and logo in the design. Point it at a page you control, never straight at a payment app handle. Tell fans from the mic what the page looks like.
Try it yourself
Enter the distance a fan stands from the poster and the calculator gives the minimum code width. Make the listen code dynamic in QR Studio so every poster points at the newest release.