May 2017: sharing a track, album or playlist
On 9 May 2017, Spotify Japan published a release presenting Spotify Codes as a new way to share and find music. It described a code associated with content, displayed beneath its artwork, which could be passed on as an image.
The journey described used Spotify: one person displayed the code while the other used the camera from the app’s search area or selected a saved image. This milestone documents the Japanese announcement in May 2017; it does not establish the first day of availability in every country.
Recognising the symbol and choosing the right reader
The current Spotify Codes FAQ calls this symbol a “QR-like” scannable tag and states that it is read with Spotify’s built-in scanner. The service’s help describes this journey separately from sharing a link.
A similar use does not guarantee reader compatibility. Qurl creates and reads QR codes; it neither generates nor decodes Spotify Codes. If you have that symbol in front of you, following Spotify’s documented journey is more useful than repeatedly trying a QR reader.
For a standard QR code in an image, the Qurl reader lets you inspect the decoded content. The guide to QR code operation then explains the difference between reading data and triggering an action.
A Spotify Code, a link QR code, an audio file
Before designing a music-related medium, separate three elements:
- The Spotify Code
- It gives access to content within Spotify’s environment, using the reader provided by that service.
- The QR code containing a link
- It contains a chosen address, such as an introduction page or a sharing link. The journey after opening depends on that destination.
- The audio file
- It remains separate content. The code alone is not a copy of the music or a guarantee of offline listening.
To prepare a link QR code, the Qurl generator encodes the address you provide. It does not import music, create a playlist or remove the destination service’s access conditions.
A fictional music gathering, two aims
Imagine a gathering called “Les Écoutes du Canal”. The team wants to introduce a playlist and explain the programme for the next session. These are two different destinations.
To find the playlist in Spotify, it can choose the Spotify Codes journey while checking the service’s rules. To present the time, venue address and a contact, it instead prepares a public page and a QR code containing its link. The page remains useful to people who do not want to open Spotify.
Each symbol gets an explicit caption: “Scan in Spotify” or “Open the programme”. A readable address complements the public link. The guide to writing a caption and the guide to alternatives to scanning help prepare these signposts. The name, gathering and playlist in this example are fictional.
What this milestone changes when preparing a medium
The Spotify example brings back a simple question: which app should the audience use to read the code? Ask it before choosing the symbol’s form, then check the intended content and the journey actually offered. No result in a reader can be due to the expected format, not just image quality.
For a printed QR code that will not scan, Qurl’s reading diagnosis helps isolate the problem. The 2020 Chrome retrospective shows sharing an address through a standard QR code: another choice of symbol and destination.