Spotify's Share menu produces a link for any playlist, album, track or artist page, and that link is all a QR code needs. Paste it into MakeQR and the code renders in the browser as you type, ready to print on a poster, a wedding table card, a record sleeve or a shop counter.
Scanning it opens the item in the Spotify app, or in the web player when the phone has no app installed. Bands use one on gig flyers and merch, cafes print an in-house playlist by the till, and a birthday mix works just as well on a card. The code is free, made entirely in the browser, and a static one never expires.
From Spotify share link to printed code
Open what you want to share
In Spotify, go to the playlist, album, track, artist or podcast. For your own playlist, check that it is visible to others; a private playlist may not open for people who scan.
Copy the link
Tap the three dots, choose Share and pick the copy link option. On desktop, right-click the item and use Share there. The link starts with open.spotify.com.
Paste it into the web address field
Use the web address field rather than the Spotify username shortcut, which builds a link to a user profile. You can delete everything from the question mark onward: the ?si= part only records who shared it and makes the code denser.
Scan it with and without Spotify
Test from your own phone, then from one that is logged out, to see what a stranger sees. Free-tier listeners may be limited to shuffle on some playlists; that is Spotify's rule, not the code's.
Spotify QR code or a Spotify Code
Spotify has its own scannable format, the Spotify Code: a sound-wave bar made at spotifycodes.com and read with the camera icon in the Search tab of the Spotify app. Spotify users recognize it instantly.
A standard QR code is the safer choice when you cannot predict how people will scan. Every phone camera reads it without being told to open a particular app, it exports as a vector SVG, and you decide the colours, size and logo. It points at an ordinary web link, so it also works on a laptop and for people who have never installed Spotify.
A QR code for a Spotify playlist that keeps changing
A playlist link points at the playlist, not at the songs in it. Add or remove tracks and the printed code shows the current version, so a café can refresh its weekly playlist without touching the card on the counter, and a wedding couple can keep adding songs until the day. The code only fails if the playlist is deleted or hidden from other listeners.
Spotify links for artists and labels
On a poster, link the artist page (open.spotify.com/artist/ followed by the artist ID). It always shows the latest release and a Follow button, so it ages better than a single-track link. Before release day, an album link often does not exist yet: use the artist page, or a dynamic code you switch to the album when it drops.
What the Spotify code contains
An ordinary https link to open.spotify.com with the content type (playlist, album, track, artist, show or episode) and a 22-character ID. Spotify URIs in the form spotify:playlist:… are not web links and do not open reliably from a phone camera.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DXcBWIGoYBM5MSizing it for records, cards and posters
A trimmed Spotify link is short, so 20 to 25 mm is enough on a greeting card or a CD tray card, and a 12-inch record sleeve has room for 40 mm or more. For a gig poster read from a couple of meters, use 15 to 20 cm.
Print it at least 20 mm (2.0 cm) wide
Mistakes that make Spotify codes disappoint
Leaving the share tag on
The ?si= part adds characters and nothing a listener needs. Remove it so the pattern stays open and easy to scan.
Sharing a hidden playlist
The code scans and the listener gets an error or an empty page. Open the link in a logged-out browser before you print.
Relying on local files
Songs added to a playlist from your own computer play only on your devices. Anyone scanning hears the rest of the playlist, with those tracks missing.
When a dynamic Spotify code is worth it
If the code goes on a record sleeve or merch that will outlive the current release, a dynamic code lets you point it at the next album without reprinting. It also counts scans, with the time and device type of each, which tells a band whether a poster run did anything. Dynamic codes need a free account with a verified email, and the first 2 are free forever.
For a birthday playlist on a card, stay static: free, permanent, done.
How dynamic QR codes workWays people put Spotify on paper
- A wedding couple prints the reception playlist on the table numbers.
- A band adds a code for its artist page to every tour poster.
- A café shows this week's in-store playlist on a card by the till.