What happens when you scan a Slappcard
A Slappcard is a printed card, 2 x 3.5 in, with your artwork and a QR code. A fan holds it up to their phone camera, and your music opens on a private page we host. No app to install, no account to make, nothing to sign up for. Here is the whole flow, in the order it happens.
1. The scan
The fan points their phone camera at the QR code on the card. The camera reads it and opens the card page in the browser. That is the whole first step. There is no app, and Legacy Slappcards are QR only. If the camera will not read it, hold the card about a hand width away and, in a dim room, toward a light. Lighting and distance are general camera advice, offered as something to try, not a diagnosis.
2. The unlock (first name + email)
The page shows your name and asks for two things: a first name and an email. Both are required for a music card. Under the fields sits an unticked box, "I want to hear from [you]", with the line "[you] emails you new music and shows. Unsubscribe any time." and the notice "Unlocking shares the details above with [you] through Slappcard." The box starts unticked and never blocks the unlock: a fan who leaves it unticked still gets the music. A phone number is asked for only if you chose to ask for one.
3. The private page
After unlocking, the fan lands on a private page with your social links, the tracklist, a player, and downloads (if you turned downloads on). Scans are unlimited and nothing burns out. Every card in a pack carries the same link for that design, so there is no per-card code to cancel and no way to cancel a single card. The page is told not to be listed by search engines. The browser remembers the unlock for 90 days, so a fan can come back to the music without typing again. There is no password and no account.
4. What the fan gets
- The music: stream the full tracklist, and download the files if you turned downloads on.
- A link that keeps working. There is no per-card code to expire, and a reprint never breaks cards already handed out. Hosting for the page your cards open runs while Slappcard runs the service, and we email you at least 30 days before hosting for a pack in good standing ends. Never "forever", never "lifetime".
- The files are theirs once downloaded. Tell us the card code and what you were trying to download, and we will look at it.
5. What you (the artist) get
- A fan list. Every fan who unlocks with an email appears on your fan list. You can export the fans who ticked the box to hear from you, plus fans from before the card asked, as a spreadsheet. Fans who did not tick stay on the list but are left out of the export. You send that email yourself in your own tool; Slappcard does not email your fans for you. The emails are not sold and no other artist receives them.
- Scan analytics. Scans, plays and downloads on your dashboard, plus weekly or monthly analytics PDFs with no login.
- An artist page behind the card, with your social links and your tracklist.
- A proof before printing (usually). We may email a proof link before we print; what you approve is what we print. Cards are not returnable once printing or design work has started.
6. Three questions fans ask
Do I need an app?
No. The phone camera opens the page in the browser. There is nothing to install and no account to make.
What do you do with my email?
It goes to the artist whose card you scanned, through Slappcard. It is not sold, and no other artist receives it. The news box is your choice and starts unticked; leaving it unticked stops the news, not the handover to the artist, and the music unlocks either way.
Will this card stop working?
No per-card code expires, and a reprint never breaks cards already handed out. The page behind the card is a service: hosting runs while Slappcard runs the service, and we email at least 30 days before hosting for a pack in good standing ends. A lost or damaged card does not stop the others, because every card in a pack shares one link. There is nothing to cancel per card.
7. If something goes wrong
- Card will not scan: try the camera app rather than a scanner app, hold the phone about a hand width away, and in a dim room hold the card toward a light. If it still will not open, go to slappcard.com/support and send the card code (the end of the link, like slappcard.com/c/Ab12Cd34Ef56Gh) or a photo of the QR, and tell us what happens. We promise no reply time.
- Lost or damaged card: the others still work. Send a photo of the QR (and the code printed under it, if there is one) through the support page.
- Card opens the wrong music: collect the card code and a photo, then contact support. Do not assume it cannot happen.
- Can't get back in: the browser remembers an unlock for 90 days; if it asks for the email again, entering the same first name and email unlocks it. There is no password.
- Whole pack defective: cards are not returnable, and once printing or design work has started the order is final. We replace or refund a pack only if the whole pack is defective: the whole run unusable, not one card and not a few. A single card that will not scan or arrives damaged is a support fix. Send the order number and photos.
8. Try it yourself first
Open slappcard.com/samples, tap a card, hit Flip to see the QR side, then scan it with your own phone and go through it as a fan would: the scan, the email step and the player. The artists and songs are demo content. If you want a hand with your own art or a show date, ask for a free consultation and we will email you back or book a time.