What are they?

Our product is a credit card sized, paper-based card enabled with NFC technology. It is able to link to any digital media with almost limitless potential for card design or what they link to.

Where do they fit?

These cards are intended to be more cost effective than CDs but more tangible than streaming or downloads to provide a physical option of engagement with digitally distributed media.

How do they work?

The cards are NFC enabled, meaning you can tap them with your phone or use certain devices to activate them and access the content linked through them. They can also include QR codes in the designs to make accessing content easier.

What can they be used for?

The cards can be used to link to media. For example, one designed for an album from an musician could be designed with a variation of the artwork and users can use the card to play it on their favourite streaming site. They can also be used to link to anything you like which opens the doors for innovative marketing and bespoke experiences for customers.

Anything else?

We have ambitions to create technology that will play the music through connected smart speakers from your streaming service of choice when the card is placed on it. We also have a few more ideas cooking on the potential for this product, but we’re not getting ahead of ourselves just yet.

Wait, what do they look like?

Well, we only have our business card prototype design available right now (as we don’t want to get into copyright trouble with anyone!). You can see both sides below. They are the size of a credit card, can be designed in portrait or landscape orientation and we will have many different print options available. Current editions are on plastic NFC cards but the real thing will be made of a special paper material.

How do people get their hands on them?

We see them being sold alongside existing physical and digital media to bridge the gap between the two. They could be used as a distribution in and of themselves or used as marketing material inside existing formats or at events.

Why this and not existing physical formats?

The modern world has embraced streaming services as the standard method of engaging with media and most longer have a device on which to play physical media. This makes it difficult to share or collect music in a way that is both usable and won’t be forgotten or lost.

Why did we design this?

Physical collections of our favourite media were prevalent in most homes before the advent of streaming services and full-blown digital media distribution. These are dwindling and with them we are losing the stories of past obsessions, random discoveries and the insight to who we are at different points in our lives.

Gifting to our loved ones is also increasingly difficult to do in a way that will actually be used (given the drop in CD players in homes and cars), and not forgotten in a text chat or streaming library.

So how do we restore the joy of collecting and gifting the media that enriches our lives without cluttering our homes with media that cannot be used? We believe these cards are the way.

They can also be a lower cost way for fans to support the art they love in a world where streaming service payments are pitiful outside the biggest artists; or provide a way for more casual consumers to add it to their collection without committing to the expense and storage requirements of existing physical formats. This would give more ways for fans to engage while enabling better payments to creators when using streaming services (and increasing artist and label revenue).

What else can they do?

The opportunities for fan engagement with these cards are almost endless. They are not restricted to just representing traditional physical media in another form. They could link to playlists, videos, pictures, websites, games and anything else that can be stored on the RFID chip. We see them as being able to be used to represent live shows and events or as a series of collectables (as physical tickets are also fast becoming a thing of the past).

What next?

We are still designing this product, exploring the potential, and figuring out how to bring it to market. We are seeking connection with industry experts to help us do this to get an MVP into the hands of music fans. If you are able to help offer feedback or support please get in touch.

If you would like to find out more, please get in touch via the contact page.