A download code is a short random string of letters and digits – usually on a card inside a record sleeve, on a merch card or in an e-mail. You type it into a website, the website checks it, and you get the file: an album, a song, an audiobook, a set of photos.
The code is not the music, and it is not a password for an account. It is a one-time key: whoever redeems it first gets the download, and after that it is used up. This page covers both sides – how to redeem a code, and how musicians and labels make codes and cards themselves.
What happens when you type in a code
Every download code works the same way, whether it comes from Bandcamp, a pressing plant or redeemoid:
- Someone generates a list of random codes – one per record, cassette or card. They are long and random enough that nobody can guess a valid one.
- The list sits on a server, together with the file it unlocks.
- You enter the code on the redemption page. The server looks it up.
- If it exists and is still unused, the server marks it as redeemed and hands you the file. Usually you then have some time to download it a few times – in case the first download breaks off or you want it on a second device.
- Anyone who enters the same code later is told it has already been used.
Almost everything else follows from this: a code works once, and only as long as the server and the file exist.
How to redeem a download code
- Find the card. It is usually in the inner sleeve or the spine of the cover, in the J-card of a cassette or in a CD booklet.
- Find the address. The card says where to redeem, often with a QR code that opens the page, sometimes with the code already filled in.
- Type in the code. Dashes and spaces can usually be typed or left out.
- Download the file. Often it is a ZIP file with all the songs.
- Keep a copy. After redeeming you only have a limited time for the download. Copy the files into your music library or a cloud folder.
Try it
The code DEMO-7KQ4-X9PL is a demo code. It always works and downloads a sample PDF.
On a phone
ZIP files are no longer a problem on a phone. On an iPhone, tap the file in the Files app and it unpacks; on Android, use Files or your phone maker's file manager. The songs are then there as single files. If you want the music in your computer's music app, download the ZIP on the computer in the first place.
When the code does not work
| What you see | Usual cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| “Invalid code” | A character misread: 0 and O, 1 and I or l | Check each character and try the other reading. Good systems leave look-alike characters out altogether. |
| “Invalid code” although everything is right | Wrong redemption page – every label and service has its own | Use the address printed on the card, not the first search result. |
| “Code already redeemed” | A second-hand record whose previous owner used it | Ask the seller. Anyone selling a used record with a card should say whether the code was used. |
| “Code expired” | The code had an expiry date – sometimes already passed while the record is still sealed in the shop | Write to the label or the shop; many issue a new code. |
| The code works, the download does not | The download window after the first redemption has closed – between two hours and a few days, depending on the service | Ask the service to reset the code. |
| The redemption page is gone | The label shut the system down or moved it | Ask the label directly; often there is no replacement. |
| “Only for customers in the US and Canada” | Regional licensing | Ask the label. |
| The form rejects the code as too long | A bug on the service's side | Contact their support. |
| No card in the sleeve | It is often stuck in the spine or between the inner sleeve and the cover | Shake the sleeve, check the spine; otherwise ask the shop. |
| Songs without title or artist | The files carry no metadata | Add it with a tag editor, or ask the label for tagged files. |
If nothing helps, write to the label or the band. Sending the code and a photo of the card speeds things up. Cards from redeemoid have their own help page for redeeming.
For musicians and labels: where download codes come from
You need three things: a list of codes, a place where the file lives, and a page where your fans redeem. There are three main ways to get them.
1. Your platform's codes – Bandcamp, for example
If your music is on Bandcamp anyway, you already have codes. Every artist account gets 200 “track/album codes” – Bandcamp's current name for download codes – label accounts get 3,000, and every US$500 in sales adds another 1,000. Codes are generated in batches of 100, and unused codes do not expire. Fans redeem on your Bandcamp page and then also find the album in their Bandcamp collection and app (Bandcamp help).
Bandcamp is enough when your music lives there, you need no card design of your own and batches of 100 suit you. It is not enough when you hand out something other than music (an audiobook, a PDF, photos, samples), when you do not want a Bandcamp page, when you need fewer than 100 codes, or when your fans should not end up on someone else's platform. Worth knowing: sales through codes do not count towards the charts (Bandcamp help).
2. The pressing plant does it
Many pressing plants offer download cards with the record. Either they generate the codes and run a redemption page themselves, or they print the codes you send them as a list (CSV or Excel). The card goes into the sleeve before shrink-wrapping. Prices are rarely published; ask for the price per card, the minimum run and how long the files stay online.
3. A service made for download codes
Services like redeemoid generate the codes, host the file and give you a redemption page – independent of any platform or pressing plant. You choose how many codes, how long and which characters, upload your file, and get the codes as a sheet to print yourself, as a print-ready file for a print shop, or as a list for the pressing plant. On redeemoid you pay once per batch, from 5 codes; the first batch of up to 5 codes is free (prices).
What to check with any service
- How long does the file stay online, and what does it cost after that? Some services host for two years by default.
- How often and for how long can a fan download after redeeming?
- Can you block codes if cards get lost?
- Can you see which codes were redeemed?
- Does the fan have to create an account or hand over an e-mail address?
- What happens to your codes if the service shuts down?
How the services answer these questions is in the comparison of download code services.
What makes a good code
A code has to be two things at once: impossible to guess and easy to type.
- No look-alike characters. 0 and O, 1, I and l look almost the same in print. Good systems leave them out; redeemoid, for example, uses only the digits 2 to 9 and letters without I, L and O.
- Case does not matter. Fans type the way they type. A code should work either way.
- Groups of four. 7KQ4-X9PL reads more easily than 7KQ4X9PL. The dashes are only there for reading and should not matter when typing.
- Long enough. The more codes you generate, the longer each one has to be so that guessing stays hopeless. Eight to twelve characters cover most runs.
- A QR code with the code filled in. Then the fan does not have to type anything.
- A few downloads within a time window. On redeemoid it is 5 downloads within 72 hours of redeeming – enough for a broken download and a second device, too little to turn the code into a public link.
- An expiry date only when there is a reason. A code inside a record is often redeemed years later.
Printing download cards
- Size: business-card size is the most common, 85 × 55 mm. A print shop wants 3 mm of bleed on every side on top of that.
- At home: an A4 sheet of ten cards with crop marks, on heavy paper, cut with a guillotine or a craft knife. Good for small runs and shows.
- At a print shop: for larger runs or nicer paper. The shop wants a PDF with bleed in CMYK, ideally PDF/X. Because every card carries a different code, you need a file with one page per card.
- The QR code needs a white margin around it, or phones read it badly.
- Into the sleeve: the card goes into the inner sleeve before shrink-wrapping. A sticker on the wrap (“includes download”) helps sell it.
What redeemoid's cards look like and how the print sheet is laid out is on download cards; what vinyl adds is under download codes for vinyl.
How long does a download code last?
That depends entirely on who issued it. Some codes never expire, some on a printed date, some a few days after the first redemption. And every code only works as long as its redemption page exists: Mascot Label Group ended its download codes in 2020, and old cards can no longer be redeemed since (Mascot Label Group).
As a buyer there is one lesson: redeem soon and keep a copy of the files. As a musician or label, know before you print how long the file stays online – your record will sit on a shelf for years. On redeemoid there is no hosting period set by us and no running fee: the file stays online until you set an expiry date yourself, lock the batch or delete your account.
Sell or give away?
A code is only access. What it costs is decided by what it travels with:
- As an extra with vinyl, a cassette or a CD – the most common case. The fan gets the record for the shelf and the files for the phone.
- As a product of its own at the merch table: a good-looking card instead of a CD, at a price you set.
- As a gift to press, radio, crowdfunding backers or fans who came to the show.
And about rights: if you distribute other people's songs or belong to a collecting society, ask them or your pressing plant how the download that comes with the record is treated.
Not just for music
Download codes work for any file: audiobooks and radio plays, e-books, sheet music, photo sets, sample packs, videos, software. Anywhere you sell or give away something physical and a file belongs with it.