Your Song, Playing at the Coffee Shop Down the Street

The hardest audience to reach is the one that isn't looking for you. People scrolling a music app already have favorites. People waiting for a coffee don't have anything playing at all.

That's the gap Scan and Groove fills.

How it works

Shops that support independent artists put a Scan and Groove code where customers already look: a sign by the register, a card on the counter, a sticker on the cup.

1. A customer scans the code with their phone camera.
2. A free song plays: yours, from the FriendsGroove catalog.
3. They can friend you, friend the shop, or both, in one tap.

The next time they scan, they get a different song, until they've heard the whole rotation. Every scan is another chance for a stranger to become a friend.

Real shops, real customers

Scan and Groove is already running in small businesses across New Jersey and beyond: coffee shops, a bakery, a farm stand, a burger spot, and a hot sauce maker at a farmers market. You can see the shops that have opted in on the Retailers Who Groove directory.

These aren't record stores, where people already came to buy music. They're everyday places, full of people who'd never have found you otherwise.

Why shops want your music

Giving customers a free song costs the shop nothing and gives them something to talk about. It also says something about them: this is a place that backs independent artists. When a customer friends both you and the shop, you share a fan.

What you need to know

• Approved artists can join the rotation. Once you're approved on FriendsGroove, your songs can be added to the Scan and Groove rotation.
• You send the music. Only songs you choose and submit go into rotation. FriendsGroove never hosts music you didn't send.
• You need to own the rights. Because songs play in public places, you'll confirm you wrote, performed and own what you submit. Every artist is reviewed by a real person. Read the Scan and Groove terms.
• Every friendship counts. Fans who find you through a scan become numbered friends like anyone else, and FriendsGroove records which shop introduced you.

Want the bigger picture on why people beat algorithms for discovery? Read: The Algorithm Won't Discover You. Your Friends Will.

Curious what it looks like from the shop's side? See how Scan and Groove works for artists.