Play your Hitster cards on the music service you already pay for
Apple Music, Tidal, Deezer, YouTube Music or Spotify. Scan the cards you already own with the free QRSong! app and the song plays in your own account.
Can you play Hitster cards without Spotify?
Yes. The free QRSong! app scans the Hitster cards you already own and plays each song through Apple Music, Tidal, Deezer, YouTube Music or Spotify, whichever one you connect. You keep the same cards and the same box. What differs per service is hidden playback, the part that keeps the song title out of sight while it plays: Spotify and Apple Music hide the full track, Tidal and Deezer hide a thirty second preview, and YouTube Music has no hidden playback because the link has to open in the YouTube Music app.
It is a common thing to run into. A set of music cards arrives as a present, everyone is ready to play, and then it turns out the household runs on Apple Music rather than Spotify. Nobody wants to start a trial subscription at a party. This page explains what actually works.
Every service the app plays on
Connect one account once. You can switch later without touching your cards.
Hitster with Apple Music
The best of the four alternatives to Spotify, and the combination people ask about most. Connect Apple Music, scan a card, and the full track plays with the title hidden until someone turns the card over. Release years come straight from Apple Music. Works on a standard individual or family plan.
Hitster with Tidal
Connect Tidal and hidden playback works, using a thirty second preview rather than the whole track. That is plenty for guessing a year. Release years are filled in with AI help where Tidal does not supply them, so check the ones that look odd.
Hitster with Deezer
Same as Tidal: hidden playback runs on a thirty second preview, and release years are AI assisted where Deezer does not provide one. Nothing about your cards needs to change.
Hitster with YouTube Music
This one comes with a real caveat. YouTube Music has no hidden playback: after a short countdown the link opens in the YouTube Music app, where the song title is on screen. It still plays your cards, but someone has to hold the phone and look away, so it works better as a fallback than as your main service. Release years are AI assisted.
Hitster with Spotify
Spotify works too, of course, and along with Apple Music it gives the cleanest game: the full track plays with the title hidden until the card is turned over. Even here the app is worth scanning with rather than the camera.
Which service should you pick?
If you have a choice, pick Spotify or Apple Music: both hide the complete track and take the release year straight from the service. Tidal and Deezer are a close second on a thirty second preview. YouTube Music is the one to avoid for a guessing game, because the title is visible as soon as the song starts.
See the full platform comparisonHow to play your cards on another service
Three steps, and only the first one takes any thought.
1. Install the free QRSong! app
It is free on iPhone and Android. There is no account to create and no card to enter.
2. Connect the music service you use
Pick Apple Music, Tidal, Deezer, YouTube Music or Spotify and sign in once with your own account. You can change it later from the settings if you switch services.
3. Scan your cards with the app, not the camera
Open the scanner in the app and point it at the QR code on a card. The song starts in the service you connected and the title stays hidden until somebody turns the card over.
Why scan in the app rather than with the camera
Both read the same code. What happens next is not the same.
The answer stays hidden
A phone camera shows the song title in its link preview, which ends the round before it starts. On Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal and Deezer the app keeps the title, artist and year out of sight until the card is flipped. YouTube Music is the exception: it has no hidden playback.
It plays the song properly
On Spotify and Apple Music you get the complete track rather than a snippet, and on every service that supports hidden playback you can set where a song starts and how long it runs to make rounds easier or harder.
It goes to the service you chose
A plain camera scan hands the link to whichever app claims it. The QRSong! app sends every card to the account you connected, so the evening does not depend on who owns which subscription.
One app for the cards you own and the ones you make
The same scanner reads QRSong! cards, Hitster cards and other music QR cards, so a mixed deck plays as one.
When the cards run out of surprises
A fixed retail deck gets learned. Once everyone knows the songs, the game is over for good. QRSong! builds a new deck from any playlist you like on any of the five services, with the release years checked so remasters do not quietly break the timeline. Shuffle it in with the cards you already own.
Want to make a deck by hand?
Read the step by step guideLooking for an alternative to Hitster?
Read what is the same and what is differentReviews
What customers say
Very easy and ideal to create your own...
"Very easy and ideal to create your own list of up to 500 tickets. I had some questions afterwards and was even helped immediately during the holidays and on a Sunday! Hopefully, there will soon be the option to order tickets instead of PDF, which would save some cutting work."
Christiaan Pothoven
Super cool unique game
"Super cool unique game! I like that I can play it with my friends and make the game as big as I want, qrsong is the best adaptation for this idea because you can create your idea. With qrsong, you pretty much make your own product."
Stef Bakker
Outstanding service!!!
"Besides that this is just THE BEST GIFT EVER, the service of this company was outstanding. This gift made somebody feel very special. I'll definitely order again!!!"
Esther Spee
Questions people ask about this
Scan the cards you already have
Download the free app, connect your music service and play tonight.
Hitster is a brand of Jumbo. QRSong! is an independent product and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Jumbo.
