There was this band from Alabama about a decade ago who screen printed a piece of thick brown cardstock.
Front was a beautiful piece of art, back side was the lyrics to three or so songs. They'd found some way to screen print unique bandcamp download codes (do these exist anymore?) on every one.
I think there's a strong argument to be made that this, or something like it, is the way.
Each physical release is a piece of physical art. A zine can be scammed or printed at home within a few hours if need be, no T Swift or Beatles related muss at the pressing plant. Easier to "repress" for a tour. Less space in the home, recyclable upon obsolescence.
@THINK a friend of mine owns a store that sells vhs, dvds, etc etc. They recently started carrying these coins that have QR codes attached. Scan the code, get the link to a short horror film. The coins are painted and look pretty sick.
The worry with that kind of stuff, for me, is the MySpace issue. If it’s digital only, it can disappear at any moment.