Cover art requirements for Spotify and Apple Music: a checklist

Cover art for Spotify, Apple Music and other streaming services has to be square, large enough and sharp, in RGB colour, and free of anything that works as advertising or could mislead: no URLs, social media handles, prices, or store and streaming logos. Any text on it has to match your metadata, and you need the rights to every photo, illustration and font you use. Crystal Distribution asks for at least 3000 × 3000 pixels, as a JPG or PNG.

Below you will find what the services themselves ask for, why artwork gets rejected and how to fix it, followed by a checklist to hold up against your design before you upload.

The technical requirements at a glance

Apple gives different sizes on two of its own pages. Its Video and Audio Asset Guide, the specification for those who deliver music, recommends 3000 × 3000 pixels with 1400 × 1400 as the minimum, and does not accept CMYK files. Its cover art page for artists asks for at least 4000 × 4000 pixels. Spotify's requirements are in its cover art requirements. Crystal Distribution asks for at least 3000 × 3000 pixels. Make your cover 4000 × 4000 pixels, for example, and you meet the Crystal Distribution requirement and both of Apple's sizes, and stay within Spotify's limits.

Why so large, when your cover often appears small in an app? The same image is also shown large: on a desktop, a tablet, a TV or the now-playing screen of an app. A large, sharp original stays sharp there too; a small file cannot be made sharper later.

Sharp and large enough

Apple does not accept images that are blurry, pixelated, misaligned or rotated, unless that is a deliberate part of the design. To keep your cover from coming back for that reason:

• Start at 3000 × 3000 pixels or more. Spotify explicitly asks you not to upscale images. Enlarging a small picture makes it bigger, not sharper.
• Use the original file. Ask the photographer or designer for the full-resolution file. A screenshot or an image saved from social media is usually downsized and compressed.
• Fill the whole square. A landscape photo with white or black bars above and below looks like a mistake. Crop the image or adapt the design.
• Mind the colours. Crystal Distribution asks for RGB, Apple does not accept CMYK and Spotify specifies sRGB. A file prepared for print is often in CMYK; convert it and check the colours afterwards.
• Apply the colour profile. Spotify does not support embedded colour profiles or orientation metadata. Export with the profile applied to the pixels, and rotate a photo for real instead of relying on your camera's or phone's orientation setting.
• Look at your cover at thumbnail size. In lists and search results it is small. Text you cannot read at that size is better made larger or left out.

What cannot go on your cover

A cover is not an advert. The Apple Music Style Guide spells out what is not allowed, and Crystal Distribution does not accept artwork with URLs, prices or misleading logos. So leave out:

• Web addresses, social media handles and QR codes. Apple names all three explicitly: websites and QR codes in its style guide, social media handles and email addresses on its page for artists. So an Instagram or TikTok handle does not belong there either.
• Prices and promotional text. No price, no wording such as out now, reduced price or for promo use, and no year or date, such as that of a future release.
• Streaming service and store logos. No Spotify, Apple Music or other service logo, no listen-on badges, and no reference to a service's competitors. Apple also prohibits using its own trademarks in a way that makes content look like an Apple product.
• References to formats and retailers. No CD, vinyl or digital release on the cover, and no store names.
• Audio quality. No Dolby Atmos, lossless, hi-res or 24-bit on the cover; Apple shows that itself with its own badge next to the music.
• Misleading images. No artist shown prominently who does not perform on the release. Apple also treats imagery, logos and fonts associated with well-known films, TV shows, books and other brands as misleading content.
• Pornography and hate. Apple does not allow pornographic images or images that promote hatred against groups of people.

Not sure about a logo on your cover, such as your own label's? Leave it out, or check with support before you submit.

Text on the cover: make it match your metadata

A cover without text is fine: the streaming services show the title and artist next to your artwork. If you do add text, one rule applies: the cover must not contradict your metadata. Apple asks for artwork that belongs to the release you deliver, and its page for artists names only relevant text, such as the artist name and the exact title as released. A different title or a different spelling of your name does not fit that.

• The same name. Write your artist name on the cover the same way as in the metadata.
• The same title. If there is a title, it is the title of this release. Using your album design for a single? Change the title or leave it off.
• No extra names. Do not put a featured artist on the cover who is not in the credits, or an artist who does not perform.
• No text that dates. A date, tour dates or a reference to a promotion will be out of date in six months, while your cover stays up.

How to fill in titles, versions and artists in your metadata is covered in the release metadata checklist.

Rights: photos, illustrations, fonts and AI

You are responsible for everything on your cover. Copyright in a photo or illustration generally belongs to the person who made it, even if you appear in it or paid for it, unless it has been transferred to you. So sort out what you may use before you release.

• Photos. Get written confirmation that you may use the photo as the cover of the release and for promoting it. A photo you find online is not free to use.
• Recognisable people. If someone can be recognised in the photo, get their consent for use on the cover and keep a record of it. Image and personality rights differ from country to country.
• Stock images. Read the licence. Not every stock licence allows use on a commercial release.
• Illustrations and designs. Agree with your designer that you may use the design for the release and its promotion, and in what form you receive the source files.
• Fonts. Fonts come with a licence too. Free fonts are sometimes for personal use only, so check whether commercial use is allowed.
• Brands and characters. Do not use logos, characters or recognisable elements of brands, films, games or TV shows without permission.
• AI. If you used AI for your artwork, say so: Crystal Distribution asks about AI use for audio, composition and artwork separately and passes that information on. AI imagery must not mislead or imitate other people's work either. More on AI material in releasing covers, samples and remixes.

In the last step of the release wizard you sign the rights declaration. It applies to exactly the content of your release at that moment, so make sure the rights to your artwork are settled before you submit. See also rights, covers and samples.

Spotted your photo or design on a release distributed through Crystal Distribution without your permission? You can report the infringement.

How Crystal Distribution checks your artwork

You upload your cover in the Artwork step of the wizard. The file is checked automatically after upload. If it is refused, the reason appears with the upload, for example that the artwork is not square. Upload a corrected file: you do not need to create the release again. A replacement file becomes a new version, and an older upload cannot overwrite your current choice. The specifications are also listed in audio and artwork specifications.

After you submit, a member of Crystal Distribution staff reviews the metadata, rights and media, including your artwork, before the release goes to the distribution partner. If something needs changing, your release shows the status Action needed, with the comment on the release. The distribution partner then checks the release and delivers it to the stores; how long a store takes is up to the store.

Common rejections and how to fix them

Checklist before you upload

1. Square, at least 3000 × 3000 pixels.
2. JPG or PNG, in RGB.
3. Sharp at full size and not upscaled.
4. No borders or bars.
5. No URLs, handles, QR codes, prices or promotional text.
6. No service or store logos, and no references to CD, vinyl or audio quality.
7. Any text matches the artist name and title in the metadata.
8. Readable at thumbnail size, or deliberately text-free.
9. Rights to photos, illustrations and fonts confirmed in writing.
10. AI use declared if you used AI.

All set? Then you can create a release in the portal. To see how distribution with Crystal Distribution works and what it costs, visit the pricing page.