You finished your record! There is only one problem. Now, you have to worry about your music cover art. If you DO have your album art, then I am going to show you how to make sure that it is the right size for iTunes, Spotify, and all major music streaming platforms. On the other hand, if you DO NOT have album art, and cannot pay a professional, I am going to show you how to create music cover art that looks great!
Your music cover art can be one of the most intimidating and challenging parts of getting your music out into the world. It needs to reflect your individual style, and also create interest for listeners so that they are curious enough to listen. The great thing about the blog post for today is that we are professional designers and marketers, here to give you some of our best tips and tricks for free to help you absolutely ROCK your CD sales!
RESIZING YOUR PHOTOS WITH CANVA.
- Sign into Canva.
- Click custom dimensions in the right hand corner.
- Make your dimensions 3000 x 3000. (Note: These are the proper dimensions for all streaming platforms EXCEPT “Amazon on Demand”)
- Upload your image.
- Download as .png
Wow… That was easy!
Now you need to resize it for Amazon On Demand.
- Click resize.
- Make your dimensions 1600 x 1600
- Download as .png
What To Do If you Don’t Have Your Music Cover Art Already
- Find a template.
- If you have your own photo – upload it.
- Edit text to match your branding. (Need branding help? Get our free download!)
- For more details see the Canva article here.
**Watch the video above to get some design tips and inspirations!**
WARNING! Creating Music Cover Art Can Be Tricky!
All the streaming platforms have their own standards for artwork that they will approve. They aren’t trying to squash your creativity, they are just trying to keep you from cheating the system. So, make sure you DO NOT do these things…
- Any text that is more than the artist name and album title.
- Do not put any email addresses or URLs on your album art.
- If you are scanning your image from a physical copy, make sure there are no stickers on it.
- Anything that references a digital store name.
