Album Cover Dimensions, Formats, Sizes, and Tips

ByDavid Andrew
Featured Image of Album Cover Dimensions

Whether you are an artist or a musician, cover is the identity of your skills which you showcase to others to get attention, praise and recognition of your work. Though you can get an album cover from professional designers as well, it is not necessary that everyone can afford the high payments of the designers. So if you are a beginner and want to design your album cover yourself, this guide is for you. In this article, we will walk through the album cover dimensions and features (which may include pixels, size, and other things) to stand out from your competitors and gain new customers. 

What is Cover Art & Why It’s Important?

For musicians, the cover art is really helpful in distributing their music to streaming platforms and other digital and social stores, which requires various essentials, but one of them is the album cover. Correct dimensions for album cover is the easiest and most direct way to attract audience attention and praise, which is quite simple to do by just making an album cover attractive within its required dimensions. Hence, it’s an important framework to stand out in the competitive music industry. The cover shows all the details about the music album such as genre, what it is all about and some feels. 

Dimensions of an Album Cover of Different Platforms

If there is no given indication of an album cover size, you can use the recommended one, but various platforms and streaming services have their size that you must need to follow if you want to shine out. Those different platforms and the dimensions of their album cover are given below:

1. Apple Music Album Cover Dimensions

  • The cover size has a resolution of 4000 x 4000 pixels
  • The format should be  JPG, GIF or PNG
  • The aspect ratio should be 1:1 as a perfect square
  • The cover should not be generic i.e the referencing artist should be shown on the cover so that it does not mislead others
  • Cropped images should not be added
  • Add the artist name, and release title along with the song title 
  • There should not be any reference to pricing
  • Any kind of advertisements, barcodes, and brand names are strictly prohibited
  • Images should be copyright-free and should not be pornographic
Apple Cover Dimensions

2. iTunes Album Cover Dimensions

  • The resolution for the iTunes album cover is 3000 x 3000 pixels
  • The aspect ratio is 1:1
  • 1600 x 1600 pixels is album cover size minimum
  • The file formats are PNG, JPEG, GIF, and TIFF
  • The image resolution can vary from 72 to 300 DPI
  • RGB colour mode is a must 
  • Violated and porn content is strictly prohibited

3. SoundCloud Album Cover Dimensions

  • The resolution of the album should be 800 x 800 pixels
  • The aspect ratio is the same as of Apple music album cover size i.e 1:1
  • The file size should be 2 MB maximum
  • The allowed file formats are JPEG and PNG
  • The images should be of HD quality 
  • The image resolution should be 300 DPI
SoundCloud Cover Dimensions

4. Spotify Album Cover Dimensions

  • The cover size of Spotify is 1600 x 1600 pixels
  • The minimum cover size should be 640 x 640 pixels
  • The aspect ratio is 1:1
  • The file size recommended is upto 4Mb
  • The formats of the file are PNG, TIFF, and JPG
  • sRGB (standard Red Green Blue) color space should be encoded
Spotify Cover Dimensions

5. Amazon Music Album Cover Dimensions

  • The cover size of Amazon is 3000 x 3000 maximum to 1600 x 1600 minimum pixels.
  • The file formats should be JPG, GIF, and PNG.
  • The size of the file should be 15 Mb maximum
Amazon Cover Dimensions

6. Napster Album Cover Dimensions

  • The cover size of Napster is 3000 x 3000 pixels
  • The minimum cover size should be 1400 x 1400 pixels
  • The aspect ratio is 1:1
  • The file size recommended is upto 5MB
  • The formats of the file are PNG and JPG
Napster Cover Dimensions

7. Bandcamp Album Cover Dimensions

  • The album cover size of Bandcamp can be from 1400 x 1400 to 3000 x 3000 pixels
  • The aspect ratio is 1:1
  • The file size should not be more than 10 Mb
  • The image quality should be high 
  • A customized header and a background image can be added to make it stunning
Bandcamp Cover Dimensions

8. YouTube Music Album Cover Dimensions

  • The resolution of the album should be 4000 x 4000 pixels maximum with 1400 x 1400 pixels minimum
  • The aspect ratio is the same as of YouTube music album cover size i.e 1:1
  • The file size should be 2 MB maximum
  • The allowed file formats are JPG, GIF and PNG
  • The images should be of HD quality 
  • The image resolution should be 300 DPI

9. Tidal Album Cover Dimensions

  • The cover size of Tidal is 3000 x 3000 pixels maximum
  • The minimum cover size should be 1600 x 1600 pixels
  • The aspect ratio is 1:1
  • The file size recommended is up to 10MB
  • The formats of the file are PNG, GIF, and JPEG
Tidal Cover Dimensions

10. Deezer Album Cover Dimensions

  • The resolution for the Deezer album cover is 3000 x 3000 pixels
  • The aspect ratio is 1:1
  • 1000 x 1000 pixels is the album cover size minimum
  • The file formats are PNG, GIF and JPEG
  • The file size should be 6 MB maximum
Deezer Cover Dimensions

11. Facebook Album Cover Dimensions

  • The cover size should have a resolution of 4000 x 4000 pixels.
  • Formats accepted: JPG, GIF, or PNG.
  • The aspect ratio must be 1:1, creating a perfect square.
  • The cover image should not be generic; make sure the referencing artist is featured prominently to avoid confusion.
  • Avoid using cropped images.
  • Include the artist’s name, release title, and song title on the cover.
  • Refrain from including references to pricing.
  • The file size should be 1 MB
  • Advertisements, barcodes, and brand names are strictly prohibited.
  • Images used must be copyright-free and should not contain any inappropriate or explicit content.

12. Photoshop Album Cover Dimensions

  • The cover size should have a resolution of 4000 x 4000 pixels.
  • Preferred formats: JPG, GIF, or PNG.
  • The aspect ratio should be 1:1, ensuring a perfect square.
  • The file size should be 1 MB

13. Podcast Album Cover Dimensions

  • The resolution of the album should be 3000 x 3000 pixels maximum 
  • The minimum pixels should be 1400 x 1400
  • The aspect ratio is 1:1
  • The allowed file formats are JPEG, GIF, TIFF and PNG
  • The images should be of HD quality, and clear
  • The image resolution should be 300 DPI
Podcast Cover Dimensions

How to Create a Great Album Cover

A few tips to make your album cover beautiful and attractive are:

  1. The cover should be unique and simple to gain visibility
  2. It should not contain promotional names and titles
  3. Make it personalised with the artist’s photos
  4. The right colours and fonts with the appropriate album cover size are the ones that people pay heed to.

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Album Cover Dimensions for Print

For printing the album cover sizes vary which are given below:

LP or Vinyl Album Cover Dimensions

  • The cover size should be 7 x 12 inches
  • The image DPI should be 300
  • CMYK color mode is recommended for printing
  • 5 mm bleed area around the edges
  • The record sleeves are 33 RPM with dimensions of 13 x 13 x 1.5 inches

CD Album Cover Dimensions

  • The cover size should be 4.724 x 4.724 inches
  • The image DPI should be from 72 to 300
  • CMYK color mode is recommended for printing
  • The bleed area around the edges is 2 mm

Conclusion

In this article, I have listed all the major platforms’ album cover dimensions along with additional guidelines. The tips to increase visibility have also been highlighted so follow these simple guidelines and make the album cover catchy and engaging. 

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