Cover Artwork Requirements

Created by Ilja Syumko, Modified on Tue, 4 Feb at 10:48 AM by Ilja Syumko

Quality and Format

1. Quality of Images

The cover image must not be blurry, pixelated, misaligned, rotated, stretched or any other quality issues.

The information displayed in the cover image should always match the information in the metadata as closely as possible and without any abbreviations.

2. Dimensions of the cover image

The cover image of all releases must meet all of the following requirements:

Proportions: Exactly square

Minimum size: 3000 x 3000 pixels.

Maximum size: 5000 x 5000 pixels.

Accepted formats: JPG, TIFF or PNG

Mode: RGB

Maximum file size: 36 MB

Images that do not meet all of the above requirements are not supported.

Must not contain:

1. Links and web pages

The cover must not contain website addresses, websites that sell music, social media mentions, logos of stores or services related to entertainment, mentions of physical formats, video formats, or external references to the digital release.

2. Phone or email addresses

The cover must not contain phone numbers or email addresses.

3. Credits and collaborations

The cover may contain credits or names of other artists who are not the main artists of the release, as long as it is justified in the metadata.

4. Tracklists and illegible text

The cover must not contain tracklists.

It is also recommended to use readable fonts on the cover, as the image is presented in small formats and cannot recognize small text. Illegible text will not be accepted.

5. Descriptions and biographies

The cover must not contain album descriptions or artist biographies.

6. Digital, physical and video format

The cover must not contain any references to the fact that it is a digital or physical product (such as "Online", "CD", "Compact Disc", etc.). Mentions of the video format are also not allowed.

The cover must also not contain any references to content that is missing from the album, such as "Includes DVD" or "Includes Lyrics".

7. Price

The cover must not contain any references to the price or information for promotional purposes.

8. Pornography and violent content

The cover must not contain any content that is racist, pornographic or that glorifies or trivializes violence.

9. Offensive symbolism

The cover must not contain symbolism that insults a specific group of people or ethnicities, such as Nazi symbolism, which is prohibited by the Criminal Code § 86a.

10. Misleading information

The cover must not be misleading. For example, an artist must not be prominently featured or mentioned even though he or she does not appear on the album.

11. Translations and use of special characters

The use of non-Western or special characters (such as Arabic characters, Chinese characters or Greek letters) must be avoided unless they are explicitly related to the content.

Side-by-side translations or transliterations of the content are not permitted. The information must be written in the same structure and alphabet as in the metadata.

12. Logos, images and registered trademarks

All logos (including the associated texts) must be justified. The logos can refer to the artists, producers, labels or other information associated with the music product.

Designers, photographers and other mentions of the cover artists are not allowed.

Registered trademarks and private or personal images (of people or companies) may not be included in the cover. The only exceptions are if they are visually irrelevant (as part of the background), serve a relevant role (e.g. in a musical) or are justified in the metadata (e.g. as a producer or editor).

It may be necessary to report the appropriate documentation to maintain registered trademarks, private images or references to companies or institutions to prove that the user is allowed to use them.