Glossary / Release

Industry terms

Cover art

Cover art is the square image that represents a release on every streaming service, store and smart link page.

Also called: album art, artwork, single cover, release artwork

By Aulto · Last reviewed

What size should cover art be?

Most distributors ask for a square image of at least 3000 × 3000 pixels, in JPG or PNG. Check your distributor's own specs before you design.

Why do covers get rejected?

The usual reasons: blurry or stretched images, a title or artist name that doesn't match the release, website addresses or social handles on the art, prices, streaming service logos, and misleading imagery.

What makes a cover work?

It is seen tiny far more often than big: in playlists, search results and notifications. Bold shapes, few words and strong contrast read at thumbnail size; fine detail and small text disappear.

Example

An artist designs a detailed poster-style cover, checks it at 64 pixels wide on a phone, and simplifies it to one face and one bold word.

Doing it with Aulto

Your cover art appears on your Aulto smart link and pre-save pages, and in the preview when the link is shared.

See how it works →

  • Metadata

    Metadata is the information attached to a release: title, artist names, credits, language, genre, release date and codes like the ISRC and UPC.

  • Music distributor

    A music distributor delivers your releases to streaming services and stores, and collects the money they earn from plays and sales.

  • Smart link

    A smart link is one web address for a release that sends each listener to the streaming app they already use.

  • Drop

    A drop is a release that goes out at a set moment, like a new song, a merch line or a product, announced ahead so people show up at once.

  • Hook

    A hook is the part of a song, or the first seconds of a video, built to grab attention and make people stay.

  • Master recording

    The master recording is the final, released version of a recorded song, and whoever owns it owns the rights to that specific recording.

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