TL;DR Quick Summary
Spotify Canvas allows artists to upload a 3- to 8-second vertical video loop to their tracks, boosting visual engagement on the app and on social media shares like Instagram Stories. To add one, navigate to the Music tab in Spotify for Artists, select a track, and click ADD CANVAS using a 9:16 vertical ratio (.mp4 format, at least 720px tall).
Table of Contents
How can independent artists create a high-quality Canvas on a budget?
You don’t need a massive video production budget like Taylor Swift to make an engaging Canvas. Independent creators can easily produce striking visual loops by editing unused b-roll from music videos, capturing phone footage during behind-the-scenes studio sessions, or using free stock video and simple animation tools like Canva. Focusing on simple, repeating aesthetics, such as atmospheric visual effects, live performance clips, or subtle motion art, keeps fans captivated without overcomplicating your workflow.
Recently, a feature that has been becoming a more and more popular tool for music releases is Spotify Canvas.
Have you ever seen those Instagram Stories that are shared from Spotify with a gif or photo in the background? Yes? No? Either way, here are some examples below.
These are also used in the background on the Spotify app itself while listening to certain tracks. It is yet another way to add visual creativity into the mix with your release. The best part? You can add it to old releases, too.
Uploading a Spotify Canvas
Where To Upload
In the “Music” tab of Spotify for Artists, you will find all of your releases sorted by release date. Select a release and you will see a purple “ADD CANVAS” button on the righthand side of the next screen.
Dimensions to Use
It’s important to note that there are rules for creating a Spotify Canvas, dimensions-wise, as with any form of media. The requirements are: 9:16 ratio; t least 720px tall; an .mp4 or .jpg file; 3s to 8s long (mp4 only). We suggest using an .mp4 video file, as we all know that right now video is king.
Ideas For Spotify Canvas Creation
We are, as you know, giant fans of creativity here at Cyber PR. Our favorite Spotify Canvas usage right now has to be that of none other than the queen herself, Taylor Swift. She really took the opportunity to create 3-8s “music videos” for each song on folklore and evermore. It not only made it fun and interesting for her fans to continue streaming to ‘watch the movie’ progress, if you will. It also empowered them to share their favorites to their Instagram Story in an aesthetically pleasing manner, which will get their friends and followers clicking through to stream Taylor’s music. You can find a bunch more examples here from Spotify.
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