Does the exported file loop seamlessly?

When you choose continuous or rebound, the clip is generated with your cover art as both the opening and closing frame, which is what lets the cycle close. After generation the first and last frames are compared and the result is shown in the panel. If the join is still visible you will be told that rather than reassured, because a loop that almost closes is worse than one that clearly cuts.

Which loop type should I pick?

Continuous suits atmospheric artwork and slow drifting motion, where the goal is for nobody to notice the repeat. Hard cut suits a punchy single where one strong move is the point and the repeat feels like an edit. Rebound suits a centred subject — a face, an object, a logo — because the motion always returns it to where it started.

Do I have to upload cover art?

Yes. The cover is the opening frame, and for continuous and rebound loops it is also the closing frame, which is what makes the cycle close. It also keeps the Canvas visually tied to the release rather than looking like generic stock motion that could belong to any track.

Can the Canvas include my song title or artist name?

Spotify's guidance suggests leaving both out, and its content policy requires that any text belongs to that specific track and does not overpower the artwork. Names also tend to sit badly once the Now Playing controls cover part of the frame. If you do add text, keep it central and short.

What is not allowed in a Canvas?

Spotify's content policy rules out URLs, links and ticket vendors, prompts to follow or like on social media, and the Spotify logo. Text has to relate to the track it sits on rather than promoting other releases, merchandise or contests. The policy is about keeping the artwork the main event rather than turning the slot into an ad.

Does the clip have audio?

No. A Canvas plays under your track, so a second audio stream would only ever collide with the music. Clips are generated without an audio track, which is also why Spotify's guidance suggests choosing footage without talking, singing or rapping in it.

Has the file been verified on Spotify?

No, and nothing here claims otherwise. What is verified is that the exported file matches Spotify's published specification for aspect ratio, height and duration, measured by decoding the file rather than trusting the request. Confirming how it looks on your release means uploading it in Spotify for Artists.

Can I reuse the same Canvas across a whole album?

You can, but a per-track loop tends to serve the record better. The cheapest approach is to keep one motion style and loop type across the release and vary the genre and mood per track, which keeps the album coherent while giving each song a visual that belongs to it rather than to the campaign.

Spotify Canvas Maker

A Canvas plays on repeat under every listener's thumb, so the loop point is the whole job. Upload your cover, choose how the loop should close, and get back a 9:16 clip built for the Now Playing screen.

Cover art

Your cover is the reference the loop is built from.

Describe your idea

Loop type

Genre

Style

How it works

History

Spotify Canvas Maker

Bring your cover art

Upload the artwork the release already uses. It becomes the opening frame, so the Canvas stays recognisably tied to the single.

Choose how the loop closes

Choose how the loop should close — a seamless cycle or a deliberate cut. Add a line describing the motion, then pick the genre and mood that match the track.

Check the readout, then download

The panel reports real dimensions, duration and whether the loop closes cleanly. Upload the file in Spotify for Artists.

Why Most Canvas Loops Give Themselves Away

Spotify's own guidance splits Canvas loops into three kinds, but almost every generator online offers exactly one kind of motion and hopes you don't notice the seam.

The loop point is where cheap tools fall apart

A Canvas repeats for as long as someone listens, which means the join between the last frame and the first frame is on screen every few seconds. Filter-style generators animate a still image with a shader and let the cycle land wherever it lands, so listeners see a stutter each time it wraps. Closing that gap is not a finishing touch on a Canvas — it is the entire difference between a loop that reads as intentional and one that reads as a glitch.

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Browser filters cap out long before real video does

Tools that render in the browser have to encode frames one at a time, so they trade frame rate for speed. We measured one popular free Canvas generator exporting at roughly eleven frames per second — fine for an abstract wash, visibly choppy on anything with a moving subject. Generating an actual video clip instead of animating a filter removes that ceiling, which matters most on the slow camera moves artists reach for first.

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Built Around Spotify's Published Rules

Everything here comes from Spotify's Canvas guidelines and content policy, and anything they don't publish, we don't invent.

More than one way to close the loop

Continuous flows straight back into its opening frame so the wrap is invisible. Hard cut commits to a single decisive move and lets the repeat read as a deliberate edit. Rebound travels out and eases back to the starting composition, which suits artwork with a strong centred subject. Each one changes how the clip is generated, not just how it is trimmed afterwards, so the motion is designed for the loop from the first frame.

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Checked against the spec, honestly labelled

Every clip is decoded again after it comes back, and the real width, height and duration are compared against the published requirements: 9:16, 720 to 1080 pixels tall, three to eight seconds. When the loop is meant to close, the first and last frames are compared directly and the result is reported as a measurement rather than a promise. Spotify publishes no file size cap, so no size limit is invented here either.

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Where a Canvas Actually Earns Its Place

Canvas is one of the few surfaces where a listener is already looking at your artwork with nothing else competing for attention.

Single and EP rollouts

Release week is when the same artwork has to work as a square cover, a vertical story, a profile header and a Canvas. Starting from the cover keeps all of them recognisably related, and generating a fresh loop per track gives a body of work its own visual rhythm without commissioning a motion designer for every song.

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Back catalogue that never got one

Most independent catalogues have a long tail of tracks that shipped with a static cover and nothing else. Those songs still get played, and a Canvas is the cheapest thing that makes an older release feel maintained. Working from artwork you already own means the whole back catalogue can be worked through without new photography or a new brief.

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Loved by Artists

Notes from creators who used this tool on real work.

Harrison Cromwell

Independent artist

The loop readout is the part I did not know I needed.

I can see whether it actually closes instead of watching it twelve times and guessing.

Mateo Navarro

Producer

Rebound on a centred cover looks far better than the drifting filter thing I was using before.

Took one try to work that out.

Laurel Rockwell

Label manager

We went through eleven back catalogue singles in an afternoon.

Every one of them started from artwork we already owned.

Nuria Vega

Afrobeats artist

Being told the height and duration in plain numbers before I upload has saved me two rejected files already.

Kiyoshi Endo

Singer-songwriter

It does not pretend to know a file size limit that Spotify never published.

Small thing, but it made me trust the rest.

Hideo Maeda

Electronic producer

Continuous loops on ambient artwork are genuinely seamless now.

The old tool always had a visible hitch.

Paisley Carmichael

Artist manager

Getting to choose how the loop closes sounds like a small thing until you realise every other generator only has one and never says so.

Blaine Ingersoll

Indie rock artist

Hard cut suits our stuff better than a smooth drift.

Good to have the option instead of fighting the default.

Cooper Norwood

Release coordinator

The Now Playing overlay in the preview stopped us putting the subject where the controls cover it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Spotify asks for a vertical 9:16 visual between 720 and 1080 pixels tall, supplied as an MP4 or JPG, running three to eight seconds. The guidelines recommend avoiding rapid cuts or intense flashing. Spotify does not publish a maximum file size in its Canvas guidelines, so any tool quoting one is guessing.

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Spotify Canvas Maker

Why Most Canvas Loops Give Themselves Away

The loop point is where cheap tools fall apart

Browser filters cap out long before real video does