Stores only want high-quality art with the following requirements because that makes you (and them) look good. Plus, if your art doesn’t meet these requirements, this can cause the stores to delay your release going live, and who wants that? If your artwork does not adhere to these requirements, it could result in some stores rejecting your release.
Your Artwork Must Be:
- JPG, PNG, or GIF image file
- Smaller than 10MB
- Perfect square and at least 1600 x 1600 pixels, but no larger than 3000 x 3000 pixels. (iTunes recommends images to be 3000 x 3000 pixels)
- Best-quality RGB Color mode (including black and white images)
- Resolution of at least 72 dpi (300 dpi is better)
- Only include text stating the artist name and release title (exactly as it appears in the title you enter in TuneCore) or image only with no text
- Images that you own the rights to distribute
Do NOT Include:
- Extra text outside of your release title and artist name
- Mismatching text on artwork and artist name/title (i.e. if you're uploading a single but your art says the album title where the single will later appear, this is a conflict. You must enter the single's title or no title on the art).
- Email addresses, URLs, or any other contact information, or any pricing information
- Stickers or other items from your artwork in case you are scanning it in from a physical CD - please remove them
- Anything suggesting that your release is a physical or digital product, such as "CD," "DVD," "Digital Exclusive"
- Cut off artwork (cut off text or images) or blurry artwork
- Artwork that is compressed into one corner with the rest of the image having white space
- Anything saying "iTunes" or referencing a digital store name or logo
- Any copyrighted images that you do not own the rights to distribute
What if I don't have my own artwork?
If you do not have your own artwork, no problem! We can generate cover art for you if you’re signed up for our Breakout or Professional Unlimited plans! Just click "Create artwork for me" when you are in the process of creating your release in TuneCore.
My cover art is in the correct format, but I'm still receiving an error
If you get an error when uploading artwork to your TuneCore release and it's in the correct format, the art may have been encoded incorrectly. This can cause a problem when TuneCore's system reads the file.
The following steps should fix this issue:
- Open the Preview application (on a Mac) or use another image viewing program
- Click "Export" or "Save As" from the "File" menu and export your image as a ".png" file on your computer
- Upload the new .png artwork to your TuneCore release
If you have any questions or problems, Contact Customer Care and we'll be happy to assist you.
*Please note that the yellow warning notes you may see while adding your release artwork do not stop you from submitting your release! However, we recommend reviewing them and ensuring your artwork doesn't violate our guidelines before continuing your upload