Apple Music motion artwork: specs and how to add it
Apple Music can show an animated version of an album cover at the top of the album page. You can't upload it yourself: it travels to Apple with your release, through your distributor. Here is what Apple says, the specs distributors publish (checked 17 October 2026) and how it compares to a Spotify Canvas.
What motion artwork is
Motion artwork is a moving version of your album cover. Apple Music shows it on the album page in its iPhone and desktop apps, and Apple says its guidelines exist so the art stays recognizable on every screen, smart TVs included. The animation has to grow out of the artwork, not replace it.
There are two kinds: album motion (an animated cover, for EPs and albums) and artist page motion (filmed footage at the top of the artist page, with its own rules). This guide covers album motion.
How it gets to Apple Music
You can't upload it from Apple Music for Artists. Apple says it is delivered with your content, so:
- Ask your distributor whether it delivers motion artwork. Not all do; Apple Music for Artists has a list of preferred providers that do.
- Make the files to spec (next section) and send them the way your distributor asks.
- The distributor sends them to Apple. It can also add motion art to a release that is already out.
Distributors such as Kudos warn that once Apple applies it, motion art can't be changed or removed, so check it before you send it.
The specs
What distributors publish for album motion (Revelator, checked 17 October 2026). Apple's Album Motion guidelines and the Apple Music Style Guide are the final word.
| Album motion | |
|---|---|
| Files | Two: square 1:1 at 3840 × 3840 and tall 3:4 at 2048 × 2732 |
| Format | .mov, Apple ProRes (4444, 422, 422 HQ or 422 LT) |
| Length | 15 to 35 seconds |
| Frame rate | 23.976, 24, 25, 29.97 or 30 fps |
| Color | Rec. 709 or sRGB |
| Audio | None — turn off audio in the export |
| First frame | Identical to the static cover |
| Loop | Seamless, no fade to black or white |
| Content | Animation or motion graphics based on the cover, no live action |
Common reasons for a rejection, according to distributors: a first frame that doesn't match the cover, borders or black bars, and promotional text.
Motion artwork vs. Spotify Canvas
| Apple Music motion artwork | Spotify Canvas | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | The album cover, animated | A short loop behind one song |
| Releases | EPs and albums | Any song, singles included |
| Shape | Square 1:1 and tall 3:4 | Vertical 9:16 |
| Length | 15–35 seconds | A few seconds — check Spotify for Artists |
| Who uploads it | Your distributor | You, in Spotify for Artists |
What a Canvas is and its current requirements: what is a Spotify Canvas.
How to make it from your cover
- Start from the final cover, at full resolution. The first frame has to be exactly that image.
- Animate one thing: light, smoke, water, a slow push into a detail, the characters breathing. Apple lists tools such as Canva, Rotor and Immersity AI. With AI, use image to video in TONTRIA Motion Studio and give the cover as the first and the last frame, so the movement returns to the cover and loops. Check the output resolution of the model you pick before you rely on it for the 3840 × 3840 file.
- In your editor, bring it to 15–35 seconds (a seamless loop can repeat), make the 1:1 and the 3:4 versions, and export in ProRes without audio.
- Send it to your distributor with the release.
From the same animated cover, make the vertical version for Spotify: the Spotify Canvas maker turns a song link into an 8-second loop from the music video, or animates the cover as a vinyl, CD or floating cover. More ideas in Spotify Canvas ideas, and the rest of the campaign in the release assets.