Artist Tip: How to Use Spotify Canvas to Increase Fan Engagement

Spotify Canvas is not a new feature but it’s something that many artists aren’t utilizing! The feature allows you to upload 3-8 second looping videos for each of your tracks on Spotify. This way of visual branding brings your listeners deeper into connecting with the music.

High-quality Spotify Canvases have shown to increase:

• track shares by an average of 145%
• playlist adds by 20%
• streams by 5%
• and profile visits by 9%

Spotify offers helpful suggestions for creating Canvas videos:

1. Avoid footage with talking, rapping, or singing. Your looped video will not be synced to the music, so any mouth movements will be distracting.
2. No frenetic cuts or flashing effects. The idea is to draw someone in, not give them a stroke.
3. Keep the action centered. Player controls may appear over the lower half of the screen, so the most important stuff should be in the center or slightly higher.
4. Spotify Canvas is a vertical video format. You have to upload a video with a 9:16 aspect ratio. You can’t edit the framing within Spotify for Artists.
5. No artist, track, or album names. Those things are already viewable to listeners.
6. Tell a story. Short-form video platforms like Instagram Reels and TikTok show that you can deliver a powerful punch in a matter of seconds.
7. Tell a bigger story. Upload Canvases for each song on an album that speak to one another or progress along a timeline.
8. Amplify your brand consistency. Make your Canvases fit in with your other visuals on Spotify, such as the profile picture and header image.
9. Switch your Canvases whenever. You can change a song’s Canvas any time, so think of ways to make it interactive and dynamic.
10. Experiment with different kinds of loops. Spotify defines them as:

• The Continuous Loop – “has the satisfying feel of a seamless looping GIF with no clear beginning or end.”
• The Hard Cut loop – “has clear edit points that can be artfully disguised.”
• The Rebound – “plays your clip forward and then reverses it.”

Spotify Canvas videos also need specific dimensions:

• 9:16 ratio (vertical)
• At least 720px tall
• An MP4 or JPEG file
• 3s to 8s long (MP4 only)

Find out more about Spotify Canvas here.