What Spotify asks for
Spotify describes Canvas as an 8-second visual loop that replaces your album art in the Now Playing view. Its guidelines, read 28 September 2026, list four requirements: 3 to 8 seconds long, vertical 9:16, between 720 and 1080 pixels tall, and an MP4 or JPG file. The advice around them matters as much: no rapid cuts, no intense flashing, no talking or singing on screen, and a full story in 8 seconds rather than a trimmed music video.
A slow generative scene that moves with the song meets every line of that. It has no faces, no lyrics to sync, and no cut until the loop point.
Make one in five steps
- 1.Load the song. Open the Groovalizer studio in your browser and drag in the track. Nothing installs and the audio stays on your device.
- 2.Pick a calm preset. Choose from 3,500+ presets with the song playing. For a Canvas, favour slow liquid or geometric scenes over strobing ones; Spotify asks you to avoid intense flashing.
- 3.Set 9:16 and 8 seconds. Switch the aspect ratio to vertical, choose a custom clip length, and type 8. Drag the clip to a bar where the motion is steady, so the loop point lands softly.
- 4.Export the MP4. Render in the browser and download. The file is a vertical MP4, ready for Spotify for Artists.
- 5.Upload in Spotify for Artists. Open the track, choose Add Canvas, and upload. If you want a forwards-then-backwards loop, reverse-append the clip in a free editor first.
About the height rule
Groovalizer’s vertical export on Pro is 1080 by 1920 pixels on its 1080p tier, the size Reels and TikTok expect; Pro also offers 1440p and 4K, which a Canvas does not need. Spotify’s guideline reads “between 720px - 1080px tall”, which describes a shorter frame than either. Uploaders scale a 9:16 file to fit, and 1080 by 1920 is the size most Canvas tutorials hand over. If Spotify for Artists refuses a file, scale it to 608 by 1080 in any free editor and upload again.
This page will say so if that rule changes. Check the guidelines page before a release either way.
Choosing the 8 seconds
Listeners see the Canvas on repeat for the whole song, so pick motion that survives repetition. A drop looks great once and jarring the twentieth time. A slow fold, a drifting colour field, a liquid surface that breathes with the pad: those loop without fatigue. Groovalizer’s speed and reactivity controls turn any preset down until it sits still enough.
Pick the bar where the preset is mid-motion rather than at a peak, so the loop point returns to something similar to where it left.
Free or Pro for a Canvas
Previewing needs no account: play the song under any preset until the 8 seconds look right. A Canvas sits under your name on every play, so it deserves a clean file. Pro exports it at 1080 by 1920 with no stamp for $14.99 a month, as many Canvases as you have songs, and the first 7 days are free.
Make a matching Reel from the same session: the vertical export is the same file at a longer length.