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 12 November 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 2,100+ 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.Split off the 8 seconds. Open Song parts at the right end of the song bar and choose Split, then 3 parts. Drag the two seams until the middle part runs just under 8 seconds over steady motion, so the loop point lands softly.
- 4.Export the part at 9:16. Click the middle part, open Make video, and choose This part and the vertical 9:16 shape. The panel shows the length before you render: 0:07 means 7 to 8 seconds, inside Spotify’s limit. If More options offers an Audio choice, pick Compatible so the file is an MP4. Render and download.
- 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 at 1080p is 1080 by 1920 pixels, the size Reels and TikTok expect and the most Pro renders; Unlimited 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. One bought video exports it at 1080 by 1920 with no stamp for $4.99, and Pro makes 8 a month for $14.99. A free account exports it at 720p with a watermark. Unlimited, at $29.99 a month, makes as many Canvases as you have songs.
Make a matching Reel from the same session: the vertical export is the same file at a longer length.