Most likely, you’ve seen a Canvas video pop up while listening to music on Spotify. These short, looping videos are only between 3 and 8 seconds long but offer artists the ability to showcase digital art, bring album covers to life, and add new dimensions to their tracks. For listeners, Canvas videos create an updated listening experience—using visual creativity to amplify the tone, mood, and feel of the track. 

And the stats of these short looping videos speak for themselves. According to a Spotify Artists announcement, the company found: 

“...when listeners see a Canvas, they are more likely to keep streaming (+5% on average vs. control group), share the track (+145%), add it to their playlists (20%), save the track (+1.4%), and visit your profile page (+9%).” 

These figures aren’t something we can easily dismiss. So, the question remains:  

If Spotify Canvas videos do add value to your tracks, how do you go about creating them? 

Truth is, there are a lot of different avenues you can take. From expensive to free, technical to DIY, amazing to bland, creating video content has a range of possible methods and results.  

As artists, you should be spending time on what you do best: making music. But it’s undeniable that getting to that point requires knowing how to divide your time and energy for promotion, marketing, community building, and so forth. 

Creating a great Canvas video can potentially let you reach unseen audiences, make new fans, and generate organic views and shares. So, let’s dive into how you can easily and quickly get started with creating and uploading your first Spotify Canvas. 

Step One: Finding and Recording Content

Finding content to use for your videos is fairly straightforward. Decide on the energy and style you want to achieve, think about how to create this mood visually—either through location, shot type or coloring filters—and record. 

Of course, not all of us have access to a professional camera, set design, or the time to record clips. Which is why there are a few alternatives that work just as well. 

Repurpose existing content

Look through all the content you already have—this can be video content for social media, promotional material, concert clips, or music videos. Find clips that match the energy of the video you want to create and use this existing footage in a revamped way for your Canvas. 

If you don’t have many video options, try looking through your live images if you have an iPhone. You can save the live image as its own video, and voilà, you will have video content you can use for your Canvas. 

Try out AI-generated content

Another potential resource is to use AI-generated content. Many AI websites have programs designed specifically for creating graphic design elements or programs that can change a still image—your album or single cover, for example—into a moving picture. 

There are a few different options out there, so depending on your comfort level with artificial intelligence, you can find an easy way to generate visual content in the mood, design, and style you are looking for. 

Once you have the content, the next step is to edit your clips together in an appealing way. 

Step Two: Editing

You don’t have to be a great editor to make a 3 to 8-second video loop, but at the same time, you want your clip to be intriguing enough that listeners are curious about you and the track they are listening to. 

Maybe you’ve seen the dramatic Canvas videos visually conveying some intense storyline or situation—paired with a slow starting track. Listeners recognize this juxtaposition between what they’re seeing and hearing, which sparks curiosity. Where is this track going? What is going to happen lyrically? 

Even if your goal isn’t to spark curiosity, editing can take a few simple clips and turn them into whatever mood, ambiance, and energy you’re looking to create. 

Start with a rough cut

If you’ve edited in the past, you’ll know that a key part of the editing process starts with creating a rough cut. A rough cut is where you choose the basic ordering of the clips you want to show.  

Ordering is important for framing the story you want to tell. It’s creating a foundation that you can build upon with filters, effects, and transitions. 

A small note about the rough cut: Depending on how your Canvas is shot, we’d recommend not using too many different clips. Because there’s such a short time allocated for the loop, using lots of different shots can quickly become chaotic and visually overwhelming.  

Choose a rough cut that gives your viewers visual breathing room while, of course, not making something super boring.  

Choose your shots wisely

A lot of Canvas videos take advantage of “showing parts of a whole.”  

Let’s take a look at what we mean by this. 

In this Canvas, we see artist PHELTO's face, full body, and a few scenery shots.

It is more how the shots are divided into different parts that created intrigue for the viewer. Not only are listeners tying the song’s sound and lyrics to the visuals being shown, but they’re also simultaneously piecing together a part of a bigger story (or in this case, a bigger image). 

Having a wide variety of different shots in your video is sometimes less important than simply cropping the shots in a way that creates intrigue. So, if you don’t have a lot of time or video content, consider cropping what you do have into something interesting. 

Once you've chosen your shot layout, you can move forward by adding transitions, effects, and filters to the videos—aka the fun part (at least in our opinion). 

Add in effects

If you’re familiar with editing programs like After Effects, Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, and so forth, you can play around with the various editing features these programs offer.  

An easier (and cheaper) way is to use a free editing app like CapCut (see above), which has hundreds of pre-made edits, an easy-to-use layout, and many filters and effects. Pre-made edits are helpful because you only need to insert your clips, and the app will do the rest—saving you a lot of time and stress. 

Filters are great for distorting your clips into a whole new style, allowing you to sometimes create something completely new from a simple clip of footage. 

Create seamless looping

You may have also seen some Spotify Canvases that create a seamless loop between the start of the Canvas and the end. This requires a bit more finesse and planning, but an easy way to achieve this is to simply cut one video clip into two parts.  

Put the first part at the end of your Canvas and the second part at the start. Add in some intermediary clips that make the two end clips look natural, and you’ve got an endlessly looping Canvas.  

Step Three: Look to External Help

If you want to take your Spotify Canvas game to the next level, or if you really don’t have any editing or video skills, consider looking for an external designer who can create a few options for you. Maybe there’s an artist you can reach out to, whose work you enjoy on social media, or you can hire many freelancers at different price points on a platform like Fiverr. 

In their article on the release of Canvas videos, Spotify shouts out their partner SoundBetter with options to create masterfully designed videos by connecting with designers, but going to external help doesn’t have to be a formal (or expensive) process either. 

Ask around in your network

A more affordable option is to ask a friend to shoot some videos with you or ask around in your network. You hear it a lot in the music industry, but connections can be extremely helpful for your artist career. Not only for opening new doors for your growth but also for giving you the opportunity to learn from those around you. 

Any of your connections creating great Canvas videos? Reach out to them with curiosity about their process. Are they using external help? Are they using specific editing software? You may be surprised how much you can learn by reaching out (kindly and genuinely) to artists who inspire you. 

How to upload your Canvas to Spotify? 

Once you’ve created your Canvas video and are ready to pair it with your track, there are a few conditions to keep in mind before submitting your video: 

• Length: 3 to 8 seconds

• Size: 9x16 ratio (Vertical)

• 720px tall

• MP4 file 

• No URLs, promotions, or call-to-actions 

• All text used in the video must relate to the song 

For the actual upload process, Spotify for Artists has a great explanatory video that walks you through each step: 

Or you can follow these steps: 

1. Log in to your Spotify for Artists account 

2. Go to the “Music” tab 

3. Select the track where you want to add a Canvas 

4. Select “Change Canvas” 

5. Add in your media, and trim if necessary 

6. Select “Post Canvas”