When distributing music through SoundCloud, your artwork must meet the requirements of digital music stores to ensure your release is accepted everywhere. Please review the following guidelines before submitting your release.

Technical Requirements

Minimum quality: 3000 x 3000 pixels, 300dpi

Aspect ratio: 1:1 (must be a perfect square)

Accepted file types: TIFF, PNG, or JPEG

Metadata & Text on Artwork

The artist name(s) and release title must match the release information exactly (including version titles).

Any contributors (featuring artists, producers, songwriters, etc.) must be credited in the release metadata, not just the artwork.

Do not include:

Side-by-side translations of titles

Text that doesn’t match your release metadata

“Parental Advisory” stickers unless your release is marked explicit

Rights & Ownership

You must own 100% of the rights to all images used on the artwork.

Copyrighted images, even those that you have edited or recreated, are not eligible for distribution without valid license documentation.

Original AI-generated images are eligible with valid license documentation.

Artwork That Will Be Rejected

Your release will not be accepted if the artwork contains any of the following:

Poor quality images: blurry, pixelated, stretched, cut-off text or images, uneven borders, off-center images with excessive white space

Generic artwork: plain black/white or single-color squares, artwork reused across multiple releases, stock images found on other artists’ releases

Packaging or promotional references: barcodes, vinyl/CD references, stickers like “Out Now” or “For Promo Use Only”

Logos or branding: social media handles, phone numbers, URLs, QR codes, trademarked images, or brand logos (including AI-generated images of trademarked or copyrighted content)

Anything that otherwise violates SoundCloud’s Community Guidelines, including but not limited to: pornography, hate symbols (e.g., Nazi propaganda), or imagery targeting a protected group

Best Practices

Always use clear, high-resolution images

Keep text sharp and legible (never stretched or blurry)

Ensure your artwork matches your metadata exactly

Use unique artwork for each release to avoid rejection

Credit all contributors properly in metadata, not on the artwork