What do I need to keep in mind about embedding cover art into audio and video files?

There are 3 things that you should consider if you plan to have cover art embedded into your audio and/or video files:

  1. Audio File Format – Note that the WAV & OGG audio file formats do NOT support displaying cover art while playing the cover reliably in ALL audio players. Recently, MAC computers have added this capability and some players (like VLC player on PC) will now display covers embedded in a WAV & OGG. We CAN and WILL GLADLY embed your cover art into your WAV & OGG audio file but if displaying cover art is important to you then you should send an additional audio file format for embedding such as MP3, M4A, FLAC, MKA, AAC, AIFF, or WMA.
  2. Cover Content – The information shown on your cover (your track title, band/artist name, etc.) should match what is embedded in the file. Make sure whatever you decide to include on the cover actually matches what you have us embed. Our clients are increasingly reporting back to us that their music distributors/platforms are getting rather picky about making sure this matches up. Also avoid trademarked logos/icons of other companies. (The trick is LESS is MORE. When in doubt, stick to Artist Name and Title on a background image.)
  3. Parental Advisory – If you have an explicit and a clean (radio/tv edit) of your song/video then you should not only have separate ISRC and UPC codes but also separate covers. The explicit cover should have the parental advisory logo while the clean cover should be without it. Please be sure to send BOTH covers with your music or video files when doing an embedding order.