The tools for music production and online distribution are now at your fingertips. This means more and more indie artists are taking the do-it-yourself route to getting their music out there. Many have even taken to making their own album art using Photoshop or similar software.
If you do decide to make your own album art, here are three basic rules to consider.
Format
For starters, use the standard square. Nearly all platforms are set to display square album art and you don’t want yours being distorted to fit their interface.
If you publish your music through services like CD Baby or Tunecore they will often tell you the optimal size of your album art image file. Typically it’s between 1400 x 1400 pixels and 2000 x 2000. To be safe create yours in the larger 2000 x 2000 size and make the resolution 300 pixels per inch (print quality, but also looks better on retina displays). If you want to make a vinyl record cover, it’s 3750 x 3750 (12.5 in x 12.5 in). By starting bigger, you can always export into a smaller image size that’s optimized for whichever service you’re using.
Always upload an optimized file when you have the opportunity. As a general rule of thumb, it’s better to let Photoshop process your image to the correct size than whatever automatic resizing feature exists in a website.
Style
Think about the context in which your art will be displayed. If you’re putting your music on iTunes or SoundCloud, think about the fact that your art will be displayed mostly as a large thumbnail. This may influence your decision to use certain text and fonts. Try and design something that looks great in multiple sizes, knowing that’s inevitably how it will be viewed.
Beauty
Because the tools for creating professional-looking media have become more accessible, the standard of quality has certainly gone up. There’s more competition out there and you can no longer get away with producing something that doesn’t look excellent. The bar has been raised and so make sure your artwork looks beautiful.
It’s never been easier to produce an album. Album artwork is no exception to that. By following these simple guidelines, you can create a lasting visual identity for your work with the tools already at your fingertips.
Make Pro Songs
There are 8 unique value-points inside the Sage Audio membership, so let’s go over each one so you can decide if it’s the right fit for you.
1. 50 Free Mastered Songs Per Year
- 50 free mastered songs per year with your own dedicated professional mastering engineer so you can get all your mixes sounding like professional songs.
- You’ll get your own dedicated Sage Audio mastering engineer to create custom masters that are specific to you and sound exactly how you want.
- Unlimited revisions with your dedicated Sage Audio mastering engineer. As a standard of our service, we are not happy until you are happy with the sound of your masters.
- All masters are delivered as commercial, industry-standard high-resolution 24-bit HD WAV masters so they will sound clean and clear on every platform.
2. 1-on-1 Mentorship
- The Sage Audio 1:1 Mentorship gives you direct access to us to answer all your questions and receive unlimited advanced mixing feedback directly from us.
- Unlimited direct access to us for in-depth discussions to help you improve your mixes and masters.
- Unlimited advanced mixing feedback with detailed suggestions for improvement.
- Fast communication to answer all your questions and get tailored guidance that’s specific to your needs.
3. Unlimited Mixing Feedback
- Unlimited mixing feedback so you can improve your mixes quickly.
- This is highly valuable - giving you access to a thriving community of mixing engineers who can provide feedback about what you can improve before sending your mix to be professionally mastered.
4. Sage Audio University™ (SAU) — (Mixing and Mastering Education Platform)
- SAU is a modern audio engineering education platform that includes in-depth mixing and mastering course curriculums that match the new music industry.
- SAU is designed for every experience level, ranging from first-time mixing engineers to advanced engineers. The techniques and concepts taught can be applied to any DAW to create industry-leading mixes without expensive software or plugins - and free plugin alternatives are suggested throughout every course curriculum.
- SAU course curriculums include Start-to-Finish session walkthrough lessons for multiple genres so you can follow along with your preferred genre.
- SAU Certification Document, which can be downloaded and showcased on your website, social channels, and portfolio for as long as you remain a member.
- Get first access to all future SAU course curriculums to continually build and refine your mixing and mastering skills as the industry evolves.
5. Mixing and Mastering Competitions
- Compete in Mixing Competitions and Mastering Competitions to win prizes and connect with friends and colleagues.
- This is a great collaborative way to improve your skills alongside both aspiring engineers and seasoned industry professionals.
6. Community
- The Sage Audio community is a tight-knit community of passionate audio engineers who can provide you with real-world mixing feedback, meaningful discussions, networking, collaborations, and more.
7. 70+ GB of Curated Sage Audio Downloadable Content, Including:
- 36 multitrack sessions spanning multiple genres for mixing practice.
- 57 un-mastered mixes spanning multiple genres for mastering practice.
- 62 Recommended Free Plugins List (vetted, tested, and approved, so you don’t have to).
- 39 Recommended Paid Plugins List (vetted, tested, and approved, so you don’t have to).
- 58 Sage Audio custom plugin presets to improve your mixes and masters.
- Sage Audio Membership Badge to showcase on your website, social channels, and portfolio.
8. 700+ Video Catalog
- Access 700+ in-depth Sage Audio mixing and mastering videos - curated and organized into playlists so you can take a deep dive into all aspects of audio engineering with thousands of hours of concise, expertly crafted Sage Audio videos to continually improve your mixing and mastering skills at your own pace.
