Best Spotify Canvas Makers (2026): AI Tools Compared

A Spotify Canvas is the short vertical loop that plays behind a song in the Spotify app. It is small, but it is the first thing a listener sees on the Now Playing screen, so it is worth getting right. Melodious (melodious.ai) is an AI music video maker: you upload a song, an AI director plans and renders a music video to it, and the finished video has a 9:16 version you can cut a Canvas from. This guide compares it with the other Spotify Canvas makers and generators, and shows how to check a Canvas before you upload it.

What a Canvas has to be

Spotify sets the rules, so every tool is aiming at the same file:

• Vertical, 9:16. It fills the phone screen.
• 3 to 8 seconds long, played on a loop.
• 720 to 1080 pixels tall, as an MP4 or JPG.
• No audio. The song plays over it.
• A clean loop. If the last frame is very different from the first, listeners see a hard cut every few seconds.

Those numbers come from Spotify's Canvas guidelines. For how to add one, and what to do when it does not show, see Spotify Canvas: what it is, size, length and how to add one.

The best Spotify Canvas makers at a glance

Facts checked November 4, 2026, from each tool's own site: One More Shot, Rotor Videos pricing and Solmi, as linked in our comparisons.

1. One More Shot: a Canvas in a release kit

One More Shot makes a music video from your song with an AI director, and around it a release kit that includes a Spotify Canvas, vertical cuts, covers and a lyric video, per its site. Your first video is free, and plans start at $29 a month. See Melodious vs One More Shot.

2. Rotor Videos: a cheap Canvas from stock clips

Rotor Videos cuts your music to stock footage in a chosen style. A Spotify Canvas costs 1 credit pay as you go (credits from $9.99) and is included on its Streaming and Pro plans. It is the low-cost choice if stock footage suits the song. See Melodious vs Rotor Videos.

3. Solmi: a Canvas among many formats

Solmi lists Spotify Canvas among its song formats, alongside music videos, dance videos and Reels. A new web account gets a free 20-second preview; its llms-full.txt lists plans from $35 a month (its pricing page did not load when we checked). See Melodious vs Solmi.

4. Melodious: a Spotify Canvas generator built into your vertical music video

Melodious makes music videos from your song, and we make it. You upload the track, describe what you picture to the AI director, review a storyboard planned against your song's sections, and get one stitched, synced video. The video is made in 16:9, and the finished screen can make a 9:16 file, a crop of the same edit framed around the singer, at no extra charge. You cut the Canvas from that file yourself.

To make the Canvas, cut 3 to 8 seconds from the 9:16 file, ideally from a shot where nobody is singing to camera, since lip movement drifts out of sync when it loops, and check it with our free Spotify Canvas checker before uploading. Starter is $29 a month (enough for a 30-second video with lip sync on its sung shots), Artist $97 and Label $147. There is no free tier.

5. Any editor: if you already have the footage

If you have a clip from a shoot, a phone, or a section of an existing video, you do not need a Canvas tool at all. Cut 3 to 8 seconds in any editor, remove the audio, and export vertical. The hard part is the loop: pick a start and end that look alike.

How to make a Spotify Canvas in Melodious, step by step

1. Upload the finished song and confirm you have the rights to it.
2. Answer the director's questions. It listens to the track first, working out the tempo, the sections and whether there is a vocal, then asks which part of the song to make and who should be on screen.
3. Pick one of three ideas and review the storyboard. Spotify advises against singing to camera in a Canvas, so ask the director for at least one shot with movement and no singer, such as rain on a window, a slow drive or light moving across a face. That is the shot you will loop.
4. Render, then make the 9:16 file. The storyboard and the video each run at the price shown first. On the finished screen, make the 9:16 file: a crop of the same edit, with no new render. Cut your 3 to 8 seconds from it.
5. Check and upload. Run the clip through the checker below, then add it to the track in Spotify for Artists.

Because the Canvas comes from the same render as the video, the loop and the video share one look, which is harder to get when each comes from a different tool.

What makes a Canvas loop work

A Canvas plays over and over while the song runs, so the things that look fine in a music video can grate after the tenth loop:

• Slow, continuous motion loops best: smoke, water, a moving camera, light changing. Quick cuts restart visibly every few seconds.
• Avoid lip sync and talking. The loop restarts independently of the music, so a singing mouth drifts out of time with the vocal. Spotify's guidelines also advise against singing, talking and rapping in a Canvas.
• Leave text out. The app already draws the song title and artist name over the bottom of the screen, and Spotify suggests not repeating them.
• Keep the subject centred. Some phones crop the edges, and the controls sit over the lower third.
• Match the first and last frames, or choose the rebound loop type, which plays forward then in reverse so there is no visible jump.

What a Canvas maker cannot do for you

No tool, Melodious included, uploads the Canvas to Spotify for you: you add it per track in Spotify for Artists (how, per Spotify), and only to versions of the track you own. A Canvas also shows only in the Spotify mobile app, per Spotify's Canvas not showing page, so listeners on desktop or the web player see your cover art. And Melodious does not make a Canvas on its own: it comes with a vertical music video, so if you only need a loop and already have footage, an editor is the cheaper route.

Check your Canvas before you upload

Whichever tool you use, check the file first. Our free Spotify Canvas checker runs in your browser: it tells you whether the clip meets Spotify's spec, tests how cleanly it loops by comparing the first and last frames, and crops it to vertical. Nothing is uploaded.

How a Canvas fits a release

1. Cut the Canvas from the music video, or from its 9:16 version, so the Canvas and the social cuts share one look.
2. Pick the loop from the hook, the part of the song people will hear most.
3. Check the loop point, so it does not jump every few seconds.
4. Upload it in Spotify for Artists for the track, ideally before release day.

For the wider category, see our best AI music video generators comparison.

Frequently asked questions

What is a Spotify Canvas?+

A Spotify Canvas is a short vertical loop, 3 to 8 seconds long, that plays behind a track in the Spotify mobile app in place of the cover art. Artists upload it per track through Spotify for Artists.

What are the Spotify Canvas requirements?+

Per Spotify's guidelines: vertical 9:16, 3 to 8 seconds long, 720 to 1080 pixels tall, as an MP4 or JPG, with no sound. It should loop cleanly, because it restarts over and over behind the song.

Can Melodious make a Spotify Canvas?+

Not as a ready-made loop; it is not a Canvas maker. Melodious makes the music video, and the finished screen can make a 9:16 version of it, a crop of the same edit. Cut 3 to 8 seconds from that file and check it with our Spotify Canvas checker before uploading.

Is there a free Spotify Canvas maker?+

Our Spotify Canvas checker is free and runs in your browser: it checks a clip against the spec, tests whether it loops, and crops it to vertical. It does not generate footage. Making footage with AI costs money on most tools; a few offer a free first video or preview, and Melodious has no free tier.

Can AI generate a Spotify Canvas?+

Yes. AI video tools can generate the footage, and some song-first ones plan it from your track. Pick a part without anyone singing to camera, since a loop restarts independently of the song and lip movement drifts out of sync. Check the length, size and loop point before uploading.

Where does a Spotify Canvas show up?+

Per Spotify's Canvas page for artists, it plays in the Now Playing view of the mobile app, can be discovered through visual feeds on Home and in playlists, and appears when a track is shared to social stories. Listeners can hide it with Data Saver or the Videos and Canvas setting.