How to find the album art for any song
Search the song title together with the artist name — searching either alone returns too many unrelated releases. The result you want is the album the track originally appeared on, not a compilation or a greatest-hits collection, unless that is specifically the edition you own. If a release cannot be found at all, it is likely absent from the mainstream catalogue, and Cover Art Archive or Discogs are the places to look next.
- 1
Search the artist and title together
Type the artist name followed by the song or album title. Artist alone returns their entire discography; title alone collides with every cover version, karaoke release and unrelated record sharing the name.
- 2
Pick the right release
Popular songs appear on the original album, on compilations, on deluxe reissues and on live records — each with different artwork. Check the album name on the result rather than the song title, and match it to the edition you actually have.
- 3
Download it
Open the result and download the cover. If you are tagging files, 600–1000 pixels is the practical size; for a media server folder image, 1200 is comfortable.
Deluxe editions, remasters and live albums
A single album can exist in a dozen versions, and the artwork is frequently not identical between them. Anniversary reissues restyle the original. Deluxe editions add a band or a different colourway. Live records sharing a studio album’s title carry entirely different covers.
If precision matters — because your library shows the cover next to the tracks — match the edition rather than the title. If it does not, the original studio artwork is the safe default and the one most people expect to see.
When the release is not in the catalogue
Bootlegs, small independent pressings, regional releases and some back catalogue simply are not in Apple’s or Spotify’s catalogues. No search of those services will find them, however the query is phrased.
Cover Art Archive, run alongside MusicBrainz, is the best free alternative and covers a much longer tail. Discogs is stronger still for physical pressings, vinyl variants and obscure editions, since its data comes from collectors cataloguing what they own.
Common questions
Can I search by song rather than album?
Yes. Searching a track name returns the album it appears on, and it is the album’s artwork you get — individual songs do not have their own covers unless released as singles.
What if two albums share a title?
Include the artist in the search. Album titles are not unique, and one-word titles in particular collide across dozens of unrelated releases.
Why can I not find a very old or obscure album?
It is probably not in the streaming catalogue at all. Try Cover Art Archive via MusicBrainz, or Discogs, which between them cover far more of the long tail than any streaming service.
Need the cover right now?
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Download a coverRelated guides
How to download album cover art from Spotify
Copy the Spotify track, album or playlist link, paste it into CoverHoard, and download the cover at full resolution. No signup, no screenshots, no browser extension.
Album art for Plex, Jellyfin and Navidrome
Which filenames each media server looks for, where to put the image, and why covers sometimes refuse to appear even when the file is right.