This article is a part of ANS’s Audio Content Guidelines.
Reminder: Cover artwork is mandatory. Deliver the original artwork whenever possible.
Quality #
Artwork format. The artwork must be in JPEG or PNG format, between 1440×1440 and 3000×3000 pixels.
Pixelated, blurry, stretched, misaligned or rotated artworks are not accepted.
Cropped images / Additional bars on artworks. Not accepted: covers containing additional bars (that are not a part of artwork’s design) to fit the required resolution or artworks that a missing part(s) of the image (or information).
Artistic choice. In some cases, blurry, pixelated, misaligned, cropped and rotated artworks may be accepted if the mentioned effects are displayed as artistic choice and in artistic purposes.
Image content #
Artwork image content rules include but are not limited to:
Third parties IP. Displaying of third party’s intellectual property on the artwork is not accepted on any store. Do not display famous characters, pieces of arts, logos, trademarks, industrial design etc. without prior authorization from their owner. Representation of an artist as a character of movie, TV show or cartoon may be tolerated for artistic choices. Note that any parody or misuse of third parties IP may be rejected despite artistic choice.
Pornographic content. Artworks displaying pornographic content are not accepted.
Nazi propaganda. Artworks depicting Nazi symbolism are not accepted.
Terrorism. Artworks displaying terrorist content or promoting terrorist activities are not accepted.
Cultural sensitivities. (according to stores policies and territorial legislation) May be rejected: artworks displaying shocking images or graphic content, artworks promoting or displaying any form of children safety issues, harassment, extreme violence, xenophobic content or any other discriminatory content, artworks containing images of nudity (even with Explicit Content Logo), drug reference or depiction of drug.
Generic templates. Artworks using generic templates are not accepted. Artworks using the same image while changing the color pallet are considered as generic templates and are not accepted either.
ANS will have complete freedom to adapt its artwork guidelines regarding delivery to sensitive territories, at its sole discretion, from time to time.
Information #
Artwork/Metadata Mismatch. Information displayed on the artwork should match exactly the release’s metadata (i.e. Artist’s Name, Release Titles, etc.). Note that displaying information in alphabet/language that is different to metadata’s but matches it in meaning is considered a mismatch.
Misuse of Parental Advisory/Explicit Content logo. Don’t use the Parental Advisory/Explicit Content logo on the artwork unless one of the tracks is marked as explicit. Note that the “Restricted logo” is solely used for R rated movies, not music.
Stores names and logos. Artworks containing Digital Music Store names or logos are not accepted. Do not display Stores names or logos even if the release will be distributed on these stores.
Misleading artworks / Missing content. Artworks referencing information or content (i.e. “video included”) that is not included in the release are not accepted. Do not display information that may mislead a customer in any way on the artwork.
References to physical or digital product. Artworks containing references to physical support or digital product (i.e., “CD”, “Cassette”, “mp3”,QR codes, Dolby Atmos etc.) are not accepted.
Information limited in time. Artworks containing terms and notions that can be true only for a certain period (i.e., “New”, “Latest”, “Coming Soon”,”Unreleased” etc.) are not accepted.
Pricing tags / Barcodes. Artworks containing prices in any currency or barcodes (even for design purposes) are not accepted.
Rights limitation. Artworks that forbid or limit distribution rights in any way are not accepted (i.e., phrases like “All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means”).
Up-selling / Advertising. Artworks that up-sell or advertise another product are not accepted.
Contact information. Artworks containing contact information of any sort (phone numbers, e-mail, etc.) or web-links are not accepted.
