How do I change the cover picture on my Samsung music?
The cover art associated with albums and songs is an important part of the listening experience for many music fans. Having the right cover image can help set the mood when listening to music. For Samsung device owners, changing the cover images in the Samsung Music app allows you to customize your music library to suit your preferences.
You may want to change the cover pictures on your Samsung music player for several reasons:
- The default cover art may be low quality, incorrect, or missing entirely
- You want cover art to match a particular theme or aesthetic for your music library
- The current covers don’t reflect your vision for the vibe of an album or playlist
- You prefer uniform cover images for compilation albums or custom playlists
- Changing covers can help you visually distinguish different genres or moods
Having full control over your music library’s visual appearance can greatly enhance your listening experience. Customizing cover images is an easy way to put your personal stamp on your Samsung music collection.
Locate Cover Art Settings
To change the cover art in Samsung Music, the first step is to locate the settings where you can select a new image. The location of the cover art settings varies slightly depending on the model of your Samsung device:
On newer Samsung models like the Galaxy S21, open the Samsung Music app and select the album you want to customize. Tap the three dot menu button in the top right corner, then choose “Change cover image” to pick a new photo from your files.
For older Samsung models, open the Settings app and select Apps. Choose the Music app from the list of apps. In the Music settings, tap Cover Images to manage which photos are used for your album covers.
On the Galaxy S9 and earlier models, open the Samsung Music app and long press on an album cover. This will open the cover image view where you can tap the edit icon in the top right corner to change the picture.
So in summary, the setting to modify cover art is generally found in the menus of the Samsung Music app itself or in the App settings. Once you locate it, you’ll be able to point to a new image file to customize the look of your albums.
Change Cover via Windows Explorer
You can use Windows Explorer to easily replace the image file that is being used for the cover art.
First, navigate to the folder where your music files are stored. This is typically in your Music folder under My Documents. Then go into the album folder that contains the song you want to change the cover for.
There should be a file in this folder called Folder.jpg or AlbumArtSmall.jpg – this is the file that stores the cover art image. Simply right click on this file and select Rename. Change the name to something like Folder-old.jpg so you still have the original file.
Next, find the image file you want to use for the new cover art. This needs to be a .jpg file. Copy or move the new image file into the album folder, and rename it to Folder.jpg or AlbumArtSmall.jpg to match the original file name.
Once you’ve replaced the image file with your new cover art, refresh the library in Windows Media Player. The new cover should now be associated with that album.
Change Cover in iTunes
One way to change the cover art for albums on your Samsung device is by editing it in iTunes before syncing. To do this:
1. Connect your Samsung device to your computer and open iTunes. Go to the library and locate the album you want to edit.
2. Right click on the album and select “Get Info.” In the info window, go to the Artwork tab.
3. Delete the current artwork by clicking the “X” icon. Then click “Add…” to select a new image file from your computer to use as cover art.
4. Once you’ve added the new cover art, click “OK” to save the changes.
5. Sync your Samsung device with iTunes. The new album artwork should now transfer over. You may need to wait for your device’s media library to refresh.
The advantage of using iTunes is that it gives you full control over the cover art. However, any changes will only apply when the device is synced to that library. Make sure to back up the original covers in case you want to revert back.
For complete details, see Apple’s support article on managing album artwork in iTunes.
Use Samsung Kies Software
Samsung Kies is a desktop software application designed to sync content between Samsung devices and computers. One of its capabilities is managing music files, including changing cover art for albums and songs.
To change cover art using Samsung Kies, first download and install the latest version of the software on your Windows or Mac computer. Connect your Samsung device to your computer using a USB cable. Open the Kies application.
You will see your phone’s content displayed in Kies. Navigate to the “Music” section. Here you can browse albums and songs stored on your device. Right click on an album or song and select “Edit track info.” In the track info pop-up, click the album art thumbnail to change it.
Kies will open a file browser where you can select a new image from your computer to use as cover art. Once selected, click “OK” to change the album or song cover. Kies will sync the new cover image to your phone. You may need to manually refresh the music app on your phone to see the new cover art.
The main benefit of using Samsung Kies for cover art management is it provides an easy desktop interface. Kies can batch edit multiple albums at once. It also supports adding cover art to tracks that did not originally have any. One limitation is that Kies requires a PC connection, while built-in music apps allow quick editing over WiFi.
Cover Art File Specifications
When selecting or creating cover art images for music files on your Samsung device, it’s important to follow the proper specifications for dimensions, file types, and size limits. This will ensure the cover art displays properly in the Samsung Music app and across your device.
The recommended dimensions for cover art files for Samsung devices are at least 320×320 pixels. Using square images at least this size will prevent distortion or pixilation when viewing the album covers. For best quality, aim for dimensions of 512×512 pixels or larger if possible.
Common file types supported for cover art include JPG/JPEG, PNG, and GIF. JPG often provides the best results in terms of quality and compression. PNG files support transparency for album covers with irregular shapes. GIFs can be used but may have lower quality.
Try to keep cover art file sizes below 300-400 KB if possible. Very large files can slow down loading of album covers. Using JPG compression levels of 60-80% can reduce file sizes while maintaining good quality.
Following these specifications when selecting cover art will help ensure crisp, clear album cover images that load quickly within the Samsung Music player and other apps.
Refreshing the Library
After replacing the cover art file for a song or album, you may find that Samsung Music does not immediately update the cover image in your library. This is because the app caches the artwork to load it faster, so you need to manually refresh the library to clear the cache and reload the new cover art.
To refresh the library in Samsung Music, open the app and tap on the Settings icon in the top right. Then go to Library > Refresh library. This will rescan your entire music collection and rebuild the cache with the new cover images.
You can also refresh an individual album or artist by long pressing on it and choosing "Refresh album info" or "Refresh artist info." This is useful if you only changed the covers for one album and want to quickly update just that section.
After refreshing, you may need to close the app and reopen it for the new cover art to display properly across your library. If it still does not update, try restarting your phone as that will completely clear the app cache.
Some users have reported needing to refresh multiple times before new covers show up correctly [1]. So if your new artwork does not appear immediately, retry refreshing the library a few times. But this method should eventually get Samsung Music to recognize and display the updated cover images.
[1] “Samsung Music is still showing the wrong album art…”, Samsung Community forums, https://us.community.samsung.com/t5/Samsung-Apps-and-Services/Samsung-Music-is-still-showing-the-wrong-album-art-%EF%B8%8F/td-p/2571463
Troubleshooting Tips
If you are having issues with the album art not changing properly in Samsung Music, here are some troubleshooting tips:
First, make sure the cover art files meet the proper specifications. Samsung Music requires cover art to be PNG or JPG files under 2MB in size (https://www.sammobile.com/news/mysterious-album-art-issues-fixed-by-new-samsung-music-update/). If the files are too large or the wrong format, they may fail to load properly.
Next, try clearing the app cache and data for Samsung Music. Open your device Settings, go to Apps, select Samsung Music, and choose “Clear Cache” and “Clear Data.” This will reset the app and often fix issues with missing or wrong album art (https://us.community.samsung.com/t5/Samsung-Apps-and-Services/Issues-with-adding-album-cover-Samsung-Music-App/td-p/2522375).
Finally, check that the music library is properly refreshed after adding new cover art. In Samsung Music, go to Settings > Refresh Music Library to initiate a scan. Allow time for the app to fully update the library before expecting to see new cover images.
If problems persist, try removing the misbehaving songs and re-adding them fresh along with the new cover art. This can help resync everything properly. Contact Samsung Support if no solutions resolve the issue.
Customizing Covers Further
If the basic options for updating cover art don’t give you enough control, there are other ways to further customize the covers on Samsung Music. One option is to use third party cover art editing apps. For example, apps like Cover Art Grabber let you download cover art from various online databases, edit it, and save the customized version to your device. You can then set this cover art in Samsung Music.
Advanced users can also edit the metadata tags directly using programs like MP3Tag. This gives full control over every album art and song detail. However, directly editing tags is complex and risks corrupting files if not done properly. For most users, a dedicated cover art app gives the best balance of customization options without complexity.
No matter how you choose to customize your album covers, putting in the extra effort can make your music library much more visually appealing. Just be careful not to go overboard and lose cohesiveness across covers when editing them individually!
Conclusion
Changing the cover art for music on your Samsung device helps personalize your listening experience. With a few simple steps, you can update the cover images to match your preferences.
The easiest options are to change covers directly through Windows Explorer or iTunes. For more control, use the Samsung Kies software. Whichever method you choose, aim for high-quality image files that meet the specifications for cover art.
After changing covers, be sure to refresh the music library on your device. You may need to restart the phone or player as well. With the right techniques, you can customize covers to showcase your favorite albums.
In summary, updating cover art is an easy way to put your personal stamp on music libraries. With the right tools and image files, you can change Samsung covers quickly. Pick your favorite option and enjoy your refreshed music collection.