Here’s how to get full-screen album art on Spotify:
To view full-screen album art on Spotify, click on the full-screen icon on the right of the player.
Keep in mind that this feature is only available for premium subscribers and only on desktop versions of the app.
If you want full-screen album art anyway, you’ll need a third-party app to make that possible.
So if you want to learn all about displaying full-screen album art on Spotify, then this article is for you.
Let’s get started!
How Do You Display Album Art in Full Screen on Spotify? (3 Versions)
Let’s start with the mechanics of how to do it.
If you want full-screen album art while you’re using Spotify, there’s a feature built into the software to help you do that.
There are some catches and limitations, and I’ll cover them, but first, let’s go through the motions.
When you have Spotify open, there is a full-screen icon on the right side of the Play Bar.
Click on it, and it will display your album art in full.
It’s that easy.
But, we have to cover some catches.
This option is not universally available.
It depends on the version of Spotify you are using and your account status.
#1 Premium Features
In other words, full-screen album art is a premium feature.
You have to be a premium subscriber in order to see that button and use it.
If you aren’t, then the built-in feature is not available. If you don’t want to subscribe just for full-screen art, I will discuss alternative solutions in a bit.
For the sake of thoroughness, the full-screen feature is standard for premium subscribers.
Currently, that subscription is $9.99 per month.
It comes with other perks, but I’m not here to advertise for Spotify today.
I just wanted to let you know how it works and what is involved.
There’s one more thing.
Even if you are a premium subscriber, there are instances where you can or can’t use the full-screen feature.
#2 Desktop App
This is really all about Spotify versions.
Basically, full-screen album art is not available on mobile versions of the app.
It’s only there on the desktop versions.
Spotify hasn’t explained this rationale, but it’s probably related to screen size and user-interface optimization.
It might even be a feature to save battery life on mobile devices. I’m speculating here.
The real point is you have to be on the desktop version for full-screen art.
More specifically, it’s available on the Windows and macOS versions of Spotify.
There is a Spotify variant for Linux, but it’s more of a passion project, and it often has fewer features and services available when compared to Windows and macOS versions.
So, to summarize this whole thing, if you’re using the native Spotify full-screen art feature, you have to have a premium subscription, and you have to use the desktop version.
#3 Additional Options
So far, this is all pretty easy.
You know how to use the Spotify feature, and you know when it is and isn’t available.
What if you want to do this on mobile?
Or, what if you don’t want to pay for premium Spotify?
You still have some options, but it’s all a lot less straightforward.
Basically, you can use third-party software to display art for you while you use Spotify.
You can search the respective app store for your mobile device to see if anything satisfies what you want.
On a desktop, you can look for software on the internet that displays art for you.
Some apps even integrate with Spotify for an easier experience.
There’s a huge but mixed into this.
Since these are third-party apps, they aren’t supported directly by Spotify.
They can interfere with the Spotify experience and ultimately mess up music playback, visual displays, or anything else.
On top of that, I don’t have any vetted apps that I can recommend to you.
This is pretty niche stuff, and I didn’t find any mainstream developers who were making Spotify full-screen art add-ons.Â
That means you’re back to the wild west of the internet.
Be wary of where you find apps that give you the options you want.
There’s definitely a risk of malicious software. Even when it isn’t malicious, it might be buggy or unpleasant in any number of ways.
Exercise caution and try to research an app before you download or install it.
How Can You Get Album Art on Spotify?
I’m going to be thorough today.
Now that you know what is involved in full-screen art, we still have to talk about how to get the art in the first place.
If you use Spotify, you already know that album art is automatically displayed for any song.
That part is easy.
But, if you’re using third-party apps, things aren’t always as simple.
Some of them might integrate nicely and allow you to full-screen the art that is already on Spotify.
Others might not be that seamless.
In those cases, you’ll want to get your own copies of the album art that the extra app can utilize.
I have some recommendations for where to find art in the next section.
Before that, I want to make sure this is clear.
You’re starting down a pretty long and winding road.
Since you’re skipping native Spotify features, you’re probably going to have to tinker endlessly with your alternative solution.
As long as that’s acceptable, then, by all means, keep reading and find some great art.
Where Can You Find Additional Album Art?
Ok. Here’s the final piece of the puzzle.
If you’re fully customizing your experience, then you’ll want album art.
You might even want alternative art to make things interesting.
It’s all up to you.
If you’re trying to search for album art, the easiest and riskiest resource is Google Image searches.
You can definitely find art for any album there, but you’ll want to be careful about downloading it.
Google Image search pulls from all over, so some downloads could prove malicious.
Use the safe search feature, and feel free to scan the downloads with antivirus software before you commit.
If you want album art resources where things are a little more consolidated, you have options.
Album Art Downloader is good for Windows users.
Discogs is great for iOS and Android.
MusicBrainz is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
There are undoubtedly plenty of other options, but these are the ones I explored in my research.
