What’s the Perfect Soundcloud Banner Size? (With Examples)7 min read

Whether you’re an artist or have a podcast, having an optimized Soundcloud profile can go a long way. One of the few things that you want to do is to create and upload a high quality header. However, for best results, you need to stick with the recommended Soundcloud banner size.

Of course, when it comes to a music platform such as Soundcloud, your actual talent matters more – everything else, including how your profile photo and banner look, comes later.

That being said, they do matter. And there’s a lot a potential talent seeker can tell about you by just looking at your header image.

To help you get it right, in this article, I’m going to take you through:

• The ideal Soundcloud banner size
• How to easily design an amazing Soundcloud header
• Quick tips for designing a banner
• Ways to upload/update the header on Soundcloud

Let’s jump in.

Recommended Soundcloud Banner Size

The right Soundcloud banner size (that works on all screens without getting pixelated or cut off) is 2480 x 520 pixels.

In addition to using the recommended dimensions, make sure your header is either a JPG or PNG image. Furthermore, Soundcloud has a 2 megabytes file size limit for headers.

On the other hand, the recommended Soundcloud profile picture size is 1000 x 1000 pixels, which is an aspect ratio of 1:1. Additionally, the file/image size for profile images is also 2MB.

Why Having a Banner is Important

Soundcloud is one of the largest online music platforms where rookies and professionals alike share their songs and get discovered.

In fact, some of the most successful artists today – including the likes of Post Malone and Kygo, to name a few – found their big breaks through Soundcloud.

Considering that there’s so much potential, you need to make your first impressions count.

And the best way to leave a lasting impression (besides having a fire track or a highly interesting podcast) is to have a kickass header image on your Soundcloud page that speaks for your style.

Think of it this way: As an artist, you’d probably wear the best shirt you own for your first meeting with a record label, right? The same thing applies to your Soundcloud profile – presentation matters.

How to Design a Groovy Soundcloud Banner from Scratch?

Creating a Soundcloud banner (or any visual asset, for that matter) from scratch requires a lot of effort.

Plus, if you’re just starting out, paying someone to design one might not be an option.

Lucky for us, we can always use Pixelied, which is a powerful online graphic design tool just as good as Canva (if not better), to create professional-looking banners in a matter of a few minutes.

The platform offers a bunch of free Soundcloud banner templates that you can easily customize, download, and upload on your profile.

With Pixelied, you won’t have to worry about leveraging complicated custom design tools. And you certainly won’t have to worry about setting the dimensions to the recommended Soundcloud banner size (all templates are 2480 x 520 pixels by default).

Let’s dive into the actual process:

Step 1: Open Pixelied’s Free Editor

Open up Pixelied’s easy-to-use editor to start creating stunning Soundcloud banners for your profile.

Step 2: Select a Template You Like

As you open the editor, the canvas is set to recommended dimensions (2480 x 520) by default.

Here, you can also scroll through the different formats of templates available at your disposal.

Once a template has been clicked on, it’ll load on to the canvas and you can customize it using stock photos, icons, illustrations, BG remover, mockups and much more.

Step 3: Customize with Our User-Friendly Editor

This is where the magic happens. Here’s what the platform looks like:

At this point, you have two options:

• Simply download the template without any editing
• Edit and customize the template according to your brand (highly recommended)

To get a quick idea of what you can do with this tool, here are all the features that it offers:

• Vast Library of Templates – you already know this. Pixelied has one of the largest collections of templates for blogs, emails, and social media design.
• Access to Stock Photos – another cool thing about Pixelied is that it sources millions of royalty-free stock images from Unsplash right there on the editor. You can conveniently add them to your designs without downloading/uploading them separately.
• Advanced Features – some of them include the ability to add borders, shadows, remove backgrounds, and upload and edit SVG/vector files.
• 900+ Google Fonts – with Pixelied, you get direct access to over 900 Google fonts through the editor. You won’t have to download and install each font separately on your device.
• Design Elements and Icons – add finishing touches to your Soundcloud banner and make it more appealing by using the free design elements/icons on Pixelied.

In addition to the above, Pixelied also offers text manipulation and file organizing capabilities.

Tips for Designing an Eye-Catching Soundcloud Profile Header

The templates and the easy-to-use features of Pixelied can help you stick to the right Soundcloud banner size and design something that looks professional.

But in order to make your Soundcloud account stand out, there are certain best practices that you should know.

Let’s take a look what they are (and why they’re important):

1.      Make it Branded

Whether you’re creating a Soundcloud header or a Twitch banner, one thing that you should positively do is to make it branded.

If you want to play in the big leagues, you can’t blend in with the crowd.

Instead, you need to create a separate identity for yourself. Or in other words, you need to make yourself more recognizable.

To that end, I recommend creating thorough brand guidelines – with your logo, color palette, typography, and everything else – and just staying true to it.

2.      Add Elements in “Exposed” Areas Only

Another important thing to remember when designing a Soundcloud header is that once you upload it on your profile, not all of it will be visible.

Just like a Facebook or a Twitter cover photo, there are some small bits that are covered by the profile picture and a few basic personal details.

To be specific, avoid adding any text or any design element to the areas highlighted in yellow:

Wondering why I highlighted some extra space beneath the profile image?

Well, for one, there isn’t much space to work with.

Secondly, the screenshot was taken on a desktop. In the mobile app, the profile image is situated half-way down and covers that little area.

3.      Highlight the Hottest Release

You don’t have to use the same Soundcloud header for the rest of your life.

To keep things fresh, it’s advised to design something new every few months.

A great way to make the most of your headers is to promote your latest singles or album releases, like so:

Despite getting enough press coverage, the Soundcloud accounts of even the most successful artists follow this practice.

Someone who isn’t well-known (yet) should most definitely use their header as an opportunity to share quick information about their hottest releases.

4.      Keep it Simple

In the end, it’s important that you keep your banner simple.

This entails:

• Avoiding excessive text (in fact, Soundcloud itself discourages any use of text on the banner).
• Leaving enough whitespace or breathing room (decluttering your banner)
• Using appropriate color contrast, background image, and the right visuals/elements

How to Add/Change Soundcloud Banner

All that’s left to do now is to upload your banner on your Soundcloud profile page.

In case you’re new to this, here’s a quick step-by-step breakdown of the process (for desktop):

• Log in to your Soundcloud account.
• On the homepage, click on your name/username (towards the right of the menu bar, next to notifications), and then click on Profile.
• On your profile, hover your cursor over the blue space at the top and click on Upload Header Image.
• Navigate to the location on your device where the image is saved and upload it.

If you’re using the mobile app, follow these steps:

• Open your Soundcloud profile.
• Tap the Edit Profile button, which should be below your follower and following counts.
• Tap on the camera icon at the top and upload your image from your mobile device.

Et voila.

Final Thoughts

Being a creative still requires looking professional.

Sure, your music is what matters at the end of the day, but a mediocre-looking Soundcloud profile might be a major turnoff for some potential record label folks and talent hunters.

Considering that, spend some time experimenting with your brand and creating something that’s visually-pleasing (remember – with Pixelied, it’ll only take a few minutes).