In recent years, the emergence of online music platforms such as Spotify and Amazon Prime Music has threatened the relevance of archaic music formats like MP3. Despite a sudden increase in online music applications, the likes of MP3 have survived, with many users still preferring to listen to music they downloaded to their PC. While the audio quality of MP3 files is unproblematic, its aesthetic appeal remains minimal. If you wish to make your music experience more fun and artistic, here’s a guide to help you figure out how to add album art to MP3 in Windows 10.
How to Add Album Art to MP3 in Windows 10
Why don’t MP3 files have Album Arts?
While MP3 files are widely used and shared, the truth is they are usually copyright violations of an artist’s music. MP3 files you download from the internet do not contribute to the artist’s income and hence have no ‘metadata’ that defines features such as the name of the album or the album art. Therefore, while apps like Spotify and Apple Music have the latest cover arts, their MP3 counterparts are sometimes left barren with only the music being downloaded. With that said, there’s no reason why you personally cannot album arts to MP3 files and ramp up your entire music experience.
Method 1: Add Album Art Using Windows Media Player
Windows Media Player has been the ideal choice for any media in Windows 10. Despite being succeeded by Groove, the easy-to-use setup of the Media Player makes it one of the most efficient players on the platform. Here’s how you can add album art to MP3 using Windows Media Player:
1. From the start menu on your PC, search for the Windows Media Player application and open it.
2. There’s a chance that no media will be reflected on the app. To fix this, click on Organize in the top left corner and then click on Manage libraries > Music.
3. A window titled Music library locations will appear. Here, click on ‘Add’ and then find the folders where your local music is stored.
4. Once you complete these steps, the music from these folders will be displayed in your library.
5. Now, find the image you want to add as the album art and copy it to your Clipboard.
6. Back in the Window Media Player app, under the Music panel on the left, select ‘Album.’
7. Right-click on one particular album, and from the bunch of options that appear, select ‘Paste album art.’
8. The album art will be updated to your MP3’s metadata, enhancing your music experience.
Method 2: Add Album Art Using Groove Music
With Windows Media Player becoming more or less redundant, Groove Music has taken over as the primary audio playing software in Windows 10. The app has a ‘groovier’ feel to it and is a slightly more advanced music player in terms of organization and collections. With that said, here’s how you can add cover art to your MP3 files using Groove Music.
1. From the Start menu, open the Groove Music application.
2. If you cannot find your MP3 files in the ‘My Music’ column, you will have to manually ask Groove to search for your files.
3. On the bottom left corner of the app, click on the Settings icon.
4. Within the Settings panel, click on ‘Choose where we look for music’ under the section titled ‘Music on this PC.’
5. On the small window that appears, click on the Plus icon to add music. Navigate through the files of your PC and select the folders that contain your music.
6. Once the music is added, select the ‘My music’ option from the panel on the left and then click on Albums.
7. All your albums will be displayed in square boxes. Right-click on the album of your choice and select the ‘Edit info’ option.
8. A new window will appear, where the album art will be displayed in the left corner with a small edit option next to it. Click on the Pencil icon to change the image.
9. In the next window that opens up, navigate through your PC files and select the image that you wish to apply as album art.
10. Once the image is applied, click on ‘Save’ to add the new album art to your MP3 files.
Also Read: How to use the Equalizer in Groove Music in Windows 10
Method 3: Insert Album Art with VLC Media Player
The VLC media player is one of the oldest media-related software in the market. Despite the competition given to it by Groove Music and Windows Media Player, VLC is still widely popular and is getting better with each upgrade. If you still use the classic VLC media player and wish to add album arts to your MP3s, consider yourself lucky.
1. Open VLC media player, and on the top left corner, first click on ‘View’ and then select ‘Playlist.’
2. Open the media library and add if you don’t already have your files added there, right-click and then select ‘Add File.’
3. Once you have added your favorite MP3 files, right-click on them and then click on ‘Information.’
4. A small information window will open containing the data of the MP3 file. The temporary album art will be located in the bottom right corner of the window.
5. Right-click on the Album art and two options will be shown. You can either select ‘Download cover art,’ and the player will search for the suitable album art on the internet. Or you can select ‘Add cover art from file’ to choose a downloaded image as the album art.
6. Find and select the image of your choice, and the album art will be updated accordingly.
With that, you have managed to incorporate cover art into your favorite MP3 files, ensuring that the music experience on your computer is improved.
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We hope that this guide was helpful and you were able to add album art to MP3 in Windows 10. If you still have any queries regarding this article, then feel free to ask them in the comments section.
this doesnt work on windows media player. the “paste album art” is nowhere
Please advise does car equipment play MP3 music on usb stick that has the album cover art inserted Cheers Des – email deseleven10@hotmail.com
I’m sorry, but how is the MP3 format archaic? Being able to save files to your computer and access them anytime you want will always be relevant.