How to Add Cover Art to MP3 Metadata
By Seamus Islwyn
Updated September 22, 2017
An MP3's metadata stores extra, non-audio information about the file. Metadata can contain the artist and album names, the year of release, the genre of music and a picture of the album's cover art. Once you add the cover art to an MP3's metadata, the artwork appears on your computer's screen whenever you play the MP3 in a media program. Use Windows Media Player to add cover art in the JPEG, GIF, BMP, PNG or TIFF formats to the MP3s in your collection.
Open the Start menu and click "Computer." Navigate to the folder containing the cover art file that you want to embed in the MP3's metadata. Right-click the cover art file and select "Copy."
Launch Windows Media Player. Click "Library," then click "Music."
Click "Artist" or "Album." Scroll to the album to which you want to add the cover art.
Right-click the album's cover icon. Click "Paste album art" to embed the cover art into the MP3.
Tips
If Windows Media Player doesn't let you add the cover art to an MP3, ensure that the file's permissions are not set to "Read-Only."
References
Writer Bio
Seamus Islwyn has been writing for radio, print and online publications since 2003, covering subjects from independent Canadian music to automobile smuggling in the Balkans. His work has appeared in the "Tirana Times" in Albania, and he also composes and produces electronic music. Islwyn holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from McGill University and a certificate in radio broadcasting from Humber College.