Guides – Album Art Downloader

How to Get Album Art from YouTube Music Videos

Admin — Sat, 17 Oct 2026 02:13:45 +0000

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Home › YouTube Album Art

How to Get Album Art from YouTube Music Videos

Sometimes a song only exists on YouTube — an obscure single, a live version, a regional release — and you want its artwork for your local library. Here are three honest methods, ranked from best to worst, plus the one thing you should try first.

Try this first: in most cases, the video thumbnail and the official album cover are the same image. Search the album on our free online tool or the cover sources list — you’ll usually find a higher-resolution version of the artwork without touching YouTube at all.

Method 1: Download the video thumbnail with yt-dlp

Every YouTube video has a public thumbnail image. The free, open-source tool yt-dlp can save just that thumbnail — no video download needed:

yt-dlp --write-thumbnail --convert-thumbnails jpg --skip-download "VIDEO_URL"

This writes the thumbnail as a JPG next to where you run the command. Thumbnails are typically 1280×720 (not square), so you may want to crop the center square before using it as cover art. This only fetches the publicly visible thumbnail — it does not download or convert the video’s audio.

Method 2: Screenshot a frame from the video

Pause the video on a clean shot of the artwork, go fullscreen, and take a screenshot. This works when the thumbnail isn’t the art (e.g. lyric videos where the cover appears mid-video).

Honest caveat: screenshot quality is mediocre — you’re capturing a compressed video frame, usually 720p at best, often with text overlays or motion blur. Fine as a placeholder, not as a keeper.

Method 3: Search for the album cover directly (recommended)

Nine times out of ten, the “YouTube-only” track belongs to an album whose cover is catalogued somewhere. Search the artist + album on:

Our free online tool — queries the public iTunes Search API, up to 3000px
Cover Art Archive / fanart.tv / Discogs — community archives with original-resolution art
Album Art Downloader — batch-searches 20+ script sources on Windows

A proper 1500px+ cover from these sources will always beat a 720p video thumbnail.

Then embed it in your files

Once you have the image, embed it in your MP3s with Mp3tag so the cover travels with the file — to your phone, your car stereo, everywhere. And check our size guide if you’re unsure what resolution to keep.

Copyright reminder: use downloaded artwork for your personal music library only — the same rule as everywhere else on this site. See is downloading album art legal?

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I save a YouTube video’s thumbnail as an image?

Spotify Album Art Downloader: What You Can (and Can’t) Do

Admin — Sat, 17 Oct 2026 02:13:43 +0000

Home › Spotify Album Art

Spotify Album Art Downloader: What You Can (and Can’t) Do

Let’s be straight with you: there is no legitimate way to “download Spotify songs with album art as MP3s.” Spotify streams are protected by DRM, and any tool that claims to rip them is circumventing it. But here’s what most people actually want — the cover art image itself — and that you absolutely can get, legally and free.

The one-sentence version: you can download the album cover image; you can’t download the song. They are two different things, and every honest answer starts there.

Why “Spotify song + cover downloaders” don’t exist (legitimately)

Spotify encrypts its audio streams. Downloading a playable, DRM-free copy of a Spotify track requires breaking that encryption — which is why every tool advertising “Spotify to MP3 with album art” is either a scam, malware, or a DRM-circumvention tool we won’t link to. Even Spotify Premium’s offline downloads stay locked inside the Spotify app and expire if your subscription lapses.

If a site or video promises otherwise, treat it the way you’d treat an email from a prince: with extreme suspicion.

What you CAN do: get the cover art for your own library

Album covers shown in Spotify are just images, and for most albums the same artwork is freely available from public sources. If you keep a local music library (MP3s, FLACs) alongside Spotify, you can fetch matching high-resolution covers and embed them so your files look right everywhere.

1Grab the cover image

Use our free online album art tool (it queries the public iTunes Search API, up to 3000px) or any of the 7 free high-resolution cover sources — Cover Art Archive, fanart.tv, Discogs, and more.

2Embed it in your files

Use Mp3tag to write the image into the file’s tags so it travels with the music. Full walkthrough: how to add album art to MP3.

3Show them inside Spotify (local files)

Spotify has a “Local Files” feature (Settings → Local Files) that imports MP3s from your computer into the Spotify app. Files with properly embedded artwork display their covers there — so your local collection looks as polished as your streamed playlists.

Comparing your options

What you want	Possible?	How
Download a Spotify song as MP3	No (DRM)	Not possible through legitimate means
Download the album cover image	Yes	Online tool, cover sources
Show custom covers in Spotify	Yes	Embed art in local MP3s → Spotify Local Files
Fix a wrong cover in your library	Yes	Wrong album art fix guide

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I download songs from Spotify with album art?

What Is an ID3 Tag? (The Simple Explanation)

Admin — Sat, 17 Oct 2026 02:13:07 +0000

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Guides · Music Metadata Basics

What Is an ID3 Tag? (The Simple Explanation)

An ID3 tag is a small block of metadata stored inside an MP3 file that describes the audio: the song title, artist, album, year, genre, track number — and the cover art. Your music player reads these tags to display information and organize your library; the tags are separate from the sound itself, so editing them never changes audio quality.

Why It Matters for Album Art

Cover art lives inside the ID3 tag, in a frame called APIC (attached picture). When art is embedded this way, it travels with the file — to your phone, your USB stick, your car stereo. When art is only stored in the player’s own database (as iTunes and Windows Media Player sometimes do), it stays on that one computer. That’s the root cause of most “album art not showing in car” complaints.

ID3v1 vs ID3v2.3 vs ID3v2.4

Version	Capacity	Cover art?	Compatibility
ID3v1	Fixed 128 bytes at end of file; ~30 characters per field	No	Ancient; everything reads it, but it’s too limited to matter today
ID3v2.3	Variable length at start of file; long fields, multiple values, APIC art frame	Yes	Best compatibility. Old car stereos, iTunes, Windows Explorer, and most hardware players handle v2.3 reliably. This is why Mp3tag writes v2.3 by default.
ID3v2.4	Like v2.3 with newer encoding rules (UTF-8 native)	Yes	The newer standard, but some older devices and software misread it. Fine for modern-only setups.

Practical rule: if your music has to play on a car stereo, an old phone, or a mix of devices, stick with ID3v2.3. Most files in the wild carry both v2 and a v1 tag for maximum compatibility.

What About FLAC, M4A, and WAV?

FLAC does not use ID3 at all — it stores metadata in Vorbis comments, and cover art as a PICTURE block. Same idea, different format. (See how to add art to FLAC.)
M4A/AAC (iTunes purchases) uses MP4-style atoms, not ID3.
WAV has limited native tag support; many tools bolt ID3 chunks onto it, with mixed results.

Two Common ID3 Headaches

“Unknown Artist” / “Unknown Album”

The tags are empty or missing. Open the file in a tag editor (Mp3tag), type the correct artist/album/title, save, and re-import into your music app. The “Unknown” labels are replaced by what you entered.

Garbled characters (mojibake)

Classic encoding mismatch: the tag was written in one character set and read as another. Re-saving the tags as UTF-16 (ID3v2.3) or UTF-8 (ID3v2.4) in a proper tag editor usually fixes it. If your tags were mangled by an old tool, MusicBrainz Picard can re-identify the files and rewrite clean tags from scratch.

Wrong cover showing? Stale or mismatched art is usually a caching problem or a mislabeled file — our wrong album art fix guide walks through it step by step.

Now put art in those tags

Find high-resolution covers and embed them so they show up everywhere.

Get Album Art Downloader

Frequently Asked Questions

Does editing ID3 tags change the audio quality?

Jellyfin Album Art Guide (Music Library Artwork That Works)

Admin — Sat, 17 Oct 2026 02:07:48 +0000

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Jellyfin Album Art Guide (Music Library Artwork That Works)

Jellyfin is the go-to free, open-source media server — and like every media server, it has its own opinions about album artwork. This guide shows you which artwork Jellyfin actually picks up so your music library looks the way it should.

Note: Jellyfin is third-party open-source software. This site is not affiliated with the Jellyfin project. Menu paths below are approximate and may differ between Jellyfin versions.

What artwork Jellyfin reads

Jellyfin keeps things simple and local-first. For music it uses:

Embedded artwork — the cover stored inside each music file’s tags.
cover.jpg or folder.jpg in the album folder — Jellyfin checks the album folder for a local image and uses it as the album cover.
Artist images — a folder.jpg placed in the artist folder (not the album folder) can serve as the artist image.

There is also a Save artwork into media folders library option: when enabled, Jellyfin writes the artwork it finds into your media folders. Note that enabling it later does not retroactively save existing art — you need a rescan with metadata replacement for that.

Set it up in 4 steps

Get the artwork into your files or folders. Either embed the cover in every track (see how to embed album art) or drop a cover.jpg / folder.jpg into each album folder. Keep the classic structure: Music / Artist / Album /.
Scan the library. In the Jellyfin dashboard, run Scan All Libraries (or scan just the music library) so Jellyfin picks up the new files.
Refresh stubborn items. On an album that still shows no art, open it and choose Refresh metadata. For a full reset, use the refresh option that replaces existing images.
Check the obvious. Image in the right folder? Named folder.jpg or cover.jpg? File actually opens as a valid image? Most “not showing” cases are one of these.

Coming from Kodi? The approach is essentially the same — Kodi users follow the same playbook: embed the art or drop folder.jpg in the album folder, then rescan.

Embedded art vs. folder.jpg — which is better for Jellyfin?

What matters	Embedded in files	folder.jpg / cover.jpg
Survives moving files to a new server	Yes — art is inside the file	Only if you move the whole folder
Works in other players too	Yes (phone, car, other apps)	Only players that read the sidecar file
Effort for a big library	Batch-embed once with Mp3tag	One file per album folder

Verdict: embedding wins for portability — the art can never get separated from the music. folder.jpg is the quicker fix if you only care about Jellyfin.

Where to get the artwork

Use Album Art Downloader to batch-find covers for your whole library, or the online tool for single albums. For the best free sources, see where to find high-resolution album covers.

Frequently asked questions

Does Jellyfin use embedded album art?

Kodi Music Library Artwork Guide (Album Art That Actually Shows)

Admin — Sat, 17 Oct 2026 02:07:43 +0000

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Kodi Music Library Artwork Guide (Album Art That Actually Shows)

Kodi is one of the best free media centers for a local music collection — but its music artwork rules confuse almost everyone at first. This guide explains which artwork Kodi actually reads and the folder setup that makes album covers show up reliably.

Note: Kodi is third-party open-source software. This site is not affiliated with the Kodi / XBMC Foundation. File naming below reflects commonly used conventions; exact behavior can vary between Kodi versions.

What artwork Kodi reads

Unlike some servers that prefer online databases, Kodi is refreshingly file-focused. For music it uses:

Embedded artwork — the cover stored inside each music file’s tags. Kodi reads this when it scans your library.
Artwork files next to your music — images placed in the album folder. The most widely recognized names are folder.jpg and cover.jpg.

Kodi’s own wiki documents folder.jpg as the standard name for folder artwork, and the wider community also uses cover.jpg, front.jpg, and album.jpg. When in doubt, folder.jpg is the safest bet.

The folder structure that makes everything work

Kodi’s music library works best with a simple rule: one album, one folder.

Organize your music as Music / Artist / Album / tracks…
Put the artwork inside the album folder — either embedded in the files (see how to embed album art) or as folder.jpg in that folder.
In Kodi, go to Music and run Update library (or Scan for new content on the source).
If covers still don’t appear, run Clean library first, then update again — this clears stale entries.

Bonus: Kodi also supports artist fanart — extra images like artist photos and backgrounds placed in the artist folder (rather than the album folder). Nice for the full-screen now-playing view, but optional: album covers are what matter most.

Embedded art vs. folder.jpg — which is better for Kodi?

What matters	Embedded in files	folder.jpg in album folder
Survives moving files to a new drive	Yes — art is inside the file	Only if you move the whole folder
Works in other players too	Yes (phone, car, other apps)	Only players that read folder.jpg
Effort for a big library	Batch-embed once with Mp3tag	One file per album folder
File size	Adds ~100–500 KB per track	One image per album

Verdict: embedding is the most portable choice — your covers follow the files everywhere, not just in Kodi. If disk space is tight and you only care about Kodi, folder.jpg is perfectly fine.

Still not showing? Checklist

Is the image actually in the album folder, not the artist folder or one level too high?
Is it named folder.jpg (lowercase)? Unusual names or PNG files are less reliably picked up.
Did you Update library after adding the art? Kodi caches artwork — new images need a rescan.
Try Clean library then update: removes dead entries that can block new art.
Check the file isn’t corrupted: open the JPG on your computer first.

Where to get the artwork

Use Album Art Downloader to batch-find covers for your whole collection, or the online tool for single albums. For the best free sources, see where to find high-resolution album covers.

Frequently asked questions

What should I name the album art file for Kodi?

Plex Not Showing Album Art? Fix Your Music Library Artwork

Admin — Sat, 17 Oct 2026 02:07:38 +0000

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Plex Not Showing Album Art? Fix Your Music Library Artwork

If your Plex music library shows grey placeholders instead of album covers, you are not alone. This is one of the most common Plex music complaints — and it is almost always fixable once you understand how Plex decides which artwork to show.

Note: Plex is third-party software made by Plex, Inc. This site is not affiliated with or endorsed by Plex. Menu paths below are approximate and may differ between Plex Media Server versions.

How Plex picks album art (the part nobody explains)

Plex does not simply read the art from your files. When it scans a music library, it works through a priority list:

Online match first. Plex tries to identify each album against its online music databases and download the “official” artwork.
Local files second. If the Local Media Assets agent is enabled and placed at the top of the agent list, Plex will use artwork it finds next to or inside your files.
Embedded tags. If your music library’s Advanced settings have Use embedded tags (newer versions call it Prefer local metadata) turned on, Plex reads the artwork embedded in each file’s tags.

The key insight: Plex prefers its online match over your files by default. When the online match is wrong or missing — very common with obscure releases, self-published music, bootlegs, and regional editions — you get the wrong cover or no cover at all, even if your files are perfectly tagged.

The reliable fix: embed the artwork directly into your music files, then tell Plex to prefer local metadata. Embedded art travels with the file no matter what Plex’s online databases think. Our guide How to Add Album Art to MP3 walks through embedding with Mp3tag step by step.

Fix it in 4 steps

Get the artwork into your files. The most reliable method: embed the cover into every track of the album (ID3v2 tag for MP3, Vorbis comment for FLAC). See our embedding guide. Alternative: place a folder.jpg or cover.jpg in the album folder — Plex treats the two names as interchangeable for album art.
Turn on “Use embedded tags” / “Prefer local metadata”. In Plex, edit your music library, open the Advanced tab, and enable the option that tells Plex to prefer your files’ embedded tags over online data. (The exact label varies by Plex version.)
Move Local Media Assets to the top. Go to Settings → Server → Agents → Albums and drag Local Media Assets to the top of the list. This tells Plex to check your local artwork before downloading anything.
Refresh the library. On the music library, choose Scan Library Files, then on a stubborn album use Refresh Metadata. If an album still refuses, remove it from the library, empty trash / clean bundles, rescan, then re-add it (the classic “Plex Dance”).

Embedded art vs. folder.jpg — which is better for Plex?

What matters	Embedded in files	folder.jpg / cover.jpg
Survives a library rebuild	Yes — art is inside the file	Yes, as long as the folder stays
Works if you move files to a new server	Yes	Only if you move the folder too
Per-track vs per-album	Every track carries it	One image for the whole folder
Effort	Batch-embed once with Mp3tag	Drop one file per album

Verdict: embedding is the set-and-forget option. It survives server moves, rebuilds, and re-scans — which is exactly when Plex users lose their artwork. folder.jpg is a fine quick fix for a handful of albums.

Honest limitations (don’t waste your time)

Obscure and self-released music: Plex’s online databases often have no entry for these. Local embedding is not a workaround here — it is the only reliable solution.
Chromecast audio artwork: album art frequently does not display when casting audio from Plex to Chromecast. This is a long-standing Plex-side limitation; no tagging trick reliably fixes it.
Artist images: Plex pulls artist photos from online sources. You can place an artist-poster.jpg in the artist folder with Local Media Assets enabled, but results vary.

Where to get the artwork

Use Album Art Downloader to batch-find covers for your whole library, or our online tool for single albums. Not sure which source is best? See where to find high-resolution album covers.

Frequently asked questions

Why does Plex show the wrong album cover?

Album Art for WAV Files: What Works and What Doesn’t (Honest Guide)

Admin — Sat, 17 Oct 2026 02:06:54 +0000

Album Art for WAV Files: What Works and What Doesn’t (Honest Guide)

Bottom line up front: WAV is the worst mainstream format for cover art — the official WAV spec has no standard artwork field. If you’re building a lossless music library, use FLAC instead: identical audio quality, full tag and cover support. Our FLAC guide walks you through it. WAV is best kept for production/mastering intermediates, not for a listening library.

Why WAV Struggles With Cover Art

WAV predates the idea of rich metadata. Cover art on WAV files relies on a non-standard ID3 chunk — essentially stuffing an MP3-style tag into a WAV file. It works in some players and is silently ignored in others. There is no universal, guaranteed way to make every player show art on WAV.

What Actually Works (Sometimes)

1. Mp3tag can write an ID3 chunk to WAV

Mp3tag supports WAV: load the file, add a cover, save. Players that understand the ID3 chunk (including many desktop players) will show it. But some players — especially hardware and car stereos — will not. Treat this as “better than nothing”, not as a guarantee.

2. folder.jpg alongside the file

A folder.jpg in the same directory is picked up by some players and library managers as a fallback. It’s the same external-file concept explained in our MP3 guide — convenient, but it doesn’t travel with the file.

What Doesn’t Work

Relying on every player to show it. This is not achievable with WAV — the format simply has no standard. Don’t waste hours fighting it.
Converting cover art into audio. Cover art is metadata, not audio; there’s no “trick” that makes a non-supporting player display it.

The Honest Recommendation

If you want lossless audio and reliable cover art, convert your WAV library to FLAC (lossless-to-lossless, zero quality change), then embed covers properly with our FLAC guide. Keep WAV only where your DAW or mastering workflow requires it — and there, cover art doesn’t matter anyway.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can WAV files have embedded album art?

Album Art Downloader for Mac: What Actually Works

Admin — Sat, 17 Oct 2026 01:52:10 +0000

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Album Art Downloader for Mac: What Actually Works

Let’s be upfront: there is no Mac version of Album Art Downloader. The original software by Alex Vallat is Windows-only — it depends on .NET Framework 3.5, a Windows-only technology. No official macOS build exists, and the project has been in maintenance mode since 2020, so one is unlikely to appear.

What about running it in Wine? We don’t recommend it: the old .NET 3.5 dependency makes it fragile under Wine/CrossOver, and you’ll spend more time fighting compatibility than finding covers. The alternatives below are native and reliable.

Option 1: The Online Tool (Easiest, Nothing to Install)

Works in any browser

Our free online album art finder runs entirely in your browser — Safari, Chrome, Firefox, anything. Type the artist and album, preview the cover, and download it. It queries the public iTunes Search API, which has excellent coverage of mainstream releases. No install, no Wine, no fuss.

Best for: grabbing covers one album at a time.

Option 2: MusicBrainz Picard (Free, Native Mac App)

Fix tags and covers together

MusicBrainz Picard is a free, open-source tagger with a proper native Mac build. Drop your files in, let it identify them against the MusicBrainz database, and it pulls cover art from the Cover Art Archive at the same time. It solves two problems at once: wrong tags and missing covers.

Best for: cleaning up a messy library, not just covers.

Option 3: A Mac Tag Editor to Embed Covers

Attach art so it travels with the file

Once you have the cover image (from the online tool or Picard), embed it into the MP3 so it shows in Apple Music, on your iPhone, and in the car. Options on Mac:

Mp3tag for Mac — the Mac version of the classic tagger (paid, but polished).
Apple Music / Music app — select tracks → Get Info → Artwork → Add Artwork.

Our embedding guide explains the concept (embedded vs. folder.jpg) in detail — the steps translate directly to Mac tools.

Best for: making covers stick everywhere, including iPhone sync and CarPlay.

Bottom line: you don’t need the Windows program. Online tool for quick finds, Picard for batch cleanup, a tag editor to embed — that trio covers everything Album Art Downloader does, natively on a Mac.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there an official Album Art Downloader for Mac?

Album Art Downloader for Android: What Actually Works

Admin — Sat, 17 Oct 2026 01:52:08 +0000

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Album Art Downloader for Android: What Actually Works

Let’s be upfront: Album Art Downloader has no official Android app. It is a Windows-only desktop program (it needs .NET Framework 3.5), and the developer never released a mobile version. If you found an APK claiming to be “Album Art Downloader for Android”, it is not from the original project — do not install APKs from random sites; fake music-tool APKs are a common malware vector.

That said, you can still get album covers onto your Android phone. Here are the methods that actually work, ranked by convenience.

Option 1: Use the Online Tool in Your Phone Browser (Easiest)

No install needed

Open our free online album art finder in Chrome on your phone, type the artist and album, and save the cover image. It searches the public iTunes Search API, so mainstream albums are well covered. Save the JPG to your phone, then use any tag-editor app (see Option 3) to attach it — or just keep it as a reference image.

Best for: grabbing a single cover quickly.

Option 2: Album Art Grabber–Style Apps (Third-Party)

Apps on Google Play

There are third-party Android apps (search “album art grabber” on Google Play) that scan your music library and fetch missing covers from sources like Last.fm and MusicBrainz. These are independent apps, not affiliated with this site or with Album Art Downloader — check their ratings, permissions, and update dates before installing, as with any app.

Best for: fixing covers across your whole on-phone library in one go.

Option 3: Find Covers on PC, Then Transfer (Most Reliable)

Do the heavy lifting on a computer

Album Art Downloader’s real strength is batch-searching 20+ sources at once. If you have access to a Windows PC:

Use Album Art Downloader on the PC to find high-resolution covers for your whole library.
Embed the art into the files with Mp3tag (guide here) — embedded art travels with the file.
Copy the files to your phone. Embedded covers show up in virtually every Android music player.

Best for: large libraries where you want it done right, once.

⚠️ Safety note: Never sideload an “album art downloader.apk” from a file-sharing site or forum link. The genuine project is Windows-only and free — anyone charging for an Android “version” or asking for odd permissions is not legitimate.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there an official Album Art Downloader app for Android?

Is Downloading Album Art Legal? (Honest Guide)

Admin — Sat, 17 Oct 2026 01:49:23 +0000

Is Downloading Album Art Legal? (Honest Guide)

Short answer: for personal use — fixing the covers in your own music library — it is generally considered fine and carries essentially no risk. The problems start when you redistribute or sell other people’s artwork. Here is the honest breakdown.

✅ Personal use: generally fine

Downloading a cover to complete your own music collection (the exact thing Album Art Downloader is for)
Embedding art into MP3/FLAC files you own
Printing one copy to hang in your bedroom — see our wall art guide

Rights holders have never pursued individual collectors for personal-use cover downloads. It is widely treated like quoting a book cover on your shelf.

❌ Redistribution & commercial use: needs permission

Re-uploading covers to stock sites, torrents or “free wallpaper” packs
Selling merch with someone else’s cover (T-shirts, posters, phone cases)
Using a cover as your band’s, app’s or business’s branding

Album artwork is copyrighted — usually by the record label or the artist. Commercial use without a license is infringement, full stop.

What about covers from streaming services?

The artwork Apple Music or Spotify shows you is licensed to them for display inside their apps — that license does not transfer to you. Downloading a 3000px file from a public API for your personal library is a different act from ripping assets out of a streaming app to republish. Keep it personal and local and you stay in the safe zone described above.

Advice for creators

Releasing your own music? Commission or create original artwork — then you own it.
Need placeholder art? Use public-domain or Creative Commons images and respect the license terms (attribution where required).
Never grab a major-label cover for your own release, even a “remix” — that is the fastest way to get a takedown.

This is general information, not legal advice. Copyright rules vary by country; when in doubt, ask a qualified lawyer.

Frequently asked questions

Can I get in trouble for downloading album covers for my MP3s?

For strictly personal use, the risk is essentially zero. No rights holder pursues individual collectors over covers in a private library.

Is it legal to print an album cover as a poster for my wall?

One print for your own wall is generally treated as personal use. Selling prints of it is not — that needs a license from the rights holder.

Who owns album artwork?

Usually the record label, sometimes the artist or the commissioned designer — it depends on the contract. Assume it is owned by someone else unless it says otherwise.

Does “fair use” cover everything I do with covers?

No. Fair use is a limited, case-by-case defense — not a blanket permission. Personal library use is the comfortable end of the spectrum; commercial reuse is the other end.