ONCE Artist Compensation Fund (ACF)
Every AI song you distribute through ONCE helps fund compensation for the human artists whose work makes AI music possible.
Why the ACF exists
AI-generated music is already on streaming platforms in large volumes. That reality is not going away. ONCE’s position is straightforward: if AI music is going to be distributed, it should happen on infrastructure that is honest, compliant, and gives something back to artists.
When you distribute AI music through ONCE, you are not sidestepping the conversation about artists and training data. You are participating in a model that:
- Discloses AI content to DSPs (Spotify, Apple Music, and others that require it)
- Tracks provenance so platforms and listeners know what they are getting
- Routes a dedicated surplus from every AI track into the ONCE Artist Compensation Fund (ACF)
That extra work is a service to the ecosystem. Distributors who hide AI content or undercut human artists make the problem worse. Distributors who label AI clearly and fund artist compensation help move the industry toward something sustainable.
How your distribution funds the ACF
ONCE uses a simple, transparent credit model:
| Track type | Cost to distribute |
|---|---|
| Human track | 1 credit ($1) |
| AI track | 2 credits ($2) flat |
An AI track is any track ONCE treats as AI for billing and compliance: audio generated through OMG, audio flagged by ONCE’s AI detector on upload, or partner-submitted AI content. Regenerating in OMG is free; you only pay the AI rate when you submit for distribution.
The second credit on each AI track is not a hidden fee. It is the funding mechanism for the ACF. Roughly half of the margin ONCE retains on AI distribution is allocated to the fund; the rest supports operations, detection, and distribution infrastructure.
So when you pay 2 credits for an AI song, you are doing three things at once:
- Getting your music to 30+ stores with proper metadata and AI disclosure
- Supporting ONCE’s compliance and detection stack
- Contributing to the ACF so human artists can be compensated
Every AI release you submit adds to that pool. There is no separate donation step — distribution is the contribution.
What the fund is for
The Artist Compensation Fund exists to compensate artists whose recordings, compositions, and creative work underpin the AI music ecosystem — whether through training, style reference, or the broader cultural corpus AI models draw on.
ONCE is building toward:
- Transparent accounting of ACF inflows from AI-track surcharges
- Fair disbursement to eligible artists and rightsholders as programs and partnerships mature
- Public reporting on fund activity over time
This is a long-term commitment, not a marketing line. The surcharge is priced so the fund is real, not symbolic.
AI distribution as a positive choice
We know many creators use AI as a tool — for demos, hybrid production, or full AI-generated releases. ONCE does not ask you to pretend that work is “human-only.” We ask you to distribute it responsibly.
Choosing ONCE for AI distribution means:
- You are not flooding platforms without disclosure
- You are not avoiding the AI surcharge that funds artists
- You are aligning with a distributor that treats human artists as stakeholders, not obstacles
If you distribute human-only music, you pay the standard 1 credit per track and still get the same distribution quality. If you distribute AI music, the flat 2-credit rate is how you help fund the ACF while staying compliant.
See your impact
On My Account, ONCE shows how many of your distributed releases include AI tracks and thanks you for supporting the fund. On each release page, credit breakdowns for submitted AI releases note your ACF contribution.
Related reading
- Releasing Music — Generate With AI (OMG) — credit costs and disclosure
- Credits & Referrals — how credits work
- FAQ — How much do AI tracks cost? — quick pricing answers
- once.app/blog — broader mission and policy context