Credits & Referrals

ONCE uses a credits-based system for distribution. This keeps things simple and fair, you only pay for what you use.

Understanding Credits

Credits are the currency you use to submit releases on ONCE. Each submitted human song costs 1 credit. Each submitted AI song (AI-detected) costs a flat 2 credits.

How Credits Work

• Purchase credits anytime from the My Account page or pricing page
• Spend credits when you submit a release:
  • 1 credit per human track, regardless of length
  • 2 credits per AI track (AI-detected on upload), flat
• Spend credits through MCP when submitting releases from connected MCP clients
• Earn credits by referring friends

Credit Pricing

Credits are $1 each (1 credit = 1 song) when you pay the standard rate. Buy any amount you need, or save by buying in bulk:

The 20 pack is sized for an EP or album, so one purchase covers a typical release with room to spare. Credits never expire, so a bulk pack is just money saved for whenever you release next. You can always enter a custom amount at the standard $1/credit rate.

Earning Free Credits

Referral Program

The easiest way to earn free credits is through our referral program:

1. Find your invite link in the Referrals section of the My Account page
2. Share it with artist friends who might want to use ONCE
3. Earn credits when they sign up and submit their first release

How It Works

• When someone signs up using your invite link, they become your referral
• Once they submit their first release, you earn +5 credits
• Credits are earned once per referred user (their first submission only)
• There’s no limit to how many people you can refer

Referral Tiers

Your +5 credits per qualified referral never changes. On top of that, you earn a one-time bonus each time your total number of qualified referrals reaches a tier:

Each bonus is awarded exactly once, automatically, the moment your count reaches the threshold. The Referrals card on the My Account page shows your current tier and a progress bar toward your next bonus.

Where You’ll See Your Invite Link

Beyond the My Account page, ONCE surfaces your invite link at the moments you’re most likely to want to share it:

• When your release goes live: the “Your release is live” email includes your invite link (plus a link to your public release page for fans)
• When your first streams arrive: the release Performance page shows a celebration banner with a quick copy/share invite card

Each surface uses the same link, so credits are tracked no matter where you share from.

Referral Tracking

The My Account page shows:

• How many people have signed up with your link
• How many have submitted their first release
• Total credits earned from referrals
• Your current referral tier and progress toward the next bonus

Credit stipends

Sometimes ONCE sets up a standing credit stipend for an artist: a fixed number of credits that lands in your balance on a repeating schedule, with nothing to claim and no card involved.

If you have one, you’ll see it at the top of your Account page: how many credits you get, how often, and when they arrive. Stipend credits behave like any other credits: they never expire, and they stack with credits you buy, earn through referrals, or are sent by another artist. You’ll see each deposit in your credit history on the pricing page alongside everything else.

Stipends are arranged directly by the ONCE team, so there’s nothing to apply for. If you don’t have one, the section simply doesn’t appear.

Purchasing Credits

Buying credits happens right on the pricing page. There is no separate checkout site to bounce to. Pick a bulk pack or enter a custom amount, then enter your card details inline and confirm. Your balance updates instantly.

If you reach the release confirmation without enough credits, ONCE opens the same checkout right there in the flow, with the smallest pack that covers your release already selected. Buy, then confirm your release without losing your place. A link to the full pricing page is always available from that checkout too.

Payment Methods

We accept:

• Apple Pay and Google Pay, as a one-tap button at the top of checkout
• Credit/debit cards via Stripe
• Most major card networks supported

If you’re on a device with Apple Pay or Google Pay set up (an iPhone, iPad, or Mac in Safari, or Chrome with Google Pay), the button appears above the card form automatically. Tap it, confirm with Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode, and your credits land without typing a card number. Nothing to turn on, and if your device doesn’t support it you simply won’t see the button.

So checkout gives you two straightforward choices: pay with your wallet, or pay by card, which is ready and open just below. Other options like Link, Cash App Pay, and Amazon Pay are still there, listed under the card form one tap away. They just stay out of the way.

Card details are entered in a secure Stripe field and never touch ONCE’s servers. You can optionally save your card during checkout for faster purchases and to enable auto-reload. (Saving a card is a card-only option: to use auto-reload, add a card rather than paying with a wallet.)

If a payment is declined

Card declines happen, and they are almost always the bank’s call, not ONCE’s. When a payment fails, the checkout explains what went wrong in plain language and what to do next:

• Fixable details (a typo in the card number or security code): correct the field and try again. Retries reuse the same payment, so you will never be double-charged.
• Temporary issues (a processing hiccup, or your bank asking for extra verification): wait a moment and try again, completing your bank’s verification step if one appears.
• Hard declines (an expired card, or your bank refusing the charge): trying the same card again rarely helps. Use a different card, or a digital wallet if one is shown in the payment field.

If a decline will not clear, or two attempts in a row fail, a Get help from ONCE Support button appears under the error. It opens ONCE Support with a ready-to-send message describing the problem (just the pack size and the decline category, never your card details), so you can get unstuck without writing anything up yourself.

Auto-reload

Don’t want to think about credits? Turn on Auto-reload from the pricing page:

1. Choose the balance threshold that triggers a top-up (0 means only when you run out completely; set it higher, for example 2, to reload before you run empty).
2. Choose how many credits to add (any bulk pack or a custom amount).
3. Pick a saved card, or add one.
4. Save.

Whenever your balance falls to your chosen threshold or below, ONCE automatically charges your saved card for the amount you chose and tops you back up, so a release submission never gets blocked mid-flow. You can change the threshold or amount, switch cards, or turn it off anytime. If a charge ever fails (for example, an expired card), auto-reload pauses and tells you so you can update your card.

You’ll also see a one-tap auto-reload offer right after a purchase where you saved your card, preset to top up with what you just bought whenever your balance falls to 2 credits or below. It’s entirely optional, and you can adjust or turn it off from the pricing page at any time.

Purchase & credit history

The pricing page keeps a clear, running history of everything that affects your balance: purchases, auto-reloads, referral rewards, credits used on releases, credits sent to or received from other artists, and any refunds, each with the date, amount, and credits added or used. Filter by Added or Used to find a specific entry.

Sharing credits with other artists

Credits can move between ONCE accounts two ways. Both require the other person to already have a ONCE account. ONCE checks the email while you type and tells you straight away if no account uses it. Credits are never held for someone who hasn’t signed up.

Either way, the person receiving them gets an email and an in-app notification with who sent them, how many, and your note if you wrote one. The credits are in their balance before the email lands.

Gift credits at checkout

Buying credits for someone else (a collaborator, a friend putting out their first single) happens right in the normal checkout on the pricing page:

1. Pick a pack or a custom amount as usual.
2. Tick Gift these credits to another artist.
3. Enter their ONCE email. A green check confirms the account exists and shows who it belongs to.
4. Optionally add a short note that goes in their email.
5. Pay.

You pay; the credits land in their balance, not yours. The purchase shows up in your own credit history as a gift, with who it went to.

Send credits you already have

Already have credits and want to pass some along? Open the My Account page, find the Credits card, and hit Send:

1. Enter the recipient’s ONCE email (checked as you type, same as gifting).
2. Choose how many credits: type an amount, use a quick button, or send All. You can’t send more than you have.
3. Optionally add a note.
4. Review the before/after line showing what your balance will be, then send.

Transfers are instant and free, and both sides get a history entry: Sent N credits to … on yours, Received N credits from … on theirs. There’s no fee and no minimum beyond 1 credit.

Double-check the address before you send. Transfers can’t be undone from the app. If something goes wrong, contact hey@once.app.

ONCE Insider

ONCE Insider is the membership for artists who release often: a subscription with benefits, $9.99/month or $99/year (annual is roughly two months free). It is optional and never required to distribute. Distribution stays credit-based for everyone. Existing $7.99/month Patron subscribers keep their original price forever.

The benefit that matters here: Insiders get 5 credits every month, deposited when you join and each calendar month after that. They’re regular credits: they never expire and stack with purchased and referral credits.

Insider also includes royalty analytics, 4K cover art, the Marketer agent, priority review, higher API rate limits, an Insider badge, and the Insider Discord role. See the full ONCE Insider guide for every benefit and how to join at beta.once.app/insider.

AI tracks and the Artist Compensation Fund

Each AI track you submit costs 2 credits instead of 1. That extra credit is not a hidden fee: it funds the ONCE Artist Compensation Fund (ACF). Every AI song distributed through ONCE (AI-detected on upload or partner-submitted) contributes to compensating the human artists whose work makes AI music possible.

See the full Artist Compensation Fund guide for how distribution supports artists.

Tips

• Watch your balance: Make sure you have enough credits before starting a release
• Using MCP?: Open My Account → Quick Actions → Developer → MCP (or the MCP Settings page) before connecting clients
• Share your link: Referrals are the best way to earn free credits
• Top up as needed: Buy credits whenever you need more

For memory behavior (including the auto-updated credit balance memory), see Agent Memories.