Credits & Referrals

Credits are what you spend to submit releases. You pay once per release, at submission, and never for edits.

Pricing

The extra credit on AI tracks funds the Artist Compensation Fund. Credits never expire, and releases submitted through MCP or the REST API spend the same credits at the same rate.

Buy any amount at $1 per credit, or save with a pack:

The 20 pack covers a typical EP or album with room to spare.

Buying credits

Buy on the pricing page: pick a pack or a custom amount, enter payment inline, and your balance updates instantly. If you reach a release confirmation without enough credits, the same checkout opens in the flow with the smallest pack that covers the release preselected.

Payment methods. Cards via Stripe, plus Apple Pay and Google Pay as a one-tap button at the top of checkout on devices with a wallet set up. Link, Cash App Pay, and Amazon Pay sit under the card form. Card details go into a secure Stripe field and never touch ONCE’s servers. You can save your card for faster purchases and auto-reload (wallets cannot be saved for auto-reload).

If a payment is declined, the checkout says what went wrong and what to do: fix a typo and retry (retries reuse the same payment, so you are never double-charged), wait a moment for a temporary issue or complete your bank’s verification, or use a different card for a hard decline such as an expired card. Pressing Pay again on a card that was just declined does not try it again, so change the card details or pick another method. If you close a Cash App Pay (or other app) approval window before approving, nothing is charged: checkout says the payment still needs your approval, and pressing Pay starts a new one. If Cash App Pay, Amazon Pay, Klarna, Link or another non-card method declines, checkout names that method and points you to Card, since the same method usually says no again. If you leave a payment app without approving, then come back and continue checkout in the same browser tab, the unfinished payment is picked back up or cancelled, so a late approval cannot charge you for the order you replaced. After two failures in a row, a Get help from ONCE Support button opens ONCE Support with a ready-to-send message (pack size and decline category only, never card details).

Auto-reload

Turn on Auto-reload from the pricing page so a submission never gets blocked: choose the balance threshold that triggers a top-up (0 means only when you run out), how many credits to add, and a saved card. Change or turn it off any time. If a charge fails, auto-reload pauses and tells you. You are also offered a one-tap auto-reload right after a purchase where you saved your card.

Purchase and credit history

The pricing page keeps a 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, stipends, and refunds. Filter by Added or Used.

Refunds

Refunds are tracked requests, reviewed by ONCE, and approved refunds go back to your original payment method. Two ways to file one:

• Ask ONCE Support in the app. It looks up your actual payments, confirms exactly which one(s) you mean, and shows a review card; tap Submit refund request to file it. Ask for the status any time.
• Settings → Account: click Request refund, pick the payment, and describe what happened. You see the refund total and any releases it affects before you submit. The request appears on the page with its status (Received, Refunded, or Not approved).

Refunds and takedowns. Refunding credits that already paid for distribution takes the release(s) they paid for down: releases live in stores are removed from all stores, and releases still on their way are not delivered. You see exactly which releases are affected and confirm before submitting. Credits you have not spent are simply removed from your balance, with no effect on releases.

Your royalties stay yours: ONCE keeps 0%, and anything earned before a takedown is still paid out once the stores report it. One honest note: stores do not pay out royalties when they suspect fraudulent activity.

Earning free credits

Referral program

1. Find your invite link in the Referrals section of My Account.
2. Share it with artists who might want to use ONCE.
3. When someone signs up with your link and submits their first release, you earn +5 credits. Once per referred user, with no limit on how many people you refer.

On top of that, you earn a one-time bonus each time your qualified referrals reach a tier:

Bonuses are awarded automatically the moment you reach the threshold. The Referrals card shows sign-ups, first releases, credits earned, your tier, and progress to the next bonus.

ONCE also surfaces your invite link where you are most likely to share it: the “Your release is live” email and the celebration banner on a release’s Performance page when its first streams arrive. Every surface uses the same link.

Credit stipends

Sometimes ONCE sets up a standing credit stipend for an artist: a fixed number of credits that lands on a repeating schedule, with nothing to claim and no card involved. If you have one, it appears at the top of your Account page with the amount, frequency, and next date. Stipend credits behave like any other credits. Stipends are arranged by the ONCE team; there is nothing to apply for.

ONCE Insider

ONCE Insider members receive 5 credits every month as part of the membership, alongside analytics, 4K cover art, priority review, and more. It is optional and never required to distribute.

Refunds

Refunds are tracked requests you can file yourself. Requests are reviewed, and approved refunds go back to your original payment method. There are two ways to file one:

• Settings > Account. Go to Settings > Account, click Request refund, pick the payment, and tell us what happened. You see the refund total and any releases it affects before you submit. The request appears on the page with a status (Received, Refunded, or Not approved).
• Ask ONCE Support in the app. Tell it you’d like a refund. It looks up your actual payments, confirms exactly which one(s) you mean, and shows a review card. Tap Submit refund request to file it, and ask ONCE Support for the status anytime.

Refunding spent credits takes the funded release(s) down. Releases already live in stores are removed from all stores, and releases still on their way are not delivered. Both ways show you exactly which releases are affected before you submit. Credits you haven’t spent yet are simply removed from your balance, with no releases affected. Royalties you earned before a takedown are still paid out once the stores report them. See the FAQ for more.

Sharing credits with other artists

Credits can move between accounts two ways. The other person must already have a ONCE account; ONCE checks the email as you type. The recipient gets an email and an in-app notification with who sent the credits, how many, and your note.

Gift at checkout. On the pricing page, pick a pack or amount, tick Gift these credits to another artist, enter their ONCE email (a green check confirms the account), optionally add a note, and pay. The credits land in their balance, and your history records the gift.

Send credits you already have. On My Account, open the Credits card and click Send. Enter the email, choose an amount (or All), add a note, review the before/after line, and send. Transfers are instant and free, from 1 credit up, and both sides get a history entry.

Double-check the address. Transfers cannot be undone from the app. If something goes wrong, tell ONCE Support or start a thread in #help-needed in the ONCE Discord.