Quick Answers
The things creators ask us most, each as a short set of steps you can follow right now. Every section says when to ask ONCE Support and links to the full guide if you want depth.
Take my release off stores
- Open the release from your Releases page.
- Click View details next to the status to open the Distributions panel.
- One store: click the takedown icon next to that store and confirm.
- All stores: click Take Down From ALL Stores under the store list, then type
TAKE IT ALL DOWN.
Takedowns take several days to clear. The release stays in your account and Distribute to N Stores puts it back later. You do not need a takedown to change artwork or metadata.
Ask ONCE Support if: the release is not distributed yet (cancelling a submitted release needs the team), or a takedown has not taken effect after a week.
Full detail: How do I take my release down?
Change something on a release I already submitted
- Draft: expand the track in the chat sidebar and click Replace audio, or tell the agent what to change.
- Submitted, not live yet: open the release and click Edit & Redistribute. Even audio, UPC, and ISRC changes save with no takedown.
- Live on stores: Edit & Redistribute again. Metadata and artwork go out directly. New audio, UPC, or ISRC needs a takedown first, which ONCE runs for you after one confirmation.
Edits never cost credits. For a quick metadata tweak, you can also ask ONCE Support: “change the genre on my latest release”.
Ask ONCE Support if: an edit you queued never applied.
Full detail: Changing a Release
Replace the audio, or release a new version?
- Same recording, fault fixed (click, clipping, bad export, wrong master): replace the audio. You keep the UPC, ISRCs, links, and streams.
- Different recording (acoustic, remix, live, radio edit, re-record): submit a new release. An ISRC identifies one recording, and replacing audio keeps the existing ISRC.
Want the original gone too? Take it down and submit the new version separately. Two actions, not one.
Full detail: Replace or release new
My release says Rejected or Attention Needed
- Click View details on the status bar. A rejected release shows the reviewer’s note with the exact reason and suggested next steps. Attention Needed names the store, the error, and likely causes.
- Fix what it names. Most are metadata: invalid characters, a mismatched explicit flag, artwork that breaks store rules, or a missing field.
- Click Retry Distribution (or Edit & Redistribute on a rejected release), correct the fields, then Save & Retry Distribution.
- If mastering failed, use Retry with Mastering or Retry without Mastering.
ONCE Support can read the reviewer’s note for you: ask “why was release rejected?”.
Fix what the note names and resubmit once. Do not take the release down and resubmit repeatedly, and do not submit a second copy under a new title or UPC; repeated cycles and duplicates are what get accounts flagged. An edit saved while a release is in inspection is applied on approval and triggers a second review, so wait until it is live unless the edit is needed to pass.
Ask ONCE Support if: the release is held for a recognizable-artist review. Retrying cannot bypass that check; only the team can clear it after verifying the release is yours.
Common inspection rejections and the fix
| Reviewer’s reason | What to change before you resubmit |
|---|---|
| Rejection for rights issues | The reviewers believe the recording isn’t yours to distribute. Only resubmit if you can show otherwise: an earlier release of your own, a catalog transfer, a licence. Share the proof with the team in the ONCE Discord. A rights rejection is a strike; three end the account, so never resubmit unchanged or under new metadata. |
| Unlicensed remix / samples | Remixes, mashups, sped-up or slowed versions, and sampled recordings need the rights holder’s permission. Attach the licence or remove the borrowed material. Also a strike. |
| Title / artist information mismatch | Any title or artist name printed on the artwork must match the metadata exactly. Fix the art or the fields. |
| Irrelevant / excessive information | No promo text, web addresses, handles, emojis, “official”, “new”, or genre words in titles, artist names, or on the art. Version words go in the version field. |
| Generic / descriptive names | Artist names that read like a search term (“Lofi Chill Beats”) or include an AI tool’s brand are rejected. Use your real artist name. |
| Differentiating titles | Two tracks on one release can’t share the same title, version, artist, and explicit flag. Put the difference in the version field, or remove the duplicate. |
| Invalid title version | The version field only takes a real descriptor: Remix, Live, Acoustic, Instrumental, Radio Edit, Sped Up, Remastered, Extended. Not “Original”, “Official”, the title again, or a year. |
| Combined / multi-artists in one field | One artist per field. Add collaborators as additional primary artists or as featured artists. |
| Parental advisory on art, but not explicit | Mark the explicit tracks as Explicit, or remove the sticker from the artwork. |
| Logo / trademark, celebrity likeness | Replace the artwork. Your own label logo is fine; registered marks, brand logos, and franchise characters aren’t. |
| Upscaled / bad quality art | Upload a clean square image, ideally 3000×3000, not an enlarged small one. |
| Incomplete / missing composition info | Add songwriter and composer credits (full legal names) to every track. |
| Impersonating another artist, recognizable artist name | The name or profile matches an existing artist. If it’s genuinely yours, ask the team in the ONCE Discord for an identity review with your profile links; otherwise use your own name. |
| Ineligible for UGC DSPs | The recording can’t go to TikTok, Instagram/Facebook, or YouTube Content ID. Remove those stores and retry; the rest are unaffected. |
| Other | The reviewer’s message is the whole reason. Do exactly what it says. |
Full detail: Status & Action Bar
My release is submitted but not live yet
- Check the status. Submitted means stores have it and have not confirmed publication.
- Allow for inspection and store processing. Most releases clear inspection within a day, nearly all within two to three days, with no guaranteed turnaround. Each store then publishes on its own schedule.
- If the release date passes without it going live, ONCE detects that, emails you, and alerts the team. No ticket needed.
- Once it is Distributed, search the store by exact title, artist, UPC, or ISRC.
ONCE Support can tell you where a release is: waiting for a reviewer, parked while the team settles a policy question, or rejected with the reason.
Ask ONCE Support if: the status has not moved in over a week with no error shown, or the release is live on stores but its ONCE page is missing its track or cover art (a sync issue; do not resubmit). A release parked for more than a week is waiting on a human decision; bring the title to the ONCE Discord.
My music is on the wrong artist profile
- Open Settings → Artist profiles and point the artist at the correct Spotify, Apple Music, SoundCloud, or Facebook page. ONCE re-sends your affected releases on its own, which fixes most wrong-page cases.
- If the store has to move or merge something on its side, click Request a fix on the same page, or give ONCE Support the correct link and it files the request for you.
- Follow the request’s status on your artist profile page.
Redistributing on its own will not fix a profile mapping.
Full detail: Artist Store Links
YouTube: Music, Content ID, and Official Artist Channels
Three separate things, which is where most confusion starts.
- YouTube Music is the streaming service. ONCE delivers every release to it, which usually creates an Art Track on a Topic channel. Nothing to request.
- Content ID claims your audio in other people’s videos. New enrollment is limited to approved ONCE distribution partners.
- Official Artist Channel (OAC) organizes your own channel. New requests are open to ONCE Insiders and approved partners. You need your own channel’s full
UC…URL (not a vanity URL), your Topic channel URL, and the artist’s country. Approval is YouTube’s decision and can take weeks to months.
Existing Art Tracks, OACs, and Content ID coverage are not being removed. Track everything at the YouTube Toolkit.
Full detail: YouTube
Register publishing and set royalty splits
Two different systems that are easy to mix up.
- Publishing registers songwriter and publisher details per track. Click Register Publishing on the release page. You can draft any time, but final registration needs the release distributed to at least one store and an assigned ISRC. Details you gave the chat agent register automatically once each ISRC arrives.
- Splits divide a release’s royalties between collaborators. Open Splits from More Tools on a distributed release, add recipients by email, and set percentages release-wide or per track. Each recipient is paid through their own payout setup.
Full detail: Publishing and Royalty Splits
Where are my ISRCs and UPC?
- Open the release page and find the Identifiers panel.
- Anything you left blank is assigned at delivery and appears there on its own.
- Pending assignment means the code has not synced back yet, not that something failed.
- To use codes you already own, click Add your own before you submit.
Changing a UPC or ISRC on a live release needs a takedown first.
Full detail: Identifiers
Credits, costs, and refunds
- 1 credit ($1) per human track, 2 credits per AI track. Edits and redistributions are free.
- Buy credits on the pricing page with a card, Apple Pay, or Google Pay.
- Refunds are tracked requests: ask ONCE Support, or use Request refund in Settings → Account. Refunding credits that already paid for a release takes that release down.
Full detail: Credits & Referrals
When do I get paid?
- Royalties appear on the Payouts page as stores report them, usually one to three months after the streams.
- When your first earnings post, Start Payout Setup unlocks. Complete the Tipalti form.
- Payouts are sent automatically every quarter for balances of $20 or more. Nothing to request.
- Balances under $20 roll over. They are never lost.
ONCE takes 0% of your royalties.
Ask ONCE Support if: a release shows a notice that it will not be paid out automatically, or a payment failed.
Full detail: Payouts
Still not answered?
- ONCE Support in the app, for anything account-specific.
- ONCE Discord, usually the fastest way to get unstuck, and where to file bugs with
/bug. - The FAQ for policy and pricing questions.