Releasing Music

You build a release by talking to the ONCE chat agent at beta.once.app. Tell it about your music in any order; it asks for whatever is still missing, keeps the release in sync in the sidebar, and shows you a confirmation before anything is submitted.

Starting a release

Click New Release in the header, or open beta.once.app. A scrolling row of suggestions (“I want to get my single to Spotify”, “Walk me through a release”) sits above the message box; click one to send it, or just start typing.

The release chat is for building and submitting releases. For account questions, release lookups, or quick metadata edits on a release that already exists, use ONCE Support instead.

What the agent collects

• Release details: title, artist name, genre, release date, label, copyright lines
• Tracks: titles, explicit flags, optional preview start time, songwriter credits, optional lyrics
• Featured artists and any additional primary artists
• Artist page links: your Apple Music, Spotify, SoundCloud, or Meta profile, so stores match your existing page rather than creating a duplicate. Paste a URL or a raw ID; on a phone, the Paste button next to the send arrow drops in your clipboard. Formats and validation are on Artist Store Links.
• Publishing details (optional): writer roles, PRO and IPI numbers, and splits, which register automatically after distribution. See Publishing.

If you saved a preferred label at sign-up, ONCE starts new releases with it. Otherwise the primary artist name is the label until you choose one. Various Artists releases always need a real label.

Featured artists and primary artists

The agent marks someone as featured only when you use “feat.”, “ft.”, or “featuring”. Names joined with “and”, ”&”, or “x” become additional primary artists unless you say otherwise. If your artist name itself contains “and” (like “Simon & Garfunkel”), the agent asks whether that is one act or two.

Featured artists can sit on the release, on a track, or both. On a single they are applied to both automatically, because stores require them to match. Display varies by store: Spotify and Apple Music show them in the title or artist credit, YouTube Music in the artist attribution, and TikTok does not display featured artists at all.

Your primary artist must be a real performing identity, not a category like “Study Music” or “ASMR”; those names are rejected. Details in the FAQ.

Titles and versions

A version qualifier (“Deluxe”, “Remix”, “Instrumental”) goes in the version field and is shown in parentheses after the title, e.g. Midnight Drive (Deluxe). Keep format labels such as ”- Single” or ”- EP” out of titles; the format is stored separately, and ONCE strips those labels from migrated catalogs. On a single, the release title and track title must match, and ONCE keeps them aligned.

ONCE checks the metadata rules that stores enforce and inspectors always send back, so you fix them before the release goes out rather than after a rejection. You see them while you draft: the Release progress checklist (the progress pill above the chat, and the progress card in the sidebar) lists them under Fix before submitting, and a red dot on the pill means there is at least one. Submission also stops on them, before any credits are charged:

• Every track must be distinguishable. Two tracks on one release cannot share the same title, version, artist and explicit setting. Give each a distinct title, or put what makes them different in the version field (“Acoustic”, “Instrumental”, “Sped Up”, “Radio Edit”).
• The version field is only for a real qualifier. It cannot repeat the track title, the release title or the artist name, and words like “Original”, “Cover”, “Official Audio”, “Single” or a bare year are not versions. Leave it empty when there is nothing to qualify.
• Titles must be the song’s real name. Placeholders such as “Track 1”, “Beat 2” or “Untitled” are rejected by stores.
• One audio file per track. The same recording cannot appear twice on a release.
• Songwriter names have no commas. Write each name given name first, the way it appears on official paperwork: “Lena Holt”, not “Holt, Lena”. Suffixes are fine either way: “Marlo Hale Jr.” and “Marlo Hale, Jr.” both work, and ONCE sends the suffix without the comma.

The message names the track and the field to change. Under Worth checking, the same checklist lists things stores sometimes send back, or that ONCE adjusts for you, but that do not stop your submission:

• The same songwriter listed more than once on a track. Stores accept each person once, so ONCE sends one credit with the shares added together. One entry covers someone who wrote both the words and the music; producers and engineers are not songwriter credits.
• A version that only says “Explicit”, “Clean”, “Dirty” or “Edited”. Clear the version and use the track’s explicit setting instead; a clean edit is the same title marked not explicit. A version that merely contains one of those words (“Dirty South Remix”) is fine.
• Emoji in any field: titles, versions, artist and label names, copyright lines, or songwriter names.
• An artist field that looks like it holds more than one artist (“A feat. B”, “A, B”). Add each artist in their own field.
• File extensions in titles, a version word left after a dash in a title, and version text that is not a common qualifier. Versions that are unusual but real (“Live at Wembley”, “Jersey Club”) are allowed.

The sidebar

As you chat, the sidebar shows the release in real time: title and artist, track list with durations, preview offsets, cover art, and upload status. Expand a track to Upload audio or Replace audio; when artwork is missing, Add cover art opens the cover art card. Anything you do in the sidebar shows up in the chat too.

Uploading files

Bulk context files (CSV or PDF)

Click + in the chat input to attach a CSV or PDF with bulk release context, such as a track spreadsheet or a metadata document. These are for context only, not for artwork or final audio.

Audio upload card

When the agent is ready for audio, it shows an upload card where you can drag and drop files, upload several tracks at once, edit titles, reorder by dragging, and add or remove tracks.

Reusing a track you already released. To put a song from an earlier release on a new one (a single going on an album, for example), click Add a track from a past release under the track list in the audio card. It lists every track you’ve distributed through ONCE; search by title, release, or ISRC and click Add. The track comes in with its audio, credits, and the same ISRC it was first released with, so stores know it’s the same recording. Its audio can’t be swapped in place: if you want a different version, remove the track and upload the new file as a new track, which gets its own ISRC.

Audio requirements

• WAV recommended; MP3, AAC, M4A, OGG, FLAC, and AIFF accepted
• No clipping (distortion at loud parts) and no long silence at the start or end
• Explicit flags must match the audio. Profanity means Explicit; a clean version must not be flagged. The sidebar shows an Explicit or Clean badge per track so you can check before submitting.

Cover art upload card

Upload your own image, or generate one with AI by describing what you want. You can request variations, generate several options, or use an existing image as a starting point. Generation uses Nano Banana 2 (1K); ONCE Insiders can switch to Nano Banana Pro (4K).

Cover art requirements

• Square JPG or PNG, 3000×3000 recommended
• No streaming platform logos, URLs, or social handles
• Not blurry, pixelated, or upscaled from a small source
• No brand logos, registered marks, or celebrity likenesses (your own label logo is fine)
• Any title or artist name printed on the art must match the metadata exactly
• Explicit imagery must be marked explicit; a parental advisory sticker means the tracks must be flagged Explicit

Artwork is one of the most common reasons a release comes back, so check the list before you submit.

AI detection and rights checks

AI detection. Every audio upload runs through Vobile’s AI detector. Tracks with AI-generated content get an AI Detected badge in the sidebar and are disclosed to stores that require it; you do not need to do anything. AI tracks cost 2 credits instead of 1, and the surcharge funds the Artist Compensation Fund.

Rights checks. After upload, ONCE checks the audio against a music registry (“Checking audio” appears on the card). A match is shown only when more than 10% of the audio matches a registered recording, with details when available. A match to your own recording is expected when moving music from another distributor; confirm your rights on the review screen and continue. If you do not recognize the match, review the audio before submitting. After delivery, the distributor runs its own check; if both find the same recording they are shown as one result.

Lyrics and language

Paste lyrics into the chat and say which track they belong to. They are sent to stores with the release and shown on your release page, though whether a store displays them is up to the store. Lyrics already stored at the distributor (for example from a previous distributor) are pulled in automatically. After submission, edit them through Edit & Redistribute.

Each track also carries a lyric language, which you never have to set by hand. The agent infers it from lyrics, title, and conversation; if a track reaches submission without one, ONCE detects it from the script of the lyrics or title, falling back to the release’s audio language and then English. Instrumental tracks get the Instrumental language. Release-level audio and metadata languages are filled the same way. Anything you set explicitly always wins. If an inferred language is wrong, tell the agent, or fix it later in the editor (“set the language of track 2 to Portuguese”).

Review and confirm

When everything is collected, the agent shows a confirmation with all metadata, the track list, the cover art, and the credit cost. Check it carefully, then confirm. Stores run their own systems and may adjust how metadata appears after delivery; see DSPs and release metadata.

Choosing stores

The confirmation lists the stores the release will go to, defaulting to every store available to your account. Click Choose to pick specific stores and Done when finished; Reset to default set restores the full list. Partner-only stores are labeled and cannot be selected by standard accounts.

Your store selection sticks to the release. Editing later keeps the same stores; to add stores after release, use Distribute to N Stores under the store list on the release page rather than Edit & Redistribute.

Two YouTube notes: selecting YouTube Music delivers to the streaming service (and usually creates an Art Track), but does not enroll the release in Content ID or create an Official Artist Channel. And YouTube Content ID and Facebook Rights Manager are unavailable for releases associated with India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Brazil, or Turkey; those two stores are removed automatically and everything else is unaffected. See YouTube.

Scheduling

Pick any future date to give stores time to process. If you choose today’s date, ONCE sends the release as soon as possible instead of scheduling it. Stores usually take 1 to 3 days to put a new release live, so a date less than 3 days away may go live a day or two after it; ONCE shows a short note when you pick one, and you can still submit. How release dates behave after edits is on Things to Know.

Identifiers (ISRC and UPC)

Every release page has an Identifiers panel with the release UPC and each track’s ISRC.

• Bring your own codes: click Add your own in the panel before submission. Entries are validated when you save.
• Leave blank for automatic assignment: codes are assigned at delivery and appear in the panel on their own.
• Tracks added from a past release keep the ISRC they were first released with.
• Pending assignment after submission means the code has not synced back yet, not that something failed.

Changing a UPC or ISRC on a live release needs a takedown first, so get them right before you submit if you can. If you register publishing before an ISRC has synced, ONCE fetches the assigned code as part of the submission.

After submission

Track your release from the Releases page. The colored bar at the top of each release page shows its status and the actions available; every status is explained on Status & Action Bar.

• Inspection. Submitted releases go through a human review. Most clear within a day, nearly all within two to three days. If it is rejected, the reason is on the release page, in the email, and in your notifications; see rejections.
• Missed release date. If a release is still not live once its date has passed and it has had 3 days to process since you submitted it, ONCE notices, emails you, and alerts the team. No ticket needed.
• Publishing. Details collected in chat register automatically once each track’s ISRC arrives (tracks show Queued • awaiting ISRC). Otherwise click Register Publishing on the release page. See Publishing.
• Splits. Once distributed to at least one store, Splits under More Tools lets you share royalties with collaborators. See Royalty Splits.
• Sharing. Every distributed release gets a public page with “Listen on” buttons. See Share Your Music.
• Submission source. Releases submitted through an MCP client or a partner surface show a small via MCP or via AIMD pill next to the genre. Releases from the ONCE app show nothing.

Changing a release

Edits never cost credits. What you can change and how depends on the release’s status; Changing a Release covers every case, from a draft to a single that has been live for a year. The short version: drafts are edited in chat, everything after that uses Edit & Redistribute on the release page, and only new audio, UPC, or ISRC on a live release needs a takedown, which ONCE runs for you.

Starting a conversation

The main chat is labeled Release assistant. It turns your messages into release details and a checklist. ONCE Support, in the corner, handles account help and troubleshooting.

New drafts start as a one-track single. Choose Start an EP or album, or tell the assistant the track count, to change that assumption. You can also choose Start with artwork. Starting actions fill in an editable message; nothing is sent until you send it.