Royalty Splits
ONCE lets you attach royalty splits to a distributed release so collaborators can review their share inside ONCE.
This workflow is for setting up split participants and their percentages. It does not send payouts yet.
What You Can Do
- Add royalty recipients at the release level
- Override the split on individual tracks when needed
- Save a draft while you are still confirming names, emails, or percentages
- Apply the split so ONCE can invite recipients or link existing ONCE accounts
- Resend an invitation email without removing and re-adding the recipient
- Give recipients a locked, view-only release page that shows their split details
When Splits Are Available
The Splits action appears on the release page after the release has been successfully distributed to at least one store.
You can open it from the Status & Action Bar on a distributed release.
What You Need For Each Recipient
Every split recipient needs:
- Legal name
- Email address
- Percentage
You can create:
- A release-wide split that applies to the full release
- A track override for any track that needs a different allocation
If a track has its own override, that custom track split takes precedence over the release-wide default for that track.
How The Workflow Works
1. Build the draft
Open Splits, add the recipients, and enter the release-wide percentages.
If one or more tracks need different numbers, turn on a track override and enter the custom percentages for that track.
2. Save draft
Use Save draft if you are still waiting on collaborator details or percentages. ONCE keeps the split structure attached to the release so you can come back later.
3. Apply the split
When everything is ready, click Apply splits.
At that point ONCE:
- Links any recipient whose email already belongs to an ONCE account
- Emails any recipient who does not have an ONCE account yet
- Waits for new recipients to claim their invite before finishing the external split sync
Split Statuses
After you save or apply a split, a status badge appears on the release page and inside the split modal. Here is what each status means:
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Draft | Split percentages have been saved but not yet applied. No invitations have been sent. |
| Waiting for recipients | Invitations have been sent. ONCE is waiting for all recipients to accept their split. |
| Ready to activate | All recipients accepted. ONCE is ready to send the split contracts to your distributor. |
| Activating | Split contracts are being sent to your distributor. This may take a moment. |
| Active | Splits are live with your distributor. Recipients will receive their share of royalties, and the split editor becomes read-only. Contact tech@once.app if you need to make changes. |
| Activation failed | Something went wrong sending to your distributor. You can retry by re-applying, or contact support. |
Recipient statuses
Inside the split modal, each non-owner recipient shows its own invite status:
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Not yet invited | The split has been saved as a draft but not applied. Apply the split to send invitations. |
| Sending invite | ONCE is preparing to send the invitation email. |
| Invite sent — waiting | An invitation email was sent. Waiting for the recipient to accept. |
| Invite failed | Email delivery failed. Try resending the invite. |
| Accepted | The recipient has accepted their split and is linked to their ONCE account. |
What recipients see on their end
On the locked release page, recipients see a simplified version of the split status:
| Status | What it means for them |
|---|---|
| Waiting for recipients | Some recipients have not accepted their invitation yet. |
| Ready to activate | Everyone accepted. The owner can now activate splits with the distributor. |
| Active | Splits are live. They will receive their share of royalties from this release. |
| Activation failed | There was a problem activating. The release owner may need to retry. |
What Recipients See
Recipients do not become release owners.
The claim page shows the release artwork, title, artist, and the invited split details before they claim access.
Once claimed, the release appears in their Releases list with a locked, non-owned indicator. Opening it shows a dedicated read-only page with:
- Release artwork and metadata
- The release owner name and email
- The current split status and what it means for them
- Their release-wide split, if one exists
- Any custom per-track split overrides that apply to them
- A clear notice that they cannot edit metadata or distribution settings
Owner As Recipient
When you (the release owner) are listed as a split recipient, ONCE automatically links your account when you apply the split. You do not need to accept an invite for your own split.
Existing ONCE Users
If the recipient email already belongs to an ONCE account, ONCE still sends them an invitation email so they can review the split details and explicitly accept.
If the recipient opens the claim link while already logged in with the right email, they can accept in one click.
If they open the link while logged in with a different email, ONCE tells them which email to use and sends them to Log in with the invited email pre-filled.
New Recipients
If the email does not belong to an ONCE account yet, ONCE emails them an invitation to claim the split.
If the recipient did not get the first email, use Resend invite from the recipient row instead of deleting and recreating that entry.
They should:
- Open the invite link.
- Create an account or log in with the invited email address.
- Confirm their email if they are signing up for the first time.
- Return to the claim page and accept the split.
After accepting, the locked release appears in their ONCE account.
The claim page tells them when the invited email does not exist yet and sends them to Create account with that email pre-filled.
Important Notes
- Splits are currently for access and contract setup only.
- Payouts are not available in ONCE yet.
- Recipients should always use the same email address that was entered in the split.
- If you remove or change a recipient after a split has already been activated, ONCE revokes the current synced split contracts and you will need to apply the updated split again.
- If the wrong email was used, update the split and apply it again so ONCE can issue the correct invitation.