Status & Action Bar (STAB)
The Status & Action Bar — nicknamed the STAB — is the colored bar that sits at the top of every release page. It tells you the current state of your release at a glance and provides contextual actions you can take.
The STAB changes its background color, status dot, label, and action buttons depending on where your release is in its lifecycle.
Anatomy
The STAB is made up of four parts laid out in a single row (two rows on mobile):
| Part | Description |
|---|---|
| Status dot + label | A colored dot and bold text showing the current status (e.g. “Distributed”) |
| Store bubbles | Small icons for the stores your release was sent to (visible when Submitted or Distributed) |
| View details | A pill button that opens a detail panel for the current status |
| Action buttons | Contextual actions like Delete, Edit & Redistribute, Retry, etc. |
On mobile, the store bubbles and View details button wrap to a second row below the status and actions.
Statuses
The STAB displays one of six statuses. When multiple conditions are true, the highest-priority status wins.
Priority order (highest to lowest): Taken Down → Rejected → Distributed → Attention Needed → Submitted → Draft
Draft
The release has been created but not yet submitted for distribution. This is the default state for new releases.
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Delete Draft | Permanently deletes the draft release |
| Continue Chat | Returns to the chat conversation that created this release. Only appears if the release has an associated conversation. |
Submitted
The release has been queued and is being processed for distribution. Stores are receiving your content but have not yet confirmed it is live. Store bubbles appear in this state showing which stores the release was sent to.
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Register Publishing | Opens the publishing registration modal to register your songwriting and publishing information |
| View Performance | Disabled until the release is distributed. Performance stats become available 2-3 days after a successful distribution. |
Attention Needed
Something went wrong during distribution and requires your attention. This happens when a distribution error occurs — for example, a mastering step failed or timed out, or the metadata contains invalid characters (such as emojis in a label field). Click View details to see what happened.
If ONCE detects that a distribution worker got stuck in a long-running state (for example, a timeout or crash while processing), the release is automatically moved to Attention Needed. View details includes the detected timeout/stuck reason and the recommended retry action.
If our Validation Agent moves a previously distributed release back into inspection, ONCE also uses Attention Needed. In that case, View details shows the inspection note.
Clicking Retry Distribution opens the “Fix and Retry Distribution” editor — the same form used for Edit & Redistribute — so you can review and correct any metadata issues before resubmitting. The editor’s submit button is labelled Save & Retry Distribution to make it clear what will happen. If no metadata changes are needed, you can click Save & Retry Distribution immediately without making any edits.
The View details dialog also shows a Fix and Retry Distribution button when a retry is possible, so you can go straight from the error details into the editor without closing the dialog first.
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Retry Distribution | Opens the metadata editor so you can fix any issues, then retries distribution |
If the error was caused by Peak mastering (the audio mastering step), two specialized options appear instead:
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Retry with Mastering | Retries Peak mastering, then continues distribution once mastering completes |
| Retry without Mastering | Skips mastering entirely and continues distribution using your original uploaded audio |
Distributed
Your music has been sent to stores and at least one store has confirmed receipt. The pulsing green dot indicates your release is actively live. Store bubbles are visible in this state.
In some cases, Revelator can add a note that the release is not eligible for YouTube Content ID (for example due to non-exclusive sample/loop matches). The release can remain distributed to stores, and this warning appears in View details.
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Edit & Redistribute | Opens the edit modal to update metadata, replace cover art, or replace track audio, then push changes to stores. Track-audio replacements currently use a takedown flow. Grayed out and disabled when a redistribution is already under review. |
| Register Publishing | Opens the publishing registration modal to register your songwriting and publishing information |
| Splits | Opens the royalty split workflow so you can set release-wide or track-level percentages for collaborators. See Royalty Splits. |
| View Performance | Navigates to the performance analytics page showing streams, revenue, and listener data for this release |
Inside Edit & Redistribute, you can either describe the change in plain English with the Edit Agent or open the full manual editor.
- Use it for metadata fixes, new album artwork, and replacement track audio.
- If you replace track audio or change a UPC or ISRC, ONCE asks you to confirm a takedown before redistribution.
Delivered (variant)
When stores have received your content but haven’t published it yet, the label reads Delivered instead of “Distributed.” The dot is solid green (no pulse).
Future release date
If your release is distributed but the release date is in the future, the STAB shows a clock icon and “Available [date]” next to the status label — your release is on stores but not yet publicly available.
Rejected
A streaming platform rejected your release. Click View details to see the rejection reason. Common causes include metadata issues, cover art violations, or copyright flags.
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Delete | Permanently deletes the rejected release |
| Edit & Redistribute | Opens the edit modal to fix the issues flagged in the rejection, including metadata, cover art, or track-audio problems, and resubmit. Only appears when the release is in an editable state. |
Taken Down
The release has been removed from a majority of stores. The STAB shows a count (e.g. “Taken down on 3 stores, still up on 1 store”) next to the label. Store bubbles only show stores where the release is still live.
No specific action buttons appear for taken-down releases. Use View details to see full takedown information.
View Details
The View details pill button appears for most non-draft statuses. It opens a detail panel relevant to the current state:
| Status | What it opens |
|---|---|
| Rejected | Rejection reason and affected stores |
| Taken Down | Which stores are down and which are still up |
| Attention Needed | Error info (including worker timeout/stuck-job causes), Revelator inspection notes (when present), and recovery actions |
| Distributed | Per-store status breakdown plus edge-case warnings (including Content ID eligibility notes) |
| Submitted | Per-store status (disabled until stores begin reporting back) |
Store Bubbles
When a release is Submitted or Distributed, the STAB shows small circular icons for the stores your release was sent to.
- Featured stores (Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube Music, TikTok) appear as individual icons
- Non-featured stores are collapsed into a “+N” bubble (e.g. “+12”) — hover to see all store names
For Taken Down releases, only the stores where the release is still live are shown.
Register Publishing Action
The Register Publishing button opens ONCE’s track-level publishing workflow for drafting and submitting songwriter/publishing metadata.
For a full walkthrough (including draft mode, validation rules, and PRO/IPI handling), see Publishing with ONCE.
Splits Action
The Splits button appears on distributed releases and opens the royalty split workflow for that release.
Use it when you need to:
- Assign release-wide royalty percentages
- Override the split on individual tracks
- Invite collaborators into ONCE with locked, view-only access to the release
For the full owner and recipient flow, see Royalty Splits.
Additional Indicators
High Audio Match Warning
If ONCE detects that one or more tracks closely match an existing copyrighted recording, a warning badge appears next to the View details button when the release is in Submitted status:
Hovering over this badge explains that the release may be rejected due to audio matching, and suggests contacting support@once.app if this is a mistake.
All Actions (Reference)
A quick reference of every action button that can appear in the STAB.
| Button | Appears when | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Delete Draft | Draft | Permanently deletes the unreleased draft |
| Delete | Rejected | Permanently deletes the rejected release |
| Continue Chat | Draft (with conversation) | Return to the chat conversation that created this release |
| Edit & Redistribute | Rejected | Fix metadata, cover art, or audio issues and resubmit |
| Edit & Redistribute | Distributed | Update metadata or cover art directly. Track-audio replacements go through takedown before redistribution |
| Register Publishing | Submitted | Register songwriting and publishing info |
| Register Publishing | Distributed | Register songwriting and publishing info |
| View Performance | Distributed | Navigate to stream/revenue analytics |
| Retry Distribution | Attention Needed | Opens the metadata editor so you can fix any issues, then retries distribution |
| Retry with Mastering | Attention Needed (Peak error) | Retry mastering, then continue distribution |
| Retry without Mastering | Attention Needed (Peak error) | Skip mastering, distribute original audio |