Things to Know

Important information about how ONCE and music distribution works. Understanding these details will help you avoid surprises.

Release Dates

Original Release Date Behavior

When you edit or redistribute a release, the release date shown on streaming platforms may change to today’s date. To preserve your original release date history, ONCE automatically sets the Original Release Date to the earliest successful distribution date on record.

This is important because:

• Editing metadata (like fixing a typo) triggers a redistribution
• Streaming platforms may interpret redistributions as “new” releases
• The Original Release Date field preserves when your music first went live

What this means for you:

• Your music will still show its historical release date where platforms support it
• Spotify and Apple Music use Original Release Date for sorting and discovery
• You don’t need to manually track this — ONCE handles it automatically

Scheduling Releases

For best results:

• Schedule ahead — This gives time for platform processing
• Avoid weekends — Most platform processing happens on business days
• Consider time zones — Release times are typically in UTC

Release Date Changes

• Changes to release dates before distribution are usually possible
• Changes after distribution require a redistribution and may affect metrics
• Contact support quickly if you need to change a date

Making Edits After Distribution

What Happens When You Edit

When you update a distributed release:

1. The update is sent to all platforms
2. Platforms will reflect changes after processing
3. The release date may be affected (see above)
4. Stream counts and playlist placements are not affected

This includes standard metadata edits, replacement cover art, and replacement track audio. For simplicity, ONCE currently treats distributed track-audio replacements as takedown-required changes.

What You Can Edit

• Track titles and artist names
• Localized artist names, when a store supports language-specific display metadata
• Role credits such as producer, engineer, mixing engineer, and mastering engineer
• Album artwork
• Track audio files, but ONCE currently routes audio replacements through a takedown before redistribution
• Release title
• Metadata (genre, copyright info, etc.)
• UPC and ISRC changes, which ONCE will require a takedown for before redistribution

What You Cannot Edit

• Adding/removing tracks (requires a new release)
• Reordering tracks in the edit modal

If you need to change the track list itself, create a new release or contact support.

DSPs and release metadata

Digital service providers (DSPs) — streaming and download stores such as Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and YouTube Music — run their own catalogs, policies, and display systems. ONCE submits the metadata you approve, but each store ultimately controls what appears on its service and may change how your release is shown over time.

That means ONCE cannot guarantee that every field will look identical everywhere, or that a store will never adjust presentation after delivery. Common reasons stores intervene include:

• Formatting and style rules — Many DSPs normalize titles, featured-artist wording, or version tags (for example, requiring certain punctuation or casing) so listings stay consistent on their platform.
• Catalog matching — Some services match audio or metadata to an existing catalog entry. That process can replace or override what you embedded locally. Users have reported on Apple’s forums that Apple Music / iTunes Match–style matching sometimes swapped in different artwork or track/album information than they had set when Apple associated a file with another item in the catalog.
• Editorial and policy enforcement — Stores may hide, reject, or relabel metadata they consider misleading, promotional in the wrong fields, or non-compliant with their rules (even when a distributor initially accepted the delivery).
• Fraud and duplicate detection — Large platforms use automated systems to flag inconsistent or abusive metadata. Press coverage (for example, The Verge in 2024) described cases where unauthorized or spam releases briefly appeared on real Spotify artist pages while artists worked with platforms to remove them — illustrating that storefronts, not distributors alone, control what stays live and how profiles are protected.
• Platform-specific features — YouTube Music ties releases to broader YouTube systems (for example Art Tracks and Content ID), so credits or artwork can follow rules that differ from audio-only stores. Amazon Music and others each publish their own metadata requirements and may display genres, labels, or dates differently.

What you should do: Send accurate metadata and artwork from ONCE, then spot-check your live pages on the stores you care about. If something looks wrong on one DSP, contact ONCE support — we can often help with a metadata update or next steps, but the store has final say on its user-facing data.

Platform-Specific Behaviors

Spotify

• Requires separate pitching for editorial playlists
• Shows release date prominently on album pages

Apple Music

• Has stricter cover art requirements
• Pre-add feature helps build anticipation

YouTube Music

• Connected to YouTube Content ID
• Generates an Art Track automatically

TikTok / Instagram

• Distribution enables music in their sound libraries
• Artists can claim their sound page
• Great for viral potential
• TikTok does not display featured artists — featured artist credits are submitted but will not appear on TikTok

Status Meanings

When tracking your release on the Releases page, you’ll see various statuses:

Common Situations

”My release shows the wrong date”

This usually happens after an edit/redistribution. The Original Release Date field should preserve your history. If the displayed date is incorrect, contact support.

”My release is stuck in Submitted”

Platforms have processing and review queues. This is normal. If you haven’t seen any progress after an extended period, contact support.

”I can’t find my release on [platform]”

• Search by exact title and artist name
• Try searching the UPC or ISRC
• Make sure the status shows “Distributed” on the Releases page
• Some platforms have separate apps (e.g., YouTube vs YouTube Music)

“I need to take down my release”

Contact support to request a takedown.

Best Practices

1. Triple-check before submitting — Errors are hard to fix after distribution
2. Save your original files — Keep your source audio and artwork backed up
3. Note your ISRCs — These are permanent track identifiers useful for royalty tracking
4. Monitor your release — Check status on the Releases page regularly