Things to Know

How ONCE and music distribution actually behave. For step-by-step changes see Changing a Release; for what each status means see Status & Action Bar.

Release dates

Original release date. When you edit or redistribute a release, the date shown on stores can change to today’s date, because stores may treat a redistribution as a new release. To protect your history, ONCE sets the Original Release Date to the earliest successful distribution date on record automatically. Spotify and Apple Music use it for sorting and discovery, so your music keeps its historical date where stores support it. Nothing to manage.

Scheduling. Schedule ahead to give stores time to process, avoid weekends (most processing happens on business days), and remember release times are typically in UTC. Choosing today’s date sends the release as soon as possible instead of scheduling it.

Changing the date. Before distribution, usually fine. After distribution it means a redistribution and may affect metrics.

Making edits after distribution

When you update a distributed release, the update goes to every store, stores reflect it after processing, the release date may be affected (see above), and stream counts and playlist placements are not affected.

What you can edit: release and track titles, artist names, localized artist names where a store supports them, role credits (producer, engineer, mixing, mastering), artwork, genre, copyright and other metadata, lyrics, track audio, UPCs, and ISRCs.

What you cannot edit: adding or removing tracks (that needs a new release) and reordering tracks.

Audio, UPC, and ISRC changes on a live release go through an automatic takedown-then-redistribute sequence; everything else goes out with your music still live. Changing a Release walks through each case.

DSPs and release metadata

Digital service providers (DSPs), the streaming and download stores, run their own catalogs, policies, and display systems. ONCE submits the metadata you approve, but each store controls what appears on its service and may change how your release is shown over time. ONCE cannot guarantee that every field looks identical everywhere. Common reasons stores intervene:

• Formatting and style rules: many DSPs normalize titles, featured-artist wording, or version tags so listings stay consistent.
• Catalog matching: some services match audio or metadata to an existing catalog entry, which can override what you set. Users have reported on Apple’s forums that Apple Music matching sometimes swapped in different artwork or track information when it associated a file with another catalog item.
• Editorial and policy enforcement: stores may hide, reject, or relabel metadata they consider misleading or non-compliant, even after a distributor accepted the delivery.
• Fraud and duplicate detection: large platforms flag inconsistent or abusive metadata automatically. Press coverage (for example The Verge in 2024) described unauthorized releases briefly appearing on real Spotify artist pages while artists worked with platforms to remove them; storefronts, not distributors alone, control what stays live.
• Platform-specific features: YouTube Music delivery usually creates an auto-generated Art Track; Content ID and Official Artist Channels are separate services. Amazon Music and others each publish their own metadata requirements.

What to do: send accurate metadata and artwork, then spot-check your live pages on the stores you care about. If something looks wrong on one DSP, ask ONCE Support. ONCE can often help with a metadata update, but the store has final say.

Platform-specific behaviors

• Spotify: separate pitching for editorial playlists; shows the release date prominently on album pages.
• Apple Music: stricter cover art requirements; pre-add helps build anticipation.
• YouTube Music: delivery creates an Art Track on a Topic channel. Content ID and Official Artist Channels are separate. See YouTube.
• TikTok / Instagram: distribution puts your music in their sound libraries and lets you claim your sound page. TikTok does not display featured artists.

Best practices

1. Triple-check before submitting. Errors are harder to fix once your music is out.
2. Save your original files. Keep source audio and artwork backed up.
3. Keep a note of your ISRCs and UPC. They are permanent identifiers, useful for royalty tracking and for finding your release on a store.
4. Fix problems early. While a release is a draft or still submitted, changes are quick and need no takedown.
5. Spot-check live pages after go-live and after every edit.

Account restrictions

If ONCE pauses or flags your account, you can still sign in but changes are locked until the review clears. What that means and how to reply is on Your Account.