How Do Failed Renewals Work?

A failed renewal means your plan reached its renewal date but the payment didn’t go through. Your music isn’t affected, and you have a window to fix it.

Your releases are not affected

A failed payment does not take your music off stores. Your releases stay live and keep earning throughout.

Why renewals fail

Common causes include:

• An expired card — the card on file passed its expiry date
• Insufficient funds at the time the charge was attempted
• The card was blocked or declined by your bank, which can happen with international charges
• The card was cancelled or replaced and the new details weren’t added
• A payment method that can’t be auto-charged — in this case there’s no failure as such, you simply need to pay manually

What happens after a failed renewal

You’ll be notified that the payment didn’t go through. From there, you may be given a grace period — a window in which your plan continues while you sort the payment out.

What to do

1. Open your Billing page and check which payment method is on file, confirming it’s still valid and not expired.
2. If the card has expired or been replaced, update it there with your current card details.
3. Make sure there are sufficient funds available, and that your bank isn’t blocking the charge.
4. Complete the payment to renew your plan.

If your bank is declining the charge, it’s worth contacting them directly, since blocks on international or online payments are usually resolved on their side rather than ours.

If the payment is never completed

Once the grace period passes without a successful payment, your account falls back to the Free plan. Your releases remain live, but your royalty rate and feature access change. See What Happens If I Do Not Renew My Plan? for exactly what changes.

Preventing failed renewals

If you pay by card, keeping a valid card on file with automatic billing enabled is the simplest way to avoid this — your renewal is then charged automatically each cycle with nothing required from you. See How Do Billing Cycles Work?.

Summary: A failed renewal means your plan’s renewal payment didn’t go through, usually due to an expired card, insufficient funds, a bank decline, or a replaced card whose details weren’t updated. Your music is not affected — releases stay live and keep earning. You’ll be notified, and may be given a grace period to resolve it. To fix it, check and update your payment method, make sure funds are available and your bank isn’t blocking the charge, then complete the payment. If payment is never completed, your account falls back to the Free plan once the grace period ends, which changes your royalty rate and feature access. Keeping a valid card on file with automatic billing enabled prevents this.