Credits Explained

What "Analyze on Upload" does, how credits work, why analysis is now priced per minute of audio, and why re-importing an Ableton file never costs you anything.

Analysis is the thing you came to Pliris™ for. It's what turns a folder of raw stems into a fully programmed song — no tapping tempo, no transcribing lyrics, no marking sections by hand. This article explains what it does and how the credits behind it work.

Used Pliris before? Credits used to be flat: one credit per song, whether it was a 90-second interlude or a 12-minute epic. Credits now measure minutes of processing — short songs cost less, and one balance covers every kind of processing your crew does, including the new features on the way. Your monthly amount went from 35 to 1,000 (free accounts from 3 to 240), your balance converted automatically, and your current period restarted with the full monthly amount. Nothing else about your account changed.

What "Analyze on Upload" does

When you upload stems into an arrangement, look for the "Analyze on Upload" toggle before you confirm. When it's on, Pliris listens to your stems and automatically extracts:

  • Tempo — the base BPM (and a full tempo map for warped material).
  • Beats and time signature — 4/4, 6/8, whatever the song is in.
  • Song sections — Intro, Verse, Chorus, Bridge and the rest, placed on the timeline so you can jump between them.
  • Stem grouping — each track routed to the right group.

On every plan, free or paid, analysis also extracts:

  • Key — the song's key signature.
  • Lyrics — auto-extracted and time-synced, with the current line highlighted during playback.
  • Chords — chord data rendered as a chart that follows playback.

All of it, from the stems alone. When analysis finishes, your key, tempo, and time signature populate, and the Lyrics and Chords tabs fill in. Anything that came through wrong you can edit by hand.

Pro tip: Rename your stems before analysis kicks off — Guitar, Lead Vocal, BGVs, Synths, Drums — so Pliris routes each one to the right group. Not sure what a stem is? Click into it and press Shift + Space to preview it. Press Tab to jump between stem names quickly.

How credits work

Analysis costs 20 credits per minute of audio, rounded up to the minute. A typical 4-minute song is about 80 credits; a 2-minute interlude is 40. You'll see the cost before anything is charged.

  • Free accounts: 240 credits per month.
  • Paid accounts: 1,000 credits per month.

Your balance refills to the full amount at the start of each monthly period. You can see how many credits you have left — and when they refill — in the account menu (click your avatar in any Pliris app).

Two more things worth knowing:

  • If an analysis fails, you're refunded automatically. You only pay for processing that completes.
  • Credits are one balance for everything. Today that's analysis and catalog re-encoding; as new processing features roll out, they draw from the same balance — no separate limits to track per feature.

Why the change to per-minute pricing?

There are new features on the way that will also use credits, and we needed to make this shift before releasing them. Counting credits by the minute means shorter songs take fewer credits and longer songs take more — which is what lets us sustainably offer song analysis and the new features alongside it, all from one balance. It's part of the same goal everything here points at: playback programming that takes 90% less time, and rehearsal prep that's effortless because the crew does the work.

Re-importing Ableton does NOT cost credits

Here's the part worth remembering. After you download an arrangement as an Ableton Set and make edits in Live — relabeling a section, tweaking the arrangement — you'll come back to Pliris and re-import the .als file to sync your changes.

That re-import costs nothing.

If you're out of credits, you'll see a warning when you upload the file. Ignore it. Re-importing an .als isn't re-analyzing anything — there are no stems to listen to and nothing to extract. It's just pulling your section changes back into Pliris so the app and your Ableton session stay in sync. It's essentially instant, and it's free every time.

Credits are spent on processing of audio (like the "Analyze on Upload" pass on your stems), not on syncing an Ableton file back in.

When to spend credits

Spend credits when you have new audio Pliris hasn't heard yet — a fresh set of stems, or a new arrangement of a song you want fully analyzed from scratch.

Don't spend them to:

  • Re-import an edited .als file (free — see above).
  • Edit lyrics, chords, or section labels by hand (editing analyzed data is always free).
  • Play back, mute, solo, or rehearse an already-analyzed arrangement.

Frequently asked questions

How many credits do I get each month?

Free Pliris accounts get 240 credits per month and paid accounts get 1,000 per month. Analysis costs 20 credits per minute of audio, so shorter songs take fewer credits and longer songs take more.

Why did my credit numbers change?

Credits now measure minutes of processing instead of whole songs, and monthly amounts scaled up to match — 35 became 1,000 (free: 3 became 240). We made this shift because new features are coming that will also use credits, and per-minute counting is what makes analysis and those features sustainable to offer. Existing balances converted automatically, with every account's current period restarted at the full monthly amount.

Why do I see an out-of-credits warning when re-importing an Ableton file?

The warning appears on upload when your balance is empty, but you can safely ignore it — re-importing an .als file never costs credits. There are no stems to analyze; Pliris is just pulling your section changes back in so the app and your Ableton session stay in sync, and it's free every time.

Does editing lyrics, chords, or section labels cost credits?

No. Editing already-analyzed data by hand is always free in Pliris — credits are only spent on processing new audio.

What does analyzing one song cover?

One analysis covers the full pass on one arrangement: Pliris extracts the tempo (including a tempo map for warped material), beats, time signature, song sections, and stem grouping — plus key, time-synced lyrics, and chords on a paid plan — from your stems alone.

What if an analysis fails?

You're refunded automatically. Credits are only kept for processing that completes.

Where to go next

Questions about your credit balance or a bad analysis, click the support bubble on any page or email support@fromstudiotostage.com. You'll hear back within 24 hours.