For: Releasing artists (RA), earning artists (EA), and label managers (LM) who sent a split proposal that didn't go through You'll need: The proposal open in front of you, or the email about it Time: 5 minutes
A proposal can end three ways: accepted, rejected by a collaborator, or expired because nobody acted. None of them break your release — they just leave the split in its previous state, which you can re-propose from.
Quick answer
Open the proposal. The status line at the top tells you which collaborator rejected it (and their note, if they left one) or that the proposal expired. To try again, edit the percentages or message and send a new proposal. The release's split state stays at whatever was last cleared until a new proposal is accepted.
Why proposals get rejected
The most common rejections are:
Percentages don't match expectations — the collaborator thought their share would be higher or lower based on prior conversation.
A name or email is wrong — they don't recognize the proposal because it was sent to a stale address.
A missing collaborator — they want someone else added before they sign off.
Timing — they want to wait until the release is finalized.
In all cases, the fix is the same: read their note, edit the proposal, and send a new one. The conversation thread stays attached so context isn't lost.
Why proposals expire
Proposals have a response window. If a collaborator never opens the email or never clicks accept/reject, the proposal expires and the split reverts to its prior state. Causes:
The email landed in spam or the wrong inbox.
The collaborator isn't a Collabhouse user yet and didn't go through the claim flow.
Life happened — people are busy.
Decision tree
Did the proposal get rejected with a note? Read the note and address what's there. Edit the split and resend.
Rejected with no note? Reach out to the collaborator outside the app to ask what they want changed.
Expired? Resend the proposal. Before you do, check the email address you used and confirm with the collaborator that it's the right one.
Collaborator says they never got a claim link? See Article 3.3 — I got a "claim royalty" link — what do I do?. You may need to re-trigger the claim invitation from the proposal page.
Two proposals on the same release at once? Only one is active at a time. Cancel the older one first.
What stays the same after a rejection or expiry
The release itself is unaffected — releases don't depend on splits being finalized to go live. The earnings on that release continue to accrue as Provisional: held under the previously cleared split, pending a new agreement. See Article 3.1 — How do royalty splits work? for the full state machine.
Symptom → cause → fix
"Status: rejected" but you never received an email — check spam, then check the notification settings on the account you're signed into. The in-app notification is still authoritative.
You accepted on your phone but it still shows pending — sometimes the acknowledgement takes a second to sync; refresh the page. If still pending after a minute, see Article 12.6 — A page won't load — what now?.
You disputed the split instead of rejecting it — disputes follow a different path; see Article 3.2 — How do I propose, accept, or dispute a split?.
Collaborator left Collabhouse / changed email — start a new proposal with the new address.