Getting started

SetlistForge has two kinds of data: a library of songs you enter once, and setlists built from that library. Everything is saved automatically in the browser and, while you are signed in, backed up to your account automatically (see Account sync).

Quick start

1. Open SetlistForge from the dashboard. You land on the Library tab.
2. Tap + Add song. Only the title is required. Add duration, key and mode (Major/Minor), BPM (or Tap at least three times), an energy level from 1 to 5, composer and lyricist for the royalty reports, and notes. Enter saves; Save & add next keeps you typing.
3. Switch to the Setlist tab. Tap + Add song to open the picker, or drag songs across from the Library. Songs already in the set are marked in the picker; tap one again to add it twice (an encore, say). Removed a row by mistake? You can undo it.
4. Fill in the show header: Show title, Date, Venue, Artist. Drop a logo (PNG or JPG, max 10 MB) into the slot on the left — it prints on the PDF.
5. Watch Total runtime in the footer; each set also shows its own subtotal. Tap + Insert set break between sets and give it a length in minutes (20 by default); set a Set length (min) target and the footer shows how much is over or free.

That is a timed setlist. From here: export the PDF, run the gig in Show Mode, or prepare the royalties report.

The screen

• Show header — sticky across all tabs: logo, title, date, venue, artist, the light/dark theme toggle, the Show Mode button and the account-backup status.
• Library — a searchable table (title or artist) with filters for key, BPM range and minimum energy. Rows can be edited, duplicated, deleted (undo for ten seconds) or given an audio file.
• Setlist — the active setlist, with a switcher to create, rename, duplicate and delete setlists (grouped into Upcoming, Past and Undated), and a List / Timeline toggle.
• Royalties — the performed-songs report; Tantiemen in German.

Reading the set

• Camelot badges — every song with a key gets a Camelot wheel code. Same number, or a neighboring number with the same letter, mixes smoothly.
• Energy Arc — the chart above the list draws each song's energy (1–5); the dotted line is BPM. Aim for waves, not a flat line. It needs at least two songs.
• Transition warnings — a large Camelot distance or BPM jump is flagged on the row as a hard transition.
• Timeline — the same setlist on a time rail with cumulative start times (planned breaks included) and an energy spine.

Getting songs in faster

Paste or import songs in the Library toolbar opens a dialog with two tabs.

Paste a setlist

Copy the setlist from wherever it lives — Word, Pages, Google Docs, Apple Notes, an email or a band chat — and paste it into Paste a setlist. Then tap Review. SetlistForge reads it line by line:

• Songs — list numbers (1., 1), 01 -) and bullets are dropped. Song – Artist, Artist - Song, Song by Artist and Song (Artist) are split into title and artist; which side is the artist is decided once for the whole paste (the name that repeats). A duration (3:45, 3'45), a key (Am, in F#, Key: Eb, B-Dur) and a tempo (128 bpm) are read into their fields; [capo 2] and // long intro become notes.
• Breaks — Set 2, Pause 20, Break 15 min, Encore, Zugabe, Toegift, Bis and the same words in the other app languages become set breaks, with the minutes when they are given. A Set 1 above the first song just opens the show.
• Show info — lines above the first song: a date and a venue (@ Docks, Venue: Docks, Gut Steinhof – 07.03.2027) fill the show header. Any other line there becomes a question (see below).
• Left out — empty lines, Setlist, Page 2, a greeting, and an email's sign-off and signature.

Check what was read (the same check step as Show Clock's paste) starts with a summary — for example 9 songs found · 1 to check · 4 lines left out · 3 in your library — and then shows:

• Show info — title, date, venue and artist, filled only from lines that were clear, each with Read from “…” under it. When a date had no year, or the day/month order could go either way, it says so (the year or the day/month order was assumed).
• Questions — a line above the songs that could be the band, the venue or the show's name is asked, not guessed: What is “…”? with Artist · Venue · Show title · Ignore. A band name that repeats on the song lines is answered for you.
• One row per song or break, with a tick (untick it and the line is not imported), its type (Song, Break, Show info, Ignore), every field, and Read from “” so you can compare at a glance. A song marked In your library is already there (same title and artist, ignoring case and accents) and is reused instead of added twice.
• Amber rows are the ones the reader was unsure about, with the reason after Check: — the title/artist order was assumed for this line, a key or BPM was read from bare text next to the title, a duration from a number with a dot, a leading number was removed, two songs in one line (kept as one), or the line could be show info rather than a song.
• Lines left out — listed under N lines left out, never dropped. Add as song or Add as break brings one back.

Swap title/artist flips every song line at once. Nothing is saved until you choose:

• Create setlist — a new setlist with the songs, breaks and show info, and it opens.
• Add to current setlist — the songs and breaks go to the end of the open setlist; show info only fills fields that are still empty.

New songs are added to the library. The toast that follows has Undo, which takes the whole paste back.

Quick paste works on the free plan too, inside its limits: the review says how many of the new songs still fit in the 30, and with two setlists already saved it offers Add to current setlist only.

CSV / spreadsheet

The CSV / spreadsheet tab takes pasted CSV or tab-separated text, or a .csv / .txt file (max 2 MB, 1,000 rows per import), into the library. Pick the delimiter or let it auto-detect, tick First row is headers, then map each column to a field — Title is the only one that must be mapped. A table with column names pasted into Paste a setlist moves here by itself.

Library backups

Export library in the Library toolbar writes a JSON backup of songs and setlists; Import library restores one (max 10 MB) and replaces what is there — you are asked first.

Audio references

Attach an MP3, M4A, OGG or WAV to a song with the paperclip. Audio stays in this browser only — it is never backed up to your account and is not part of a library export.

Sharing the set with band and crew

On the Setlist tab, Share read-only link gives you a link to the setlist that band and crew open in their own browser — no account or license of their own, and no way to change it. They see the show details, the running order, durations, keys and BPM; the lighting cues while Include lighting cues is ticked (it is by default), and your stage notes only if you tick Include stage notes. Composers, lyricists and everything in the royalty reports are never on it.

The dialog also shows the link as a QR code: bandmates scan it with their phone camera to open the set.

The link follows the set: a few seconds after you change the setlist, the new version is at the same address — no need to send a new link. Update link pushes it at once if you don't want to wait. Phones that have the link open check every 10 seconds and swap in the new set by themselves, with no reload and without jumping back to the top; a short note says The setlist was just updated., with Reload beside it. If a phone can't swap the new set in, the note stays and says There is a newer version of this setlist. — tap Reload. Stop sharing ends it at once, and open phones then say This set link has expired or was stopped. Otherwise it expires 90 days after your last update, or 30 days after the show if that is later. The printed stage sheet and Copy as text work as before.