Song Library

The Song Library is your central catalog for every worship song your church performs. From here you can add songs, manage metadata, upload attachments, create arrangements, track usage, and share songs with your team.

Accessing the Song Library

1. Log in to your TimelyChurch admin dashboard.
2. In the sidebar, expand the Worship category and click Song Library.

You will see the Song Library index page showing all songs with summary counts at the top (total songs, approved, drafts, and songs not used in the last 30 days), plus an Export ▾ menu and a Reports button in the header.

Note: The Song Library used to be the standalone Songs sidebar item. It now lives inside the dedicated Worship category alongside Setlists and My Stand.

Browsing and Searching

Search

Use the search bar at the top to find songs by title, artist, composer, or lyrics content.

Status Views

Click the dropdown on the left side of the toolbar to switch between status views:

• All Songs -- Every song in your library.
• Approved -- Songs approved and ready for use in services.
• Drafts -- Songs still being prepared.
• Archived -- Songs that have been archived (hidden from the main library but kept so they can be restored).

Filters Panel

Click Filters to reveal additional filter options. These are independent of the status view and can be combined:

• Status -- Draft, Approved, or Archived.
• Key -- Filter by the song's default musical key (all 12 major and 12 minor keys are supported).
• Tempo -- Slow, Medium, Fast, or Varied.
• Theme -- Choose from over 30 built-in worship themes including Praise, Worship, Communion, Christmas, Easter, Advent, Gospel, Contemporary, and more.
• Usage -- "Recently used (last 30 days)", "Not used in 30 days", or "Never used".
• Attachments -- "Has attachments" or "No attachments".
• Trashed -- "With archived" or "Only archived" to control whether archived songs are included.

Click Apply to run the filters or Clear to reset.

Sorting

Songs can be sorted by:

• Title (default, A-Z)
• Last used date
• Use count

View Modes

Toggle between Table view and Card view using the icons in the toolbar. On mobile devices, the card view is always used.

Adding a New Song

1. Click the Add Song button in the top-right corner.
2. A modal will appear with the following fields:

1. Click Add Song. The quick-add modal submits the new song with status Approved so it is immediately available to add to service plans. (You can change the status later from the song's edit form -- see "Editing a Song" below.)

You will be taken to the song's detail page where you can add more information.

Editing a Song

1. From the Song Library, click on a song to open its detail page.
2. Click the Edit button.
3. The edit form provides all fields available for a song:

Basic Information

• Title (required)
• Artist
• Composer
• CCLI Number
• Default Key -- Select from all major and minor keys.
• Tempo (BPM) -- The song's tempo in beats per minute (20-300).
• Time Signature -- For example, "4/4" or "3/4".
• Status -- Draft, Approved, or Archived.

Content

• Scripture Reference -- A related Bible passage (e.g., "Psalm 23:1").
• YouTube Link -- A URL to a YouTube performance or tutorial.
• Spotify Link -- A URL to the song on Spotify.
• Lyrics -- Full song lyrics in plain text.
• Notes -- Internal notes for your team.

Themes

Select from the full list of built-in themes:

Praise, Worship, Adoration, Thanksgiving, Confession, Communion, Baptism, Prayer, Invitation/Altar Call, Christmas, Easter, Good Friday, Pentecost, Advent, Missions, Healing, Peace, Hope, Faith, Love, Grace, Salvation, Revival, Children, Youth, Opening, Closing, Traditional Hymn, Contemporary, Gospel.

1. Click Save Changes.

Song Detail Page

The song detail page is organized into tabs:

Header

Displays the song title, artist, status badge, key, tempo, duration, and CCLI number. Quick-action buttons let you Edit, open the Chord Chart Editor, Share the song, Duplicate it, or Archive it.

Stats Row

Shows four metrics:

• Used -- How many times the song has been used in services.
• Last Used -- The date it was last used.
• Files -- Number of attachments.
• Arr. -- Number of arrangements.

Details Tab

Shows the song lyrics, themes, and external links (YouTube and Spotify) with clickable buttons.

Attachments Tab

Lists all uploaded files and external links. You can preview audio, video, PDF, and image files directly in the browser. See the next section for details on adding attachments.

Arrangements Tab

Lists all arrangements with their name, key, BPM, and duration. See the Arrangements section below.

History Tab

Shows the usage history -- every service where the song was used, with the date and the name of the service order.

Attachments

Adding an Attachment

1. Open a song and go to the Attachments tab.
2. Click Add Attachment.
3. Choose the attachment type:
   • Chord Chart -- PDF or image of chord charts.
   • Lead Sheet -- Printed lead sheets with notation.
   • Lyrics -- Lyrics-only documents.
   • Audio -- MP3, WAV, or other audio files.
   • Video -- Video files.
   • Other -- Any other file type.
4. Either upload a file from your computer or provide an external URL.
5. Click Add.

Files are uploaded with a progress indicator. Large files are supported.

Previewing Attachments

Click on any attachment name or the eye icon to preview it in a built-in viewer. Audio files play in a styled player. PDFs and images display inline. Video files play in an embedded player.

Downloading and Deleting

Use the download arrow icon to download a file, or the trash icon to delete an attachment.

Setting a Reference Recording

For an Audio attachment, a star icon lets you mark it as the song's reference recording -- the canonical practice track that My Stand's Rehearse page play-along player and, when enabled, audio analysis use. Only one recording per song can be the reference at a time; tapping the star on a different audio file moves the reference to it, and tapping an already-starred file clears it.

Analyzing an Audio Recording (Pro Plan)

If your church is on the Pro plan and audio analysis is enabled, an Analyze button appears next to each uploaded audio recording. It detects the recording's BPM, key, and time signature and lets you apply any of them to the song with one tap. See Analyze a Song's Key, BPM & Time Signature for the full walkthrough, including the monthly quota.

Arrangements

Arrangements let you store multiple versions of a song -- for example, an "Acoustic" arrangement in the key of G and a "Full Band" arrangement in the key of A.

Adding an Arrangement

1. Open a song and go to the Arrangements tab.
2. Click Add Arrangement.
3. Fill in:
   • Name (required) -- For example, "Acoustic", "Full Band", "Christmas Version".
   • Key -- The musical key for this arrangement.
   • BPM -- Beats per minute (20-300).
   • Duration -- Length in seconds.
   • Notes -- Internal notes.
   • Is Default -- Whether this is the default arrangement.
4. Click to save.

The first arrangement added to a song is automatically set as the default. When you mark another arrangement as default, all others are unset.

Arrangement-Specific Chord Charts

Each arrangement can have its own chord chart content in the Chord Chart Editor. Attachments can also be linked to a specific arrangement.

Duplicating a Song

From the song detail page, click Duplicate. A copy of the song is created (including all arrangements) with "(Copy)" appended to the title and the status set to Draft. Usage count and last-used date are reset.

Archiving and Restoring

Archiving

Click Archive on the song detail page. The song's status is set to Archived and it is hidden from the default library view (but kept so it can be restored later).

Viewing Archived Songs

In the Song Library, select "Archived" from the status dropdown to see archived songs.

Restoring

From the archived view, click Restore on any song. Its status is set back to Approved and it reappears in the main library.

Permanent Deletion

Archived songs can be permanently deleted, which also removes all attachments and arrangements.

Bulk Actions

Select multiple songs using the checkboxes and use bulk actions to:

• Bulk Approve -- Set all selected songs to Approved status.
• Bulk Archive -- Archive all selected songs at once.

Sharing a Song

You can create a shareable public link for any song:

1. Click the Share button on the song detail page (or the share icon in the library list).
2. Configure the share options:
   • Name -- An optional label for the share link.
   • Arrangement -- Optionally select a specific arrangement.
   • Target Key -- Optionally transpose the chord chart to a different key.
   • Show Nashville Numbers -- Toggle Nashville Number display.
   • Show Chords -- Toggle chord display.
   • Share Attachments -- Include the song's attachments in the shared view.
   • Expires In -- Set an expiration (1-365 days) or leave blank for no expiration.
   • Password -- Optionally require a password to view.
3. Click to create the share. A shareable URL is generated.

Live Key Control

After creating a share, you can update the target key, capo position, and display settings in real time. Changes appear for anyone currently viewing the shared link within seconds.

Quick Share

From the Song Library list, click the share icon next to any song to instantly create a share link without configuring options.

Share-Link URL Format

Every song share generates two equivalent URLs:

• Short link: https://your-church.timelychurch.com/s/{token}
• Full link: https://your-church.timelychurch.com/share/song/{token}

Both resolve to the same shared view. The short form is easier to text or paste into chat apps. Setlists use https://your-church.timelychurch.com/p/{token} (short) and https://your-church.timelychurch.com/share/setlist/{token} (full) -- see Worship Team View.

Chord-Chart Tools

The Chord Chart Editor includes a few helpful tools:

• Validate chord content -- When you paste chord content from an external source, the editor checks it and shows any errors and warnings so you can fix formatting issues before saving.
• All keys at once -- The editor and the shared-song page can show the chord chart pre-transposed into all 12 keys, with a suggested capo position for each, so you can pick the right key from a dropdown.
• PDF preview and download -- You can preview a song's chord chart as a PDF in your browser, or download it as a file. See Chord Charts and Key Transposition for details.

Exporting a Song

Every song can be exported for projection or print from the Export ▾ menu on the song detail page (and from the Chord Chart Editor):

• PDF -- The chord chart in the current key (also available as lyrics-only and Nashville-number PDFs).
• Text -- for ProPresenter & others -- A plain-text, lyrics-only file with one slide group per section. It imports cleanly into ProPresenter, EasyWorship, Keynote, and other slide tools.
• PowerPoint (.pptx) -- Ready-made lyric slides (16:9, dark background, large centered text), one slide per section.

For the full details of each format, see Exporting Charts and Slides.

Reports

Click Reports in the Song Library header to open the worship reporting screen. Choose a date range to see:

• Song usage -- Per-song use counts and last-used dates, with per-key/arrangement breakdowns where the data allows, exportable to CSV.
• CCLI summary -- The CCLI usage recorded when songs are shared, formatted for manual CCLI reporting and exportable to CSV.

See Song Usage and CCLI Reports for the full walkthrough.

Who Can Manage the Song Library

Song editing is controlled by the Songs permission in Roles & Permissions (Dashboard / Settings / Team / Roles):

• Church administrators can do everything -- add, edit, and delete songs, upload attachments, and manage every setlist.
• Leaders and co-leaders of worship teams get Songs access automatically — no extra role needed. This works when the team's group type (for example "Worship Team") has the Songs & Setlists ministry area enabled in Groups settings. Promote someone to leader of a worship team and they can manage songs and build setlists right away.
• Roles granted the Songs permission still work too — useful for people who oversee worship across many teams without leading each one.
• Everyone else sees, but cannot change. Team members open their songs and setlists through My Stand, use practice tools, and keep personal marks -- but the library itself stays leader-managed.

Setlists follow the same Songs permission for creating and editing, with one extra rule: each setlist belongs to a worship team, and only that team's members (plus administrators) can see it -- see Building Setlists.

Related Articles

• Chord Charts and Key Transposition
• Service Orders (Service Plans)
• Building Setlists
• Worship Team View
• Song Arrangements
• Exporting Charts and Slides
• Song Usage and CCLI Reports
• Rehearsal Readiness and Reminders
• Analyze a Song's Key, BPM & Time Signature

Last updated: August 7, 2026