Tutorial: How to Add or Edit a Setlist

This page describes how add and edit setlists using the old Line by line or Textfield editors. For new users it's recommended to use the new editor as it makes editing significantly easier and you don't have to know most of the formats described on this page. You can change your preferred edit format in your settings.

Rules of thumb

One song per line
One free line before each encore
Check your spelling
No comments such as "great song" or similar
One song per line!
No enumerations

Tag Overview

Tags look confusing to you? Try switching to the new editor on your settings page page.

Tag	Purpose	Example	Link
@Cover[artist name]	Annotates a cover song	Like a Rolling Stone @Cover[Bob Dylan]	Details
@Song[artist name]	Alias for/same as @Cover	Eleanor Rigby @Song[The Beatles]	Details
@With[artist name]	Guest joined stage	Brown Sugar @With[Sheryl Crow]	Details
@Info[optional comment]	Additional information to song or setlist	Like a Rolling Stone @Info[Dylan on acoustic guitar]	Details
@Tape[optional comment]	Music from tape (e.g. intros)	Also Sprach Zarathustra @Tape[Theme from 2001]	Details
@Set[optional name]	Mini-Set during performance	@Set[Acoustic]	Details
@Unknown[optional comment]	Song title unknown to user	@Unknown[Lyrics: Just kickin' down the cobble stones ...]	Details

Cover artist

If one or more songs on the setlist were previously released by another artist, it's possible to mark them as covered by writing @Cover[artistname] after the song. E.g. @Cover[The Beatles] for a cover of a song by The Beatles. Other examples:

Love Me Do @Cover[The Beatles]
Love Me Do @Song[The Beatles]
Love Me Do @Cover[b10bbbfc-cf9e-42e0-be17-e2c3e1d2600d]

Cover vs Song
The @Song tag is used when an artist performs a song by a group of which they were once a member. E.g. whenever Paul McCartney plays a song by The Beatles it should be annotated as @Song[The Beatles] as it just doesn't feel right to list "Eleanor Rigby" as a "Cover". An @Song tag can be created by adding a member of relationship on musicbrainz, and can also work in the opposite direction, when a group plays a song originally released by one of its members. Note that @Cover and @Song have exactly the same output, so it doesn't matter which one you use.

Be sure to check the guidelines for covered songs before adding or editing.

"With" Artist

If other well known musicians joined the main act on stage to perform one or more songs, it's also possible to mark those songs. Just write @With[artistname] after the song. E.g. @With[Johnny Cash] if Johnny Cash happened to join the main act on stage. Other examples:

If I Ever Leave This World Alive @With[Frank Turner]
If I Ever Leave This World Alive @With[aca5718f-4f49-4439-b8f6-209db3f11757]

Be sure to check the guidelines for "with artists" before adding or editing.

Additional song info

Some songs of a setlist are really special and deserve additional information attached. You can do that by writing @Info[info] after the song. Examples:

I Am Disappeared @Info[Acoustic]
Wheels @Info[Slow version]
Under Pressure @Cover[David Bowie] @Info[Dave on drums, Taylor on vocals]

Be sure to check the guidelines for additional information before adding or editing.

Tape songs

A lot of artists choose to play an intro music before they hit the stage. This sound usually comes from a pre-recorded tape and isn't part of the setlist. Nevertheless it's interesting to know what you heard as intro (or outro or interlude). Examples:

Churchill's Speech @Tape
Transylvania @Tape[Legacy of the Beast videogame promo on screen]
Doctor Doctor @Cover[UFO] @Tape
@Tape

Be sure to check the guidelines for tape songs before adding or editing.

Unknown songs

If you're sure there was a song between other songs, but you don't know the title, then write @Unknown in the line where the song should be. Examples:

@Unknown
@Unknown[Frank solo]
@Unknown @Info[Frank solo]

Also note that ...

... it may stand alone or together with @Info, @Cover or @With. E.g. @Unkown @Cover[The Beatles], if you are sure the song was a Beatles song but you can't remember the name
... @Unknown @Info[Acoustic] is the same as @Unknown[Acoustic]
... it gets ignored when combined with a song name. E.g. Baby's In Black @Unknown will result in just Baby's In Black

Be sure to check the guidelines for unknown songs before adding or editing.

Medleys

A medley is a mix of partially performed songs connected together with no breaks in between. If a medley was performed, you should separate the songs with space-slash-space. Examples:

Hound Dog / Johnny B. Goode / Great Balls of Fire
In the Army Now / Rockin' All Over the World / What You're Proposin' @Cover[Status Quo]

Be sure to check the guidelines for medleys before adding or editing.

Sets

Sometimes artists split their performance into several different parts or "Sets". You can mark them by writing @Set[setdescription] or just @Set in a single line (without any song!). Examples:

@Set[Set 1:]
@Set
@Set[Acoustic]
@Set[Born to Run]

Use a single @Set in the line before the first song of the continued regular set.

Be sure to check the guidelines for sets before adding or editing.

Encores

For encores, simply add an empty line before the first song of each encore.

General setlist info

If it's a really special event or something really special happened that affected the entire concert (or at least had big impact on some songs) it's possible to write a sole @Info[text] in the very last line of the setlist. For example:

@Info[The fire that interrupted this show was what inspired the song Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple, as they attended this show.]

Set Times

Click the "Edit setlist" link on any setlist and choose the "Edit set times" link that appears.

Be sure to check the guidelines for set times before adding or editing.

Set Times

Click the "Edit setlist" link on any setlist and choose the "Edit tour" link that appears.

Be sure to check the guidelines for tours before adding or editing.

Video Tutorial

Some basic stuff first

This tutorial is intended for users who have never edited or added a setlist.
You'll need a free account in order to contribute to setlist.fm.
You'll have to abide by The Guidelines (last updated Jul 26, 2023) when adding or editing setlist.
The example shown in this tutorial is made up, the concert didn't take place and also isn't on setlist.fm.
None of the videos in this tutorial have audio commentary, so just keep your background music playing while watching them.

Add/Edit Artist, Venue, Date

You'll get to this page either by clicking the Add Setlist link in the top-right corner of any page or by clicking the Edit venue & date link in the info box on the setlist page.

Start typing in the artist and venue fields and select the shown values. Then, select the event date, add a source for the setlist and click Create Setlist. That's it. After clicking, the setlist will be created and saved. You'll be then redirected to the page where you can add songs. The rest are optional (however recommended) steps.

Video: How to add artist, venue and event date.

You might want to know:

Add/Edit Songs

You'll get to this page either by clicking Create setlist on the page where you've added artist, venue and event date or by clicking the Edit setlist songs link on the setlist.

Here's where it gets interesting. There are three options now:

Submit a blank setlist (or leave the page if you don't want to see the confirmation page where you can add yourself as attendee)
Add songs using the line-by-line editor with a nice autocomplete feature
Add songs the old way with just one text field

You can switch between the two "Add songs" options by clicking on the tabs Line by Line or Text Field.

If you're unfamiliar with the second way, for the sake of rock and roll, use the easier line-by-line editor!

The basic rule is: one song per line and an empty line before each encore. So just start typing in each line and select the song from the list. If it isn't in the list yet, it's safe to write the song into the line and proceed with the next line.

Video: How to add songs.

You might want to know:

Optional Step: Tour

You'll get to this page either by clicking Edit tour of this setlist after submitting the setlist or using one of the Edit tour links on the setlist page.

Video: How to add the tour.

You might want to know

How to name a tour

Advanced: Add Festival

Most of the times the festival gets added automatically by the system. If this isn't the case, just click the "Add to festival" link in the "Edit Setlist" dropdown on any setlist page.

Please note that this isn't basic anymore and needs some understanding how festivals work. So if you're unsure and don't feel comfortable adding a festival, just post your concerns to the Website Support Forum.

Anyway, here's the procedure how to add or select a festival:

Once on the page, you'll get a list of festivals in the surrounding area of the setlist's venue.
If the festival you're looking for is in the list, select it, click on Continue and continue reading this list at point 4.
Click the Add a new festival link. You'll get two input fields. The first one is mandatory the second isn't. Read the hints there carefully, fill out the field(s) and hit Continue.
Depending on whether someone else already has already added a festival on the date you provided, you'll now see either the name of the festival or a new form. For the former continue reading at point 7 for the latter, read on.
Enter the name of the current occurrence of the festival. Have a look at the examples provided there, it's pretty easy.
Enter the first and last day of the festival, hit Submit and continue reading at point 8.
Select the festival in the list and hit the button starting with Found it!. If the festival date isn't in the list, click Add new dates. and resume reading at point 6.
Done!

Advanced: Shortcuts

Ok, this is advanced stuff and not for you first-time editors. There's a way to add songs to a setlist a lot faster and without clicking at all. So here's the table of shortcuts:

Command	Status	Action
`TAB`	Autocomplete suggestions shown	Select next autocomplete suggestion.
`RETURN`	Autocomplete suggestions shown and one selected.	Add currently selected suggestion to song line.
`RETURN`	Autocomplete suggestions not shown.	Confirm song and jump to next line (or adds a new line if no next line).
`ESC`	Autocomplete suggestions shown	Hide autocomplete suggestions if visible.
`ARROW DOWN`	Cursor at last position of song line	Jump to next song line (if any)
`ARROW UP`	Cursor at first position of song line	Jump to previous song line (if any)
`BACKSPACE`	Empty line.	Delete line dialog appears.
`SHIFT + ARROW UP`	Autocomplete suggestions not shown.	Move song one position up in setlist.
`SHIFT + ARROW DOWN`	Autocomplete suggestions not shown.	Move song one position down in setlist.