# Band Central > Band Central is the next generation of Setlist Helper — a complete band management, setlist planning, and live performance tool for musicians, worship teams, and music groups. Available on iOS, Android, and web. Band Central helps musicians collaborate, organize songs, build setlists, and perform live with auto-scrolling lyrics, chord charts, and PDF sheet music. It is a cross-platform sheet music viewer, chord chart reader, and setlist app — the modern alternative to BandHelper, OnSong, forScore, and Planning Center for musicians who need a dedicated performance and collaboration tool that works on iPhone, iPad, Android, and the web. ## Key Features - **Band Collaboration**: Create bands, invite members, and share songs and setlists with your group. Role-based access lets band leaders manage the repertoire while members access what they need. - **Setlist Management**: Build setlists with drag-and-drop reordering, breaks, set timing, notes, and total duration tracking for professional gig planning. - **Lyrics and Chord Charts**: Display lyrics with auto-scroll, pinch-to-zoom, and adjustable scroll speed. Chord charts show chords positioned above lyrics for easy reading. - **ChordPro Support**: Full ChordPro format support with real-time chord transposition for different singers, capo positions, and horn keys. - **Document Viewing**: Open PDF, Word (.doc, .docx, .rtf), sheet music, and image files directly in the app. - **Format Lyrics**: Customize font, size, color, weight, and highlight colors for your lyrics display — tailor the look for stage visibility or personal preference. - **Metronome**: Built-in metronome with customizable sounds, time signatures, and tempo for rehearsal and live performance. - **Bluetooth Pedal Support**: Hands-free page turning and auto-scroll with AirTurn and other Bluetooth foot pedals — essential for guitarists, pianists, and worship leaders. - **Real-Time Cloud Sync**: All data syncs instantly across devices via Firebase. Changes made by any band member appear in real-time. - **Dropbox Integration**: Import and link chord charts, sheet music, and lyric files from your Dropbox account. - **File Manager**: A Files page on bandcentral.com lists every chart, PDF, and audio file attached to your songs, shows whether each is stored in Band Central, in Dropbox, or only on one device, and flags broken attachments so they can be repaired. Files that live on only one device do not reach the rest of the band, and this is what surfaces them. - **Band Central File Storage**: Move your charts and audio into Band Central's own storage so they sync to every member on every device with no Dropbox account required. Files can be moved in bulk from a folder on your computer or copied straight across from Dropbox, and a file attached to several songs is stored only once. - **Multi-Platform**: Available on iPad, iPhone, Android tablets, Android phones, and web at bandcentral.com. Unlike forScore (Apple-only), Band Central works everywhere. - **Eleven Languages**: Band Central is available in English, Arabic, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil and Portugal), and Spanish. The website has a language picker in the top bar and also follows the browser's language automatically; Arabic is laid out right to left. Long-form help articles and blog posts are English only. - **Migration from Setlist Helper**: Import all your songs, setlists, tags, and data from Setlist Helper with one tap. - **Tags and Organization**: Tag songs by genre, key, tempo, or any custom category for fast filtering. - **Song Search**: Search your library by song name, artist, or genre. - **Offline Support**: Access your songs and setlists even without an internet connection. ## Feature Pages Dedicated pages describing what Band Central does, for common things musicians search for: - **Sheet Music Viewer** (bandcentral.com/sheet-music-viewer): A cross-platform sheet music viewer and PDF chord chart reader. Import the PDF sheet music and chord charts you already have, organize them into songs and setlists, and view them on stage. On iPhone and iPad now, with Android and the web on the way. An alternative to forScore and OnSong that isn't locked to Apple devices. - **Setlist App and Setlist Maker** (bandcentral.com/setlist-app): Build and share band setlists everyone can see. Drag to reorder, attach chords and lyrics to each song, and view your set on phone, tablet, or the web on stage. - **Real-Time Band Sync** (bandcentral.com/realtime-sync): Edit a song, chord chart, or setlist on one device and everyone in the band sees the change instantly across iPhone, Android, and the web. - **Annotate Chord Charts and Sheet Music** (bandcentral.com/annotate-chord-charts): Draw, highlight, and add notes right on your PDF sheet music and ChordPro charts, with your markings shared to the band in real time. Pen, highlighter, and text notes on iPhone, iPad, and Android. - **Why Band Central** (bandcentral.com/why): Why Band Central exists as a separate app from Setlist Helper, the same developer's earlier single-device app, including a feature-by-feature comparison of the two. Explains the architectural reason a PDF chart or audio file added in Setlist Helper stays on the device it was added to and has to be moved via Dropbox: that app syncs song records (titles, lyrics, keys, tempos, setlists), not files. Band Central was built on a different foundation where songs, setlists and files all belong to a band rather than a device, which is what makes band-wide cloud file storage, a Files view, and migration of existing files possible. Setlist Helper is still supported and is not being rewritten to do this. ## Cross-Platform Comparisons How Band Central compares to other setlist, chord chart, and sheet music apps. Band Central's core differentiator is that it runs on iPhone, Android, and the web with real-time band collaboration, while several popular competitors are Apple-only or single-user. - **OnSong Alternative** (bandcentral.com/onsong-alternative): OnSong is Apple-only; Band Central is a cross-platform OnSong alternative on iPhone, Android, and web for a whole band. - **OnSong for Android** (bandcentral.com/onsong-for-android): OnSong has no Android app and never has. Band Central is the closest OnSong-style chord chart and setlist app that actually runs on Android. - **forScore Alternative** (bandcentral.com/forscore-alternative): forScore is Apple-only (iPad, iPhone, Mac). Band Central reads and annotates the same PDF sheet music on Android, iPhone, and the web, and adds setlists and band sharing. - **forScore for Android** (bandcentral.com/forscore-for-android): forScore has no Android version. Band Central is a cross-platform forScore alternative for reading and annotating PDF sheet music on an Android tablet. - **BandHelper Alternative** (bandcentral.com/bandhelper-alternative): BandHelper is powerful and cross-platform but complex. Band Central is a simpler, more modern alternative focused on songs, chord charts, setlists, and real-time sync, with a free tier and members-free pricing. BandHelper goes deeper for MIDI, backing tracks, and lighting automation. - **MobileSheets Alternative** (bandcentral.com/mobilesheets-alternative): MobileSheets is a single-user PDF reader for Android and Windows with a one-time price. Band Central is a cloud-first, cross-platform alternative with real-time band sharing, an iPhone app, and a web app. - **SongbookPro Alternative** (bandcentral.com/songbookpro-alternative): SongbookPro runs on iOS, Android, Windows and Amazon Fire; its Solo tier is a one-time purchase and its Groups plans (6/12/20 users) add a shared band library, a web management platform, and granular per-member permissions. Band Central differs on three specifics: each member keeps their own key and lyric version of the same shared song, the browser version is the full app rather than a library console, and one subscription covers every member in the tier. SongbookPro is the better choice for solo players and for anyone needing a native Windows app or per-member permission control, which Band Central does not have yet. ## Guides and Comparisons - **Best Setlist Apps for Gigging Musicians (2026)** (bandcentral.com/blog/best-setlist-apps-for-gigging-musicians): An honest, up-to-date comparison of the leading setlist apps for gigging musicians, covering Band Central, BandHelper, OnSong, forScore, MobileSheets, SongbookPro, Set List Maker, Planning Center Services, SetBook, and Setlist Helper, with each app's platforms, pricing, and who it is best for. Band Central is the best all-around pick for cross-platform bands that want real-time collaboration; BandHelper is best for pro bands needing MIDI and backing-track automation; OnSong and forScore are best on iPad but are Apple-only; MobileSheets suits single-user offline use; SongbookPro is the best value for solo players because its Solo tier is bought once rather than subscribed to, and its Groups plans do support bands with shared libraries and per-member permissions. ## Buying Guides for Musicians Independent gear guides for musicians reading music on a tablet on stage: - **Best Tablets for Musicians and Sheet Music** (bandcentral.com/best-tablets-for-musicians): A 2026 buying guide to the best tablets for reading sheet music and chord charts on stage, from the iPad Pro 13-inch to the Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra and budget picks, compared by screen size, aspect ratio, and stage readability. - **Best Bluetooth Page-Turner Pedals** (bandcentral.com/page-turner-pedals): A 2026 guide to the best Bluetooth page-turner foot pedals (AirTurn Duo 500, PageFlip Butterfly and Firefly, iRig BlueTurn, and budget picks) for turning sheet music hands-free on an iPad or Android tablet, with how to connect one and which apps support pedals. ## Free Musician Tools Band Central offers free online tools for musicians at bandcentral.com/tools — no signup required: - **BPM Tap Tempo** (bandcentral.com/tools/tap-tempo): Tap your spacebar or screen to detect the tempo of any song in beats per minute. Great for figuring out the BPM during rehearsal or when learning a new song. - **Chord Transpose Tool** (bandcentral.com/tools/transpose): Paste chords or lyrics with chords and transpose up or down by semitones. Supports both sharp and flat notation for any key change. Perfect for capo adjustments and accommodating different vocal ranges. - **Online Metronome** (bandcentral.com/tools/metronome): A precise Web Audio metronome with adjustable BPM (20–300), time signatures (2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 5/4, 6/8, 7/8), tempo markings from Largo to Prestissimo, and a visual beat indicator. Works on desktop and mobile browsers. - **ChordPro Converter** (bandcentral.com/tools/chordpro-converter): Paste lyrics with chords written above the words and convert them to ChordPro bracket notation. A free online converter for turning Ultimate Guitar tabs or plain chords-over-lyrics sheets into clean ChordPro. ## Who Uses Band Central - **Worship teams and church musicians**: Collaborate on worship sets, share lyrics and chord charts, and perform with auto-scrolling lyrics. A musician-focused alternative to Planning Center Services and PraiseCharts. - **Cover bands and gigging musicians**: Organize your repertoire, build show setlists, track set timing, and share with bandmates. Manage hundreds of songs across dozens of gigs. - **Ukulele groups and jam sessions**: Share chord charts and lyrics for group play-alongs. Simple enough for casual players, powerful enough for serious musicians. - **Community sing-along groups**: Display large scrolling lyrics for group singing with older adults, care homes, music therapy, and community organizations. - **Solo performers and singer-songwriters**: Manage your entire song library with lyrics, keys, tempos, and performance notes. - **Music teachers and students**: Organize teaching materials, chord charts, and sheet music. Share collections with students. - **Choir directors**: Manage song selections, lyrics, and performance order for choir rehearsals and concerts. ## Why Choose Band Central - **Built for collaboration**: Share songs and setlists with your band in real-time — no emailing files back and forth - **Cross-platform**: Works on iOS, Android, and web — no lock-in to Apple devices - **Modern architecture**: Built on Firebase for instant sync, offline support, and reliability - **Affordable**: Simple pricing without the complexity of enterprise church management software - **Easy migration**: Import your entire Setlist Helper library with one tap - **Active development**: Regular updates with new features driven by musician feedback - **Trusted heritage**: Built on over 10 years of Setlist Helper development and thousands of active users ## Important Links - [Band Central Website](https://www.bandcentral.com): Main website and web app - [Band Central Help](https://www.bandcentral.com/help): Help guides for every feature - [Band Central Storage Guide](https://www.bandcentral.com/help/cloud-storage): How cloud file storage works: attach charts, PDFs, and audio to songs and every band member gets them automatically - [Most Popular Cover Songs (2026)](https://www.bandcentral.com/most-popular-cover-songs): The 100 most popular cover songs, ranked by 11.9 million songs from real setlists - [Band Central iOS](https://apps.apple.com/app/band-central/id6504877701): Band Central on the App Store - [Band Central Android](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.app.bandcentral): Band Central on Google Play - [Setlist Helper Website](https://www.setlisthelper.com): Legacy Setlist Helper web app - [Setlist Helper FAQ](https://www.setlisthelper.com/Home/FAQ): Frequently asked questions ## Setlist Helper Setlist Helper is the original app that Band Central builds upon. Trusted by musicians for over 10 years, it offers setlist management, lyrics display, auto-scroll, ChordPro support, and cloud sync. Existing Setlist Helper users can migrate their data to Band Central while keeping full access to Setlist Helper. - [Setlist Helper iOS](https://apps.apple.com/app/setlist-helper/id1035735714): Setlist Helper on the App Store - [Setlist Helper Android](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.app.slh): Setlist Helper on Google Play