LEADE
ONSONG VS. PLANNING CENTER’S
The age of digital chord charts is here. Mobile
applications like OnSong allow you to ditch your
entire physical songbook in exchange for just an
iPad. Many churches and worship teams have
embraced these digitized chord charts and have
incorporated Planning Center’s Music Stand
chord chart viewer into their Sunday morning
routine. So why would these churches ever
need or want OnSong? That’s one question that
we here at OnSong are always encountering at
tradeshows, church conferences, or online: Why
would you need a chord chart storage, editing,
and viewing app like OnSong rather than Music
Stand?
For one, there is the ability with OnSong to
permanently keep and view your songs no
matter what. OnSong’s desire is that everywhere
musicians go, they’ll always have the ability to
access their song library that they’ve worked so
hard to create. Because of this, OnSong ensures
that users always retain their content for life.
This content can be imported from SongSelect,
PraiseCharts, and other third-party content
providers through easy, one-step processes,
or it can be imported from the internet or from
files that users have stored elsewhere. The point
is that wherever users import their songs from,
they simultaneously build their own personal
libraries to have with them everywhere they go.
On the other hand, Music Stand’s biggest
drawback is that churches are almost always
the ones that purchase this software. At first
glance, there’s nothing wrong with this, and it
is a blessing for many. But what Music Stand
users often fail to realize is that once they leave
that church, relocate elsewhere, or lose access
to their Music Stand account for any reason,
their song library that they have created over
the years will also be lost. All of their hard work
creating a collection of worship songs, charts,
and setlists will be gone forever, and they will
be forced to find a different path to rebuild their
song library from scratch. This is what makes
OnSong so special- On
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June 2020