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Concert setlist time budget calculator

A concert schedule can look comfortable until introductions, audience interaction, tuning pauses, and slightly generous song estimates consume the margin.

● BetaFree · in your browser

Run — free How it works & API

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This concert setlist time budget calculator applies one total duration to an ordered list of songs, reserves the banter allowance, and shows exactly where the running plan stops fitting. The result includes the scheduled songs, minutes used, remaining buffer, and the extra time required for the first song left outside the budget, making a practical rehearsal estimate easy to review or automate.

Start with a realistic performance budget

Enter the full duration available for the set in minutes, then list songs in the order the band expects to perform them. Each duration should represent a realistic live estimate rather than the studio track length by default. Count extended endings, introductions played by the band, tempo changes, and arrangements that regularly run long. Add one total banter allowance for spoken introductions, audience interaction, tuning, water breaks, or other time that is not part of a song estimate. The calculator reserves that allowance before fitting the ordered songs. This makes the result deliberately conservative and keeps conversational time visible instead of hiding it inside several song estimates. The total duration must be positive, while song lengths must also be positive and banter may be zero. Consistent units matter: every numeric duration is expressed in minutes, so convert values such as four minutes thirty seconds to 4.5 before submitting. A careful input budget is more useful than a perfectly precise calculation built from optimistic estimates.

Understand how songs are selected

Songs are evaluated from the beginning of the supplied setlist, one at a time. A song is included only when the reserved banter, all previously accepted songs, and that song remain within the total duration. As soon as one song does not fit, evaluation stops. The calculator does not skip that track and search for a shorter song later in the list, because doing so would silently change the planned performance sequence. The returned scheduled list is therefore the longest leading portion of the original setlist that fits. The response also reports total song time, reserved banter, used minutes, and the remaining buffer. When another song is available, the next-song object identifies it and states how many additional minutes would be needed to include it. If every song fits, that optional object is omitted. If the banter allowance alone is longer than the full set, zero songs fit and the negative remaining buffer clearly reports the existing shortfall rather than disguising it as zero.

Use the result during planning and rehearsal

Treat the output as a planning checkpoint, then improve the estimates with rehearsal evidence. A small positive buffer may disappear when applause is longer than expected, a guitar change takes extra time, or the venue requires a hard curfew transition. Many performers therefore compare several versions: a normal estimate, a conservative estimate with longer songs and banter, and a shortened contingency set. Because the calculator preserves list order, these versions remain easy for musicians, stage managers, and production teams to compare. The next-song shortfall is especially useful when deciding whether to trim spoken material, shorten an arrangement, or remove a complete song. For automation, store the returned schedule with the source estimates so later revisions have a clear basis. The deterministic calculation makes identical inputs produce identical results in a browser or API workflow. The capability costs $0.002 per API request, while its focused output avoids presenting an optimization as though it were an artistic setlist recommendation.

What you can do with it

Build a venue-ready set

Check an ordered show plan against a fixed venue slot while preserving a deliberate allowance for talking and transitions.

Prepare a festival contingency

Compare normal and conservative duration estimates to identify the song where a tightly timed festival set would need to stop.

Review rehearsal timing

Replace studio lengths with measured live estimates and see whether the revised performance still leaves a practical buffer.

FAQ

What does an API request cost?

Each API request costs $0.002. The result is calculated deterministically without a network or model call.

Does the calculator reorder songs to fit more tracks?

No. It preserves the supplied order and returns the longest leading sequence that fits, stopping at the first song that would exceed the budget.

How should I enter minutes and seconds?

Convert the duration to decimal minutes. For example, thirty seconds is 0.5 minute and fifteen seconds is 0.25 minute.

What belongs in the banter allowance?

Use it for spoken introductions, audience interaction, tuning, breaks, and other planned time not already included in song estimates.

Why can the remaining buffer be negative?

A negative buffer occurs when the reserved banter alone exceeds the total duration. It reports the real shortfall even though no songs can fit.

What happens when every song fits?

The scheduled list contains every submitted song, the remaining buffer stays available, and the optional next-song field is omitted.

For developers — API access

Everything on this page is available programmatically. This section is for teams who want to wire it into their own systems; everyone else can just use the tool above.

API endpoint

POSThttps://api.kit.forhosting.com/video/concert-setlist-time-budget

Prefer to automate it? One authenticated POST creates the task; the result comes back by webhook or a signed link. The same capability also runs here on the web, by email and from Telegram — and soon from our app too.

Call it from your stack

curl -X POST https://api.kit.forhosting.com/video/concert-setlist-time-budget \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $KIT_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"total_duration_minutes":45,"songs":[{"title":"Opening Lights","duration_minutes":4.5},{"title":"River Signal","duration_minutes":6.25},{"title":"Midnight Avenue","duration_minutes":5.75},{"title":"Last Train Home","duration_minutes":7}]}'

const res = await fetch("https://api.kit.forhosting.com/video/concert-setlist-time-budget", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    "Authorization": `Bearer ${process.env.KIT_KEY}`,
    "Content-Type": "application/json"
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    "total_duration_minutes": 45,
    "songs": [
      {
        "title": "Opening Lights",
        "duration_minutes": 4.5
      },
      {
        "title": "River Signal",
        "duration_minutes": 6.25
      },
      {
        "title": "Midnight Avenue",
        "duration_minutes": 5.75
      },
      {
        "title": "Last Train Home",
        "duration_minutes": 7
      }
    ]
  })
});
const { task_id } = await res.json();

import os, requests

res = requests.post(
    "https://api.kit.forhosting.com/video/concert-setlist-time-budget",
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['KIT_KEY']}"},
    json={
    "total_duration_minutes": 45,
    "songs": [
        {
            "title": "Opening Lights",
            "duration_minutes": 4.5
        },
        {
            "title": "River Signal",
            "duration_minutes": 6.25
        },
        {
            "title": "Midnight Avenue",
            "duration_minutes": 5.75
        },
        {
            "title": "Last Train Home",
            "duration_minutes": 7
        }
    ]
},
)
task_id = res.json()["task_id"]

<?php
$res = file_get_contents("https://api.kit.forhosting.com/video/concert-setlist-time-budget", false, stream_context_create([
  "http" => [
    "method"  => "POST",
    "header"  => "Authorization: Bearer " . getenv("KIT_KEY") . "\r\nContent-Type: application/json",
    "content" => '{"total_duration_minutes":45,"songs":[{"title":"Opening Lights","duration_minutes":4.5},{"title":"River Signal","duration_minutes":6.25},{"title":"Midnight Avenue","duration_minutes":5.75},{"title":"Last Train Home","duration_minutes":7}]}',
  ],
]));
$task = json_decode($res, true);

body := bytes.NewBufferString(`{"total_duration_minutes":45,"songs":[{"title":"Opening Lights","duration_minutes":4.5},{"title":"River Signal","duration_minutes":6.25},{"title":"Midnight Avenue","duration_minutes":5.75},{"title":"Last Train Home","duration_minutes":7}]}`)
req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", "https://api.kit.forhosting.com/video/concert-setlist-time-budget", body)
req.Header.Set("Authorization", "Bearer "+os.Getenv("KIT_KEY"))
req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
res, _ := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)

Example request

{
  "total_duration_minutes": 45,
  "songs": [
    {
      "title": "Opening Lights",
      "duration_minutes": 4.5
    },
    {
      "title": "River Signal",
      "duration_minutes": 6.25
    },
    {
      "title": "Midnight Avenue",
      "duration_minutes": 5.75
    },
    {
      "title": "Last Train Home",
      "duration_minutes": 7
    }
  ]
}

Example response

{
  "task_id": "tsk_a1b2c3d4e5f6a1b2c3d4e5f6",
  "type": "video.concert_setlist_time_budget",
  "status": "queued",
  "_links": {
    "result": "/tasks/tsk_…/result"
  }
}

The API is asynchronous: the call returns a task_id immediately and the result arrives by webhook. Polling is capped at 1 req/s per task.

Pricing

Per request$0.002

Published price — no tokens, no invented credits. A failed task is never charged.

Limits

max_items 500

Errors

HTTP	Code	Meaning
`401`	`unauthorized`	Missing or invalid API key.
`402`	`insufficient_balance`	Your balance doesn't cover the task price.
`404`	`unknown_type`	That task type doesn't exist.
`429`	`rate_limited`	Too many requests. Use the webhook instead of polling.

Read the full KIT documentation →