Song Not on SongSelect? Your Team's Options

"It's not on SongSelect" can mean two different problems. Either the song doesn't come up at all, or it comes up with lyrics and nothing your band can play from. The first is often a search or coverage question; the second is a chart question, and the CCLI licence has a specific rule for it. CCLI's own help pages answer most of this, so this guide quotes them and then covers what to do when you end up making the chart yourself.

Which problem do you have?

Step 1: search the way CCLI's database works

CCLI's help article "Why can't I find the song I want in SongSelect?" starts with a fact that surprises people: "Although it contains more than 200,000 songs, SongSelect® doesn't feature all songs authorized under the Church Copyright License®." It then lists the checks in order: use the official title, and consider whether the song is new.

Official title. Worship songs are often known by a chorus line rather than their registered title. Search a distinctive lyric or the writer's name instead.

The expanded search box. CCLI explained this on its WorshipFuel blog when it merged its old SongSearch tool into SongSelect. By default, results "show what song titles have assets (lyrics, sheet music, etc.) represented in SongSelect". When you tick "Expand search to show all songs", the search "will add all titles covered under the CCLI license". The same post notes you don't need a subscription or even a licence to search.

This box is the single most useful thing on the page for this problem. A song that only appears with it ticked is covered, just not charted.

New releases. CCLI's help says that if the song is new, "it's possible that CCLI have not yet received song information from the publisher and the song will become available soon."

Step 2: if it still isn't there, ask the publisher

For a song that isn't new, CCLI's advice is to "contact the publisher to confirm if the song is authorized by CCLI and where you can obtain music and lyrics." Its licence summary is blunter about what an empty search means: "If you don't find a match, it's likely the song is not covered by the Program."

Not every publisher is in. CCLI's help centre says that while it authorizes "more than 500,000 songs from thousands of publishers and song owners worldwide, some publishers choose not to join our license scheme", and that for those songs you should "contact the publisher directly to obtain permission." You can check a publisher against CCLI's Copyright Owners Lists.

We describe what CCLI publishes here; this isn't legal advice, and for a specific song CCLI's customer service and the publisher are the people who can answer.

Step 3: covered, but no chart

This is the common case for worship teams: the song is licensed, the lyrics project fine, and there is no chord sheet, lead sheet or vocal sheet. SongSelect's own product page says it holds lyrics for "260,000 worship songs and hymns" and "thousands of transposable and customizable chords, lead sheets, and multi-part vocal sheets". That gap between lyrics and charts is where you are.

Look for another published version first

The licence rule on arrangements depends on whether a published version exists, so look before you write. Places to check:

• The publisher's or writer's own site. CCLI's help points you to the publisher for "where you can obtain music and lyrics."
• Other authorized sheet music catalogues. PraiseCharts is the obvious one. If it's missing there too, our guide on a song not on PraiseCharts covers requesting it and ordering a custom chart.
• Songbooks and hymnals your church already owns.

CCLI also warns that "Not all websites have the permission of song owners to make their works available", and recommends "always using official or authorized sources." A free chord site is not the same as a published version.

What the licence lets you make

CCLI's Church Copyright License summary lists this among permitted activities: "only where a published version is unavailable you may: Make customized vocal and/or instrumental arrangements of Songs". Among activities not permitted it lists:

• "Altering or changing the lyrics, melody or fundamental character of any Song."
• "Copying or duplicating choral sheet music, cantatas, musicals, handbell music, keyboard music or arrangements, vocal solos, instrumental works or music education publications in any form."
• "Distributing Copies of Songs for use outside of Church Services".

And the copy you make has to carry the credit line the summary sets out: song title, writer credit, copyright notice, "Used by Permission" and your church's licence number. CCLI's FAQ adds that the number is "your church's license number, not the song's CCLI ID number."

CCLI's answer on changing songs draws the line usefully: "you are free to arrange songs as you wish, as long as you don't change the melody or lyrics, or the fundamental character of a song", such as starting with the chorus or skipping a verse. We go through the arrangement clause and its edge cases in does a CCLI licence cover arrangements.

When the chart exists but doesn't fit

Wrong key. SongSelect transposes chord sheets, lead sheets and vocal sheets automatically, so a key change is a setting, not a new chart.

Different from the recording. CCLI's SongSelect FAQ explains that charts marked "based on the recording by" are transcribed from "a single recording approved by the publisher of the song", which "may be a different recording than the one you're familiar with". It also says that CCLI "often simplify and condense to make it easier to read", and sometimes lowers or raises the key for harmonies, noting the "original key" in the attribution. If your band plays the live version, the chart will look different, and that isn't an error.

Download limit reached. CCLI's help says Advanced and Premium subscriptions cover sheet music for "up to 200 unique copyrighted songs per year", with more "in increments of 50 upon request". Lyrics and public-domain songs have no limit.

Step 4: make the chart yourself

If the song is covered and no published version exists, the chart your team needs decides the work.

The chord chart is usually quickest to do by ear: map the form, find the key, follow the bass note through each section and name the chords. Our PraiseCharts guide walks through that method step by step, and for singers our guide to making a lead sheet from a recording covers the melody.

Writing out the keys part from a solo take

A commercial worship recording is a full mix, and pulling an exact piano part out of it is hard by ear and harder for software. The part that transcribes well is your own keys player, playing the song alone the way they'll play it on Sunday. Record them on a phone, close to the instrument, with no backing track in the room.

1. Transcribe the solo take. Piano to Sheet Music turns a piano recording into an engraved PDF on a grand staff, a MIDI file and a MusicXML file. It writes notes. It doesn't write chord symbols, lyrics or lead sheets, and a band mix is the wrong input.
2. Open the MusicXML in MuseScore Studio, Sibelius or Dorico and proofread it against the recording: wrong pitches first, then rhythm, then which hand plays what.
3. Add the form: section labels, repeats, the tag.
4. Add chord symbols above the staff yourself, named from the left hand and the notes above it.
5. Add the CCLI credit line at the foot of the page.
6. Export a PDF for the stand and keep the MusicXML for next time.

Two honest limits. First, a transcription gives you what was played in that take, including the fills your player may not repeat; the arranging decisions are still yours. Second, the licence rule about not changing the melody applies to what you write down, so check the vocal line on your chart against the published melody, not only your singer's phrasing.

Keep the source file, not only the PDF

Keys change with worship leaders. A MusicXML or notation file transposes in a few seconds, where a PDF has to be rewritten. Our guide to transposing piano sheet music shows how, including what happens to chord symbols. Once the chart exists, adding your own charts to Planning Center Services covers getting it in front of the whole team for every service that uses the song.

If the song is your team's own

None of the above applies to a song someone in your church wrote: it's theirs, and the church needs their permission, not CCLI's. If they want other churches to use it under CCLI licences, CCLI's owners page says signing with an established publisher "may be the best way", and that self-publishing writers can become registered copyright owners with CCLI "provided you meet certain conditions", via its Intellectual Property department. Charting it is covered in charting an original worship song.

Frequently asked questions

Why can't I find a song on SongSelect?

CCLI's help centre gives three reasons. SongSelect doesn't feature every song authorized under the Church Copyright License, you may not be using the official title, or the song is new and the publisher hasn't sent CCLI its information yet. For an older song, CCLI recommends contacting the publisher to confirm coverage and where to get music.

What does 'Expand search to show all songs' do?

It widens the search from songs that have lyrics or sheet music on SongSelect to all titles covered under the CCLI licence, according to CCLI's WorshipFuel announcement. The default results show only songs with assets. Use the box when a song seems to be missing, because it may be covered even though SongSelect has no chart for it.

The song is on SongSelect but has no chord sheet. Can we make our own?

Possibly. CCLI's Church Copyright License summary lets churches make customized vocal and instrumental arrangements only where a published version is unavailable, and never permits changing the lyrics, melody or fundamental character of a song. Check other authorized sources, such as the publisher, before deciding no published version exists.

Is there a limit to SongSelect downloads?

Yes, for sheet music. CCLI says Advanced and Premium subscriptions allow printing or downloading sheet music for up to 200 unique copyrighted songs a year, with more available in increments of 50 on request. Lyric downloads and public-domain songs have no limit. Unused downloads don't carry over when the subscription renews.

Why doesn't the SongSelect chart match the recording we know?

CCLI transcribes from a single recording approved by the publisher, which may not be the version your team knows, and it says it often simplifies melodies, chords and rhythms to make charts easier to read. It sometimes changes the key for vocal harmonies and notes the original key in the attribution.

Can software turn a worship recording into a chord chart?

Not a full chord chart with lyrics, at least not with our tool. Piano to Sheet Music writes out notes from a solo piano recording as a PDF, MIDI and MusicXML. It doesn't produce chord symbols, lyrics or lead sheets, so you add chord names and words yourself in notation software after transcribing your keys player's take.

Sources

• CCLI: SongSelect product page (US)
• CCLI Help: Why can't I find the song I want in SongSelect?
• CCLI Help: What do I need to do when the publisher is not covered by CCLI?
• CCLI Help: SongSelect and Music FAQs
• CCLI Help: Is there a limit to how many songs I can download from SongSelect?
• CCLI Help: Does it matter which website I use to download songs or sheet music?
• WorshipFuel by CCLI: SongSelect ChordPro format and expanded search
• CCLI: Church Copyright License Summary (US)
• CCLI: The five questions we hear the most
• CCLI: Copyright owners

CCLI pages checked 16 September 2026.