How to add music timestamps (chapters) to a YouTube description
Long lofi videos on YouTube are split into chapters: the seek bar breaks into segments and each song gets its own title. The chapters come straight from timestamps in the description.
The rules YouTube uses
- The first timestamp must be
0:00. - You need at least three timestamps, in order.
- Each chapter has to be at least 10 seconds long.
- Write one per line, the time first:
12:34 Song title. For videos over an hour use1:02:03.
Timestamps for music you used
If your music starts after an intro, the first song’s timestamp is when it begins, but YouTube still needs a 0:00 line, so start with something like 0:00 Intro. The chapter maker lets you set when the music starts and the gap between songs, then writes the lines and the credit.
Example
0:00 Squeaky Computer Chair 2:25 Frolic 5:08 Step Right Up 7:47 Let's Go Shopping Music by Purrple Cat (purrplecat.com), licensed under CC BY 4.0: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Why credit each song?
A timestamped list tells viewers exactly which song is playing, and it’s the clearest way to meet the CC BY 4.0 credit. Every mix here has a “Copy timestamps + credit” button.
