Composition Status Definitions

The composition_status table describes where a piece is in its creative life cycle. These statuses are workflow markers, not judgements of quality or completeness.

A composition may have more than one status at the same time. For example, a piece may be both Work in Progress and Needs Lyrics, or it may be both Complete and Published.

Status Meaning
Sketch An early musical idea, fragment, or experiment.
Work in Progress Currently being developed or revised.
Under Review Being listened to, evaluated, or considered before further work.
Needs Lyrics The music exists, but lyrics have not yet been written.
Needs Arrangement The basic composition exists, but the arrangement is incomplete.
Needs Recording The composition is complete but a satisfactory recording has not yet been made.
Demo A demonstration or rough recording intended for evaluation.
Complete The composition is considered musically complete.
Published The composition has been released publicly on the website or elsewhere.
Archived Retained for historical reference but not currently active.
Collaboration Being developed with another contributor.
Abandoned Work has been intentionally set aside but retained in the archive.

Design Philosophy

The archive is intended to document the creative journey, not just the finished destination. The status system therefore records the current stage of development rather than judging the artistic merit of a composition.

Because music often develops in several directions at once, a composition may legitimately have multiple statuses. For example:

Using multiple statuses provides a more accurate picture of each composition's progress than a single status could.