Session BPM: Stop Reopening Ableton Just to Check the Tempo
A co-writer sends over stems and you need to know the tempo of an old session, without waiting for a 200-track project to load. Session BPM reads the BPM straight out of the file and shows it in your Mac menu bar in about a second.
I built Session BPM to answer one question fast: what tempo was that session? A co-writer sends stems and I need to know if my old project matches. Or I'm digging through the catalog for the version that ran 128 instead of 124. Either way, opening a heavy Ableton set with forty plugins just to read one number in the transport bar was never worth the wait.
Session BPM lives in your Mac menu bar. Drop an Ableton Live project file on it, and the tempo shows up in about a second.
How does it read the tempo without opening the project?
Ableton saves a project as gzipped XML. Session BPM unzips the file in memory and reads the tempo value directly from it, no DAW required. If the session has tempo changes instead of one fixed number, it tells you that too, so you're not caught off guard by a song that speeds up halfway through.
Does it work with Logic Pro or other DAWs?
Right now it reads Ableton Live .als files. Other DAWs are on the list, and anyone who owns the bundle gets those updates free within this version.
Does it upload anything?
No. It reads the file on your Mac and nothing leaves your machine.
What does it cost?
Session BPM is $19, bundled with DAW Defrost, my other Mac menu bar app that names the plugin freezing your DAW during export. One purchase, both apps, no subscription.
Where can I get it?
Session BPM and DAW Defrost are both at plugins.mightymaverickmusic.com.
Last Updated: August 2026
Who is Rick Seibold?
Rick Seibold is a Nashville songwriter and producer who runs Mighty Maverick Music, a multi-artist record label. He is a 2x Dove Award winner with 750+ sync placements and 1 billion global streams. His catalog includes cuts recorded by Bethel Music and We The Kingdom, Billboard #1s, Super Bowl commercials, Grey's Anatomy placements, and sync deals with brands including Google and Peloton. He is also a co-founder of Your Nashville Song and the builder of RoyaltyCoPilot.ai.