diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 459afc7..6029a75 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 users.db
-start
\ No newline at end of file
+start
+*.log
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index d981de2..b0ec7af 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -4,6 +4,10 @@ go 1.24.1
 
 require (
 	github.com/google/uuid v1.6.0 // indirect
+	github.com/mattn/go-colorable v0.1.13 // indirect
+	github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.19 // indirect
 	github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3 v1.14.24 // indirect
+	github.com/rs/zerolog v1.33.0 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/crypto v0.36.0 // indirect
+	golang.org/x/sys v0.31.0 // indirect
 )
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index c5d5573..f6a0b8d 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -1,6 +1,22 @@
+github.com/coreos/go-systemd/v22 v22.5.0/go.mod h1:Y58oyj3AT4RCenI/lSvhwexgC+NSVTIJ3seZv2GcEnc=
+github.com/godbus/dbus/v5 v5.0.4/go.mod h1:xhWf0FNVPg57R7Z0UbKHbJfkEywrmjJnf7w5xrFpKfA=
 github.com/google/uuid v1.6.0 h1:NIvaJDMOsjHA8n1jAhLSgzrAzy1Hgr+hNrb57e+94F0=
 github.com/google/uuid v1.6.0/go.mod h1:TIyPZe4MgqvfeYDBFedMoGGpEw/LqOeaOT+nhxU+yHo=
+github.com/mattn/go-colorable v0.1.13 h1:fFA4WZxdEF4tXPZVKMLwD8oUnCTTo08duU7wxecdEvA=
+github.com/mattn/go-colorable v0.1.13/go.mod h1:7S9/ev0klgBDR4GtXTXX8a3vIGJpMovkB8vQcUbaXHg=
+github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.16/go.mod h1:kYGgaQfpe5nmfYZH+SKPsOc2e4SrIfOl2e/yFXSvRLM=
+github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.19 h1:JITubQf0MOLdlGRuRq+jtsDlekdYPia9ZFsB8h/APPA=
+github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.19/go.mod h1:W+V8PltTTMOvKvAeJH7IuucS94S2C6jfK/D7dTCTo3Y=
 github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3 v1.14.24 h1:tpSp2G2KyMnnQu99ngJ47EIkWVmliIizyZBfPrBWDRM=
 github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3 v1.14.24/go.mod h1:Uh1q+B4BYcTPb+yiD3kU8Ct7aC0hY9fxUwlHK0RXw+Y=
+github.com/pkg/errors v0.9.1/go.mod h1:bwawxfHBFNV+L2hUp1rHADufV3IMtnDRdf1r5NINEl0=
+github.com/rs/xid v1.5.0/go.mod h1:trrq9SKmegXys3aeAKXMUTdJsYXVwGY3RLcfgqegfbg=
+github.com/rs/zerolog v1.33.0 h1:1cU2KZkvPxNyfgEmhHAz/1A9Bz+llsdYzklWFzgp0r8=
+github.com/rs/zerolog v1.33.0/go.mod h1:/7mN4D5sKwJLZQ2b/znpjC3/GQWY/xaDXUM0kKWRHss=
 golang.org/x/crypto v0.36.0 h1:AnAEvhDddvBdpY+uR+MyHmuZzzNqXSe/GvuDeob5L34=
 golang.org/x/crypto v0.36.0/go.mod h1:Y4J0ReaxCR1IMaabaSMugxJES1EpwhBHhv2bDHklZvc=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20220811171246-fbc7d0a398ab/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.6.0/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.12.0/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.31.0 h1:ioabZlmFYtWhL+TRYpcnNlLwhyxaM9kWTDEmfnprqik=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.31.0/go.mod h1:BJP2sWEmIv4KK5OTEluFJCKSidICx8ciO85XgH3Ak8k=
diff --git a/main/main.go b/main/main.go
index a22af19..263ced6 100644
--- a/main/main.go
+++ b/main/main.go
@@ -1,19 +1,24 @@
 package main
 
 import (
-	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"playback-device-server/users"
+
+	"github.com/rs/zerolog"
+	"github.com/rs/zerolog/log"
 )
 
 const USER_DATABASE_DIR = "."
 
 func main() {
+	initializeLogger()
+	log.Info().Msg("starting playback device server")
+
 	userDatabase := users.UserDatabase{}
 	userDatabase.SetDirectory(USER_DATABASE_DIR)
 	err := userDatabase.Initialize()
 	if err != nil {
-		fmt.Println(err.Error())
+		log.Error().Err(err).Msg("failed to initialize user database")
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
 	defer userDatabase.Close()
@@ -21,6 +26,19 @@ func main() {
 	userManager := users.UserManager{}
 	err = userManager.Initialize(&userDatabase)
 	if err != nil {
-		fmt.Println("failed to initialize user manager")
+		log.Error().Err(err).Msg("failed to initialize user manager")
 	}
 }
+
+func initializeLogger() {
+	zerolog.TimeFieldFormat = zerolog.TimeFormatUnixMs
+
+	file, err := os.OpenFile("app.log", os.O_CREATE|os.O_WRONLY|os.O_APPEND, 0666)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Printf("failed to open log file: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	consoleWriter := zerolog.ConsoleWriter{Out: os.Stdout}
+	multi := zerolog.MultiLevelWriter(consoleWriter, file)
+	log.Logger = zerolog.New(multi).With().Timestamp().Logger()
+}
diff --git a/users/user_manager.go b/users/user_manager.go
index 9ee7df0..735d42f 100644
--- a/users/user_manager.go
+++ b/users/user_manager.go
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@ import (
 	"encoding/base64"
 	"fmt"
 	"time"
+
+	"github.com/rs/zerolog/log"
 )
 
 const DEFAULT_USERNAME = "admin"
@@ -28,11 +30,7 @@ func (um *UserManager) Initialize(userDatabase *UserDatabase) error {
 			return error
 		}
 
-		fmt.Println()
-		fmt.Println("Creating default admin user:")
-		fmt.Printf("Username: %s\n", DEFAULT_USERNAME)
-		fmt.Printf("Password: %s\n", password)
-		fmt.Println()
+		log.Info().Str("username", DEFAULT_USERNAME).Str("password", password).Msg("creating default admin user")
 
 		user := User{Username: DEFAULT_USERNAME, Password: password, IsAdmin: true}
 		_, error = um.CreateUser(&user)