MusicBrainz API/Search
The Web Service provides a way to search for MusicBrainz Entities, the results are returned in Xml format matching the MMD. The results are provided By a Search Server built using Lucene technology.
This sections lists the parameters common to all resource.
type | Selects the index to be searched, artist, release, release-group, recording, work, label (track is supported but maps to recording) |
query | Lucene search query, this is mandatory |
limit | An integer value defining how many entries should be returned. Only values between 1 and 100 (both inclusive) are allowed. If not given, this defaults to 25. |
offset | Return search results starting at a given offset. Used for paging through more than one page of results. |
The query field supports the full Lucene Search syntax; you can find a detailed guide at Lucene Search Syntax. For example, you can set conditions while searching for a name with the AND operator.
Example: http://www.musicbrainz.org/ws/2/recording?query=%22we%20will%20rock%20you%22%20AND%20arid:0383dadf-2a4e-4d10-a46a-e9e041da8eb3 will find any recordings of "We Will Rock You" by Queen.
When searching fields that come from a defined set of possible values such as country and gender find matches where these fields have not been set by searching for unknown.
Example: http://musicbrainz.org/ws/2/release/?query=country:unknown
Artist
Search Fields
The Artist index contains the following fields you can search
Field | Description |
---|---|
alias | (part of) any alias attached to the artist (diacritics are ignored) |
primary_alias | (part of) any primary alias attached to the artist (diacritics are ignored) |
area | (part of) the name of the artist's main associated area |
arid | the artist's MBID |
artist | (part of) the artist's name (diacritics are ignored) |
artistaccent | (part of) the artist's name (with the specified diacritics) |
begin | the artist's begin date (e.g. "1980-01-22") |
beginarea | (part of) the name of the artist's begin area |
comment | (part of) the artist's disambiguation comment |
country | the 2-letter code (ISO 3166-1 alpha-2) for the artist's main associated country |
end | the artist's end date (e.g. "1980-01-22") |
endarea | (part of) the name of the artist's end area |
ended | a boolean flag (true/false) indicating whether or not the artist has ended (is dissolved/deceased) |
gender | the artist's gender (“male”, “female”, “other” or “not applicable”) |
ipi | an IPI code associated with the artist |
isni | an ISNI code associated with the artist |
sortname | (part of) the artist's sort name |
tag | (part of) a tag attached to the artist |
type | the artist's type (“person”, “group”, etc.) |
If you don't specify a field, the terms will be searched for in the alias, artist and sortname fields.
Xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?> <metadata created="2017-03-12T16:54:57.165Z" xmlns="http://musicbrainz.org/ns/mmd-2.0#" xmlns:ext="http://musicbrainz.org/ns/ext#-2.0"> <artist-list count="11" offset="0"> <artist id="e56fd97e-c18f-4e5e-9b4d-f9fc21b4973f" type="Group" ext:score="100"> <name>Fred</name> <sort-name>Fred</sort-name> <country>US</country> <area id="489ce91b-6658-3307-9877-795b68554c98"> <name>United States</name> <sort-name>United States</sort-name> </area> <begin-area id="489ce91b-6658-3307-9877-795b68554c98"> <name>United States</name> <sort-name>United States</sort-name> </begin-area> <disambiguation>US progressive rock band</disambiguation> <life-span> <begin>1969</begin> <end>1974</end> <ended>true</ended> </life-span> </artist> <artist id="4a024fd4-305e-4fea-9d3f-4ec858766e6e" type="Group" ext:score="100"> <name>Fred</name> <sort-name>Fred</sort-name> <country>US</country> <area id="489ce91b-6658-3307-9877-795b68554c98"> <name>United States</name> <sort-name>United States</sort-name> </area> <disambiguation>US comic barbershop quartet</disambiguation> <life-span> <ended>false</ended> </life-span> </artist> <artist id="1065e6e0-b6b3-4224-9121-4502e52b9f9e" type="Group" ext:score="61"> <name>A Halo Called Fred</name> <sort-name>A Halo Called Fred</sort-name> <country>US</country> <area id="489ce91b-6658-3307-9877-795b68554c98"> <name>United States</name> <sort-name>United States</sort-name> </area> <life-span> <ended>false</ended> </life-span> </artist> <artist id="6c843bf3-a854-47ea-b1cf-ba40675710b7" type="Group" ext:score="61"> <name>Fred Sherry String Quartet</name> <sort-name>Fred Sherry String Quartet</sort-name> <country>US</country> <area id="489ce91b-6658-3307-9877-795b68554c98"> <name>United States</name> <sort-name>United States</sort-name> </area> <life-span> <ended>false</ended> </life-span> </artist> <artist id="be136e58-ccf5-47f0-a000-6e8d7eb3bae0" type="Group" ext:score="61"> <name>The Color Fred</name> <sort-name>Color Fred, The</sort-name> <country>US</country> <area id="489ce91b-6658-3307-9877-795b68554c98"> <name>United States</name> <sort-name>United States</sort-name> </area> <life-span> <begin>2003</begin> <ended>false</ended> </life-span> </artist> <artist id="2cea1456-daef-4bb1-b63c-4b6df03ebbd5" type="Group" ext:score="61"> <name>The Fred Hersch Group</name> <sort-name>Hersch, Fred, The, Group</sort-name> <country>US</country> <area id="489ce91b-6658-3307-9877-795b68554c98"> <name>United States</name> <sort-name>United States</sort-name> </area> <life-span> <ended>false</ended> </life-span> </artist> <artist id="28b020fa-d9b8-4d92-805c-54cd1b0197b7" type="Group" ext:score="61"> <name>Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey</name> <sort-name>Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey</sort-name> <country>US</country> <area id="489ce91b-6658-3307-9877-795b68554c98"> <name>United States</name> <sort-name>United States</sort-name> </area> <life-span> <begin>1994</begin> <ended>false</ended> </life-span> <alias-list> <alias sort-name="JFJO">JFJO</alias> </alias-list> <tag-list> <tag count="1"> <name>jazz</name> </tag> <tag count="1"> <name>jazz fusion</name> </tag> <tag count="1"> <name>free jazz</name> </tag> <tag count="1"> <name>oklahoma</name> </tag> <tag count="1"> <name>us</name> </tag> <tag count="1"> <name>tulsa</name> </tag> </tag-list> </artist> <artist id="4a903390-4381-4c32-90d0-803bd4f9ce34" type="Group" ext:score="56"> <name>Fred Waring & His Pennsylvanians</name> <sort-name>Waring, Fred & His Pennsylvanians</sort-name> <country>US</country> <area id="489ce91b-6658-3307-9877-795b68554c98"> <name>United States</name> <sort-name>United States</sort-name> </area> <life-span> <ended>false</ended> </life-span> <alias-list> <alias sort-name="Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians">Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians</alias> <alias sort-name="Fred Waring & Pennsylvanians">Fred Waring & Pennsylvanians</alias> <alias sort-name="Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians">Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians</alias> <alias sort-name="Fred Waring's Pennyslvanians">Fred Waring's Pennyslvanians</alias> <alias sort-name="Fred Waring & the Pennsylvanians">Fred Waring & the Pennsylvanians</alias> <alias sort-name="Waring, Fred & Pennsylvanians, The">Fred Waring & The Pennsylvanians</alias> <alias sort-name="Fred Warring & His Pennsylvanians">Fred Warring & His Pennsylvanians</alias> <alias sort-name="Waring's Pensylvanians">Waring's Pensylvanians</alias> </alias-list> </artist> <artist id="0980008b-f9cd-412e-b062-84212b756f4a" type="Group" ext:score="51"> <name>Fred Williams & The Jewels Band</name> <sort-name>Williams, Fred & Jewels Band, The</sort-name> <country>US</country> <area id="489ce91b-6658-3307-9877-795b68554c98"> <name>United States</name> <sort-name>United States</sort-name> </area> <life-span> <ended>false</ended> </life-span> </artist> <artist id="985bdbe7-ebf2-42b1-8ad6-5bb619385e67" type="Group" ext:score="51"> <name>Fred Wesley and The J.B.’s</name> <sort-name>Wesley, Fred and J.B.’s, the</sort-name> <country>US</country> <area id="489ce91b-6658-3307-9877-795b68554c98"> <name>United States</name> <sort-name>United States</sort-name> </area> <life-span> <ended>false</ended> </life-span> <alias-list> <alias sort-name="Fred and the New J.B.'s">Fred and the New J.B.'s</alias> <alias sort-name="Fred Wesley & The J.B.'s">Fred Wesley & The J.B.'s</alias> <alias sort-name="Fred Wesley & The JB's">Fred Wesley & The JB's</alias> <alias sort-name="Fred Wesley & The New J.B.'s">Fred Wesley & The New J.B.'s</alias> <alias sort-name="Fred Wesley & The New JB's">Fred Wesley & The New JB's</alias> </alias-list> </artist> <artist id="05cfb5c7-0152-41f4-a9c9-622e8f710dfa" type="Group" ext:score="51"> <name>John Fred & His Playboy Band</name> <sort-name>Fred, John & His Playboy Band</sort-name> <country>US</country> <area id="489ce91b-6658-3307-9877-795b68554c98"> <name>United States</name> <sort-name>United States</sort-name> </area> <begin-area id="34f02dc4-3173-4c68-86d1-c82504759342"> <name>Baton Rouge</name> <sort-name>Baton Rouge</sort-name> </begin-area> <life-span> <begin>1956</begin> <end>1969</end> <ended>true</ended> </life-span> <alias-list> <alias sort-name="John Fred">John Fred</alias> <alias sort-name="John Fred and His Playboyband">John Fred and His Playboyband</alias> <alias sort-name="John Fred and His Play Boy Band">John Fred and His Play Boy Band</alias> <alias sort-name="John Fred And His Playboy Band">John Fred And His Playboy Band</alias> <alias sort-name="John Fred and His Playboys">John Fred and His Playboys</alias> <alias sort-name="John Fred and the Play Boy Band">John Fred and the Play Boy Band</alias> <alias sort-name="John Fred and the Playboys">John Fred and the Playboys</alias> <alias sort-name="John Fred & His Playboyband">John Fred & His Playboyband</alias> <alias sort-name="John Fred & His Playboys">John Fred & His Playboys</alias> <alias sort-name="John Fred & Hiss Playboy Band">John Fred & Hiss Playboy Band</alias> <alias sort-name="John Fred & Playboyband">John Fred & Playboyband</alias> <alias sort-name="John Fred & Playboy Band">John Fred & Playboy Band</alias> <alias sort-name="John Fred & the Play Boy Band">John Fred & the Play Boy Band</alias> <alias sort-name="John Fred & The Playboyband">John Fred & The Playboyband</alias> <alias sort-name="John Fred & The Playboy Band">John Fred & The Playboy Band</alias> <alias sort-name="John Fred & The Playboys">John Fred & The Playboys</alias> </alias-list> </artist> </artist-list> </metadata>
Release Group
Search Fields
The release group index contains the following fields you can search:
Field | Description |
---|---|
alias | (part of) any alias attached to the release group (diacritics are ignored) |
arid | the MBID of any of the release group artists |
artist | (part of) the combined credited artist name for the release group, including join phrases (e.g. "Artist X feat.") |
artistname | (part of) the name of any of the release group artists |
comment | (part of) the release group's disambiguation comment |
creditname | (part of) the credited name of any of the release group artists on this particular release group |
firstreleasedate | the release date of the earliest release in this release group (e.g. "1980-01-22") |
primarytype | the primary type of the release group |
reid | the MBID of any of the releases in the release group |
release | (part of) the title of any of the releases in the release group |
releasegroup | (part of) the release group's title (diacritics are ignored) |
releasegroupaccent | (part of) the release group's title (with the specified diacritics) |
releases | the number of releases in the release group |
rgid | the release group's MBID |
secondarytype | any of the secondary types of the release group |
status | the status of any of the releases in the release group |
tag | (part of) a tag attached to the release group |
type | legacy release group type field that predates the ability to set multiple types (see calculation code) |
If you don't specify a field, the terms will be searched for in the releasegroup field.
Xml
<metadata xmlns="http://musicbrainz.org/ns/mmd-2.0#" xmlns:ext="http://musicbrainz.org/ns/ext#-2.0"> <release-group-list offset="0" count="1"> <release-group ext:score="100" type="Single" id="70664047-2545-4e46-b75f-4556f2a7b83e"> <title>Main Tenance</title> <first-release-date>1998</first-release-date> <artist-credit> <name-credit> <artist id="a8fa58d8-f60b-4b83-be7c-aea1af11596b"> <name>Fred Giannelli</name> <sort-name>Giannelli, Fred</sort-name> <disambiguation>US electronic artist</disambiguation> </artist> </name-credit> </artist-credit> <release-list count="1"> <release id="9168f4cc-a852-4ba5-bf85-602996625651"> <title>Main Tenance</title> </release> </release-list> </release-group> </release-group-list> </metadata>
Release
The release index contains these fields you can search:
field | Description |
arid | artist id |
artist | complete artist name(s) as it appears on the release |
artistname | an artist on the release, each artist added as a seperate field |
asin | the Amazon ASIN for this release |
barcode | The barcode of this release |
catno | The catalog number for this release, can have multiples when major using an imprint |
comment | Disambiguation comment |
country | The two letter country code for the release country |
creditname | name credit on the release, each artist added as a seperate field |
date | The release date (format: YYYY-MM-DD) |
discids | total number of cd ids over all mediums for the release |
discidsmedium | number of cd ids for the release on a medium in the release |
format | release format |
label | The name of the label for this release, can have multiples when major using an imprint |
lang | The language for this release. Use the three character ISO 639 codes to search for a specific language. (e.g. lang:eng) |
mediums | number of mediums in the release |
puid | The release contains recordings with these puids |
reid | release id |
release | release name |
rgid | release group id |
script | The 4 character script code (e.g. latn) used for this release |
status | release status (e.g official) |
tracks | total number of tracks over all mediums on the release |
tracksmedium | number of tracks on a medium in the release |
type | release group type (e.g album) |
Release search terms with no fields search the release field only.
Example: http://www.musicbrainz.org/ws/2/release/?query=release:Schneider
Xml
<metadata xmlns="http://musicbrainz.org/ns/mmd-2.0#" xmlns:ext="http://musicbrainz.org/ns/ext#-2.0"> <release-list offset="0" count="1"> <release id="9ab1b03e-6722-4ab8-bc7f-a8722f0d34c1" ext:score="100"> <title>Fred Schneider & The Shake Society</title> <status>official</status> <text-representation> <language>eng</language> <script>latn</script> </text-representation> <artist-credit> <name-credit> <artist id="43bcca8b-9edc-4997-8343-122350e790bf"> <name>Fred Schneider</name> <sort-name>Schneider, Fred</sort-name> </artist> </name-credit> </artist-credit> <release-group type="Album"/> <date>1991-04-30</date> <country>us</country> <barcode>075992659222</barcode> <asin>075992659222</asin> <label-info-list> <label-info> <catalog-number>9 26592-2</catalog-number> <label> <name>Reprise Records</name> </label> </label-info> </label-info-list> <medium-list> <medium><format>cd</format> <disc-list count="2"/> <track-list count="9"/> </medium> </medium-list> </release> </release-list> </metadata>
Recording
Recording searches can contain you can search:
field | Description |
arid | artist id |
artist | artist name is name(s) as it appears on the recording |
artistname | an artist on the recording, each artist added as a seperate field |
creditname | name credit on the recording, each artist added as a seperate field |
comment | recording disambuguation comment |
country | recording release country |
date | recording release date |
dur | duration of track in milliseconds |
format | recording release format |
isrc | ISRC of recording |
position | the medium that the recording should be found on, first medium is position 1 |
qdur | quantized duration (duration / 2000) |
recording | name of recording or a track associated with the recording |
reid | release id |
release | release name |
rid | recording id |
status | Release status (official, promotion, Bootleg, Pseudo-Release) |
tnum | track number on medium |
tracks | number of tracks in the medium on release |
tracksrelease | number of tracks on release as a whole |
type | Release Group type (album, single, ep, compilation, soundtrack, spokenword, interview, audiobook, live, remix, other) |
tag | folksonomy tag |
Recording search terms with no fields search the recording field only
Example: http://www.musicbrainz.org/ws/2/recording/?query=Fred
Xml
<metadata xmlns="http://musicbrainz.org/ns/mmd-2.0#" xmlns:ext="http://musicbrainz.org/ns/ext#-2.0"> <recording-list offset="0" count="1"> <recording id="0b382a13-32f0-4743-9248-ba5536a6115e" ext:score="100"> <title>King Fred</title> <length>160000</length> <artist-credit> <name-credit> <artist id="f52f7a92-d495-4d32-89e7-8b1e5b8541c8"> <name>Too Much Joy</name> <sort-name>Too Much Joy</sort-name> </artist> </name-credit> </artist-credit> <release-list> <release id="8442e42b-c40a-4817-89a0-dbe663c94d2d"> <title>Green Eggs and Crack</title> <release-group type="album"/> <medium-list> <medium> <position>1</position> <track-list offset="13" count="19"> <track> <title>King Fred</title> </track> </track-list> </medium> </medium-list> </release> </release-list> <puid-list> <puid id="1d9e8ed6-3893-4d3b-aa7d-72e79609e386"/> </puid-list> </recording> </recording-list> </metadata>
If the recording belongs to a release that is a Various Artist compilation then the release will show the artist credit to allow differenitation between this and a single artist compilation.
<release id="d9127de1-ec22-4dd2-859b-c326e146fbe5"> <title>Rock Hits</title> <status>Official</status> <artist-credit> <name-credit> <artist id="89ad4ac3-39f7-470e-963a-56509c546377"> <name>Various Artists</name> </artist> </name-credit> </artist-credit> <release-group type="Compilation"/> <medium-list> <track-count>10</track-count> <medium> <position>1</position> <track-list offset="0" count="10"> <track> <title>Jurk</title> </track> </track-list> </medium> </medium-list> </release>
Label
The label index contains the following fields you can search:
field | Description |
alias | the aliases/misspellings for this label |
begin | label founding date |
code | label code (only the figures part, i.e. without "LC") |
comment | label comment to differentiate similar labels |
country | The two letter country code of the label country |
end | label dissolution date |
ipi | ipi |
label | label name |
sortname | label sortname |
type | label type |
tag | folksonomy tag |
Label search terms with no fields specified search the label, sortname and alias fields.
Example: http://www.musicbrainz.org/ws/2/label/?query=Devils
Xml
<metadata xmlns="http://musicbrainz.org/ns/mmd-2.0#" xmlns:ext="http://musicbrainz.org/ns/ext#-2.0"> <label-list offset="0" count="1"> <label type="original production" id="d2c296e3-10a4-4ba9-97b9-5620ff8a3ce0"> <name>Devil's Records</name> <sort-name>Devil's Records</sort-name> <alias-list> <alias>Devils Records</alias> <alias>Devil Records</alias> </alias-list> </label> </label-list> </metadata>
Work
The work index contains these fields you can search:
field | Description |
alias | the aliases/misspellings for this work |
arid | artist id |
artist | artist name, an atist in the context of a work is an artist-work relation such as composer or performer |
comment | disambuguation comment |
iswc | ISWC of work |
tag | folksonomy tag |
type | work type |
wid | work id |
work | name of work |
Work search terms with no fields specified search the work and alias fields.
Example http://www.musicbrainz.org/ws/2/work/?query=Devils
Xml
<metadata xmlns="http://musicbrainz.org/ns/mmd-2.0#" xmlns:ext="http://musicbrainz.org/ns/ext#-2.0"> <work-list offset="0" count="1"> <work ext:score="100" id="10c1a66a-8166-32ec-a00f-540f111ce7a3"> <title>Frozen Fred</title> <relation-list> <relation type="composer"> <artist id="4c006444-ccbf-425e-b3e7-03a98bab5997"> <name>Michiel Peters</name> <sort-name>Peters, Michiel</sort-name> </artist> </relation> </relation-list> </work> </work-list> </metadata>