beets won't accept MusicBrainz URL/release ID? #6596

geoffeg · 2026-05-01T03:46:14Z

geoffeg
May 1, 2026

I'm trying to do my initial import. Beets gets to an album with an 86% match and asks me for input. The match it's suggesting has 10 tracks and 1 unmatched track. I find the proper release on MusicBrainz, paste the url (or just the UUID-style ID) but it never accepts it. I have the musicbrainz plugin enabled... (I can see beets pulling from BB)..

Candidate: Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine (25d467e3-4df3-3931-b9ae-8dbce8894358) from MusicBrainz
Computing track assignment...
...done.
Success. Distance: 0.14
Sending event: album_matched
Sending event: albuminfo_received
Candidate: Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine (d0e34aea-d5d4-3ec1-9147-24e1de5f001d) from MusicBrainz
Computing track assignment...
...done.
Success. Distance: 0.14
Sending event: album_matched
Evaluating 10 candidates.

/music-src/7digital/Nine Inch Nails/Pretty Hate Machine (Remastered [Explici (11 items)
Sending event: import_task_before_choice
Sending event: before_choose_candidate

  Match (86.1%):
  Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine
  ≠ artist, album, media, mediums, year, tracks, unmatched tracks, data source
  MusicBrainz, CD, 2006, JP, Universal International, UICY-6159, None
  https://musicbrainz.org/release/25d467e3-4df3-3931-b9ae-8dbce8894358
  * Artist: Nine Inch Nails
  * Album: Pretty Hate Machine
     ≠ (#1) Head Like A Hole (5:00) -> (#1) Head Like a Hole (5:01)
     ≠ (#3) Down In It (3:46) -> (#3) Down in It (3:48)
     ≠ (#5) Something I Can Never Have Explicit (5:55) -> (#5) Something I Can Never Have (5:54)
     ≠ (#9) The Only Time Explicit (4:47) -> (#9) The Only Time (4:49)
Unmatched tracks (1):
 ! Get Down, Make Love (#11) (4:18)
➜ [A]pply, More candidates, Skip, Use as-is, as Tracks, Group albums,
Enter search, enter Id, aBort? I
Enter release ID: https://musicbrainz.org/release/25d467e3-4df3-3931-b9ae-8dbce8894358
Tagging Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine
Searching for album IDs: https://musicbrainz.org/release/25d467e3-4df3-3931-b9ae-8dbce8894358
bandcamp: Not a bandcamp URL, skipping
bandcamp: Not a bandcamp URL, skipping
Evaluating 0 candidates.
Sending event: before_choose_candidate
No matching release found for 11 tracks.
For help, see: https://beets.readthedocs.org/en/latest/faq.html#nomatch
➜ [S]kip, Use as-is, as Tracks, Group albums, Enter search, enter Id, aBort?

My beet version output:

beets version 2.10.0
Python version 3.12.13
plugins: alternatives, bandcamp, convert, discogs, duplicates, embedart, fetchart, fromfilename, ftintitle, lyrics, musicbrainz, replaygain, web, zero

What am I missing, why won't beets accept the MB release?

semohr · 2026-05-01T10:51:10Z

semohr
May 1, 2026
Maintainer

Could you run with the verbose flag and give us the output please?

beet -vv import ...

1 reply

geoffeg May 1, 2026
Author

[05/01/2026, 08:22:57.143] beet -vv import /music-src
[05/01/2026, 08:23:02.878] user configuration: /config/config.yaml
[05/01/2026, 08:23:02.878] data directory: /config
[05/01/2026, 08:23:02.878] plugin paths: []
[05/01/2026, 08:23:02.879] Loading plugins: alternatives, bandcamp, convert, discogs, duplicates, embedart, fetchart, fromfilename, ftintitle, lyrics, musicbrainz, replaygain, web, zero
[05/01/2026, 08:23:03.445] fetchart: google: Disabling art source due to missing key
[05/01/2026, 08:23:03.445] fetchart: lastfm: Disabling art source due to missing key
[05/01/2026, 08:23:03.850] Sending event: pluginload
[05/01/2026, 08:23:03.866] library database: /config/library.db
[05/01/2026, 08:23:03.866] library directory: /music/beets
[05/01/2026, 08:23:03.866] Sending event: library_opened
[05/01/2026, 08:23:03.866] Sending event: import_begin
[05/01/2026, 08:23:03.880] Import of the directory:
[05/01/2026, 08:23:03.880] /music-src
[05/01/2026, 08:23:03.880] was interrupted. Resume (Y/n)? 
[05/01/2026, 08:23:04.955] Resuming interrupted import of /music-src
[05/01/2026, 08:23:04.955] ignoring '.DS_Store' due to ignore rule '.*'
[05/01/2026, 08:23:04.955] ignoring '.DS_Store' due to ignore rule '.*'
[05/01/2026, 08:23:04.955] ignoring '.DS_Store@SynoResource' due to ignore rule '.*'
[05/01/2026, 08:23:06.807] Skipping previously-imported path: /music-src/7digital/Beach House/Teen Dream
[05/01/2026, 08:23:07.817] ignoring '.DS_Store' due to ignore rule '.*'
[05/01/2026, 08:23:07.817] ignoring '.DS_Store@SynoResource' due to ignore rule '.*'
[05/01/2026, 08:23:08.292] Skipping previously-imported path: /music-src/7digital/Cocteau Twins/Garlands
[05/01/2026, 08:23:09.089] Skipping previously-imported path: /music-src/7digital/Cocteau Twins/Head Over Heels
[05/01/2026, 08:23:10.076] Skipping previously-imported path: /music-src/7digital/Cocteau Twins/Heaven Or Las Vegas
[05/01/2026, 08:23:11.066] Skipping previously-imported path: /music-src/7digital/Cocteau Twins/Treasure
[05/01/2026, 08:23:12.070] ignoring '.DS_Store' due to ignore rule '.*'
[05/01/2026, 08:23:12.071] ignoring '.DS_Store@SynoResource' due to ignore rule '.*'
[05/01/2026, 08:23:12.560] Sending event: import_task_created
[05/01/2026, 08:23:12.560] Sending event: import_task_start
[05/01/2026, 08:23:12.560] Looking up: /music-src/7digital/Nine Inch Nails/Pretty Hate Machine (Remastered [Explici
[05/01/2026, 08:23:12.560] Tagging Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine
[05/01/2026, 08:23:12.560] No album ID found.
[05/01/2026, 08:23:12.560] Album ID match recommendation is 0
[05/01/2026, 08:23:12.560] Search terms: Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine
[05/01/2026, 08:23:12.560] Album might be VA: False
[05/01/2026, 08:23:12.560] discogs: Searching for 'Pretty Hate Machine' with {'type': 'release'}
[05/01/2026, 08:23:12.560] musicbrainz: Searching for '' with {'release': 'pretty hate machine', 'artist': 'nine inch nails'}
[05/01/2026, 08:23:12.560] Searching for MusicBrainz releases with: 'release:(pretty hate machine) artist:(nine inch nails)'
[05/01/2026, 08:23:12.560] bandcamp: Searching releases for Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine
[05/01/2026, 08:23:12.691] discogs: Found 5 result(s)
[05/01/2026, 08:23:13.284] musicbrainz: Found 5 result(s)
[05/01/2026, 08:23:13.284] musicbrainz: Requesting MusicBrainz release 5b5d00e8-3d90-3da7-9c17-c9e0e0376076
[05/01/2026, 08:23:13.318] discogs: Getting master release 3406
[05/01/2026, 08:23:13.949] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:13.949] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:13.949] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:13.949] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:13.949] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:13.961] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:13.962] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:13.962] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:13.962] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:13.962] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:13.962] musicbrainz: Found link to Discogs release via MusicBrainz
[05/01/2026, 08:23:13.962] Sending event: mb_album_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:13.962] musicbrainz: Requesting MusicBrainz release ddf2fb0f-d0a7-4fd1-86ae-0843f57b95fd
[05/01/2026, 08:23:14.994] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:14.995] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:14.995] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:14.995] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:14.995] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:14.995] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:14.995] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:14.995] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:14.995] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:15.014] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:15.014] musicbrainz: Found link to Discogs release via MusicBrainz
[05/01/2026, 08:23:15.014] Sending event: mb_album_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:15.014] musicbrainz: Requesting MusicBrainz release bd59697c-629d-4b11-92ed-788ec100c563
[05/01/2026, 08:23:15.164] Sending event: albuminfo_received
[05/01/2026, 08:23:15.164] Candidate: Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine (9154868) from Discogs
[05/01/2026, 08:23:15.164] Computing track assignment...
[05/01/2026, 08:23:15.199] ...done.
[05/01/2026, 08:23:15.204] Success. Distance: 0.17
[05/01/2026, 08:23:15.204] Sending event: album_matched
[05/01/2026, 08:23:15.204] Sending event: albuminfo_received
[05/01/2026, 08:23:15.204] Candidate: Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine (3004371) from Discogs
[05/01/2026, 08:23:15.204] Computing track assignment...
[05/01/2026, 08:23:15.250] ...done.
[05/01/2026, 08:23:15.250] Success. Distance: 0.17
[05/01/2026, 08:23:15.250] Sending event: album_matched
[05/01/2026, 08:23:15.250] Sending event: albuminfo_received
[05/01/2026, 08:23:15.250] Candidate: Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine (12945419) from Discogs
[05/01/2026, 08:23:15.250] Computing track assignment...
[05/01/2026, 08:23:15.266] ...done.
[05/01/2026, 08:23:15.282] Success. Distance: 0.17
[05/01/2026, 08:23:15.282] Sending event: album_matched
[05/01/2026, 08:23:15.282] Sending event: albuminfo_received
[05/01/2026, 08:23:15.282] Candidate: Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine (75544) from Discogs
[05/01/2026, 08:23:15.282] Computing track assignment...
[05/01/2026, 08:23:15.301] ...done.
[05/01/2026, 08:23:15.313] Success. Distance: 0.19
[05/01/2026, 08:23:15.313] Sending event: album_matched
[05/01/2026, 08:23:15.313] Sending event: albuminfo_received
[05/01/2026, 08:23:15.313] Candidate: Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine (2580092) from Discogs
[05/01/2026, 08:23:15.313] Computing track assignment...
[05/01/2026, 08:23:15.336] ...done.
[05/01/2026, 08:23:15.348] Success. Distance: 0.20
[05/01/2026, 08:23:15.348] Sending event: album_matched
[05/01/2026, 08:23:16.038] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:16.039] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:16.039] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:16.039] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:16.039] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:16.039] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:16.039] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:16.039] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:16.039] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:16.039] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:16.052] musicbrainz: Found link to Discogs release via MusicBrainz
[05/01/2026, 08:23:16.053] Sending event: mb_album_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:16.053] musicbrainz: Requesting MusicBrainz release 25d467e3-4df3-3931-b9ae-8dbce8894358
[05/01/2026, 08:23:17.100] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:17.100] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:17.100] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:17.100] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:17.100] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:17.101] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:17.101] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:17.101] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:17.101] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:17.119] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:17.119] Sending event: mb_album_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:17.119] musicbrainz: Requesting MusicBrainz release d0e34aea-d5d4-3ec1-9147-24e1de5f001d
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.138] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.138] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.138] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.138] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.138] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.138] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.154] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.154] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.154] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.154] Sending event: mb_track_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.154] musicbrainz: Found link to Discogs release via MusicBrainz
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.154] Sending event: mb_album_extract
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.154] Sending event: albuminfo_received
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.154] Candidate: Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine (5b5d00e8-3d90-3da7-9c17-c9e0e0376076) from MusicBrainz
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.154] Computing track assignment...
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.172] ...done.
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.188] Success. Distance: 0.15
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.188] Sending event: album_matched
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.188] Sending event: albuminfo_received
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.188] Candidate: Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine (ddf2fb0f-d0a7-4fd1-86ae-0843f57b95fd) from MusicBrainz
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.188] Computing track assignment...
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.224] ...done.
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.224] Success. Distance: 0.17
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.224] Sending event: album_matched
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.224] Sending event: albuminfo_received
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.224] Candidate: Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine (bd59697c-629d-4b11-92ed-788ec100c563) from MusicBrainz
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.225] Computing track assignment...
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.241] ...done.
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.255] Success. Distance: 0.15
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.255] Sending event: album_matched
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.255] Sending event: albuminfo_received
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.255] Candidate: Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine (25d467e3-4df3-3931-b9ae-8dbce8894358) from MusicBrainz
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.255] Computing track assignment...
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.275] ...done.
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.288] Success. Distance: 0.14
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.288] Sending event: album_matched
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.288] Sending event: albuminfo_received
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.288] Candidate: Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine (d0e34aea-d5d4-3ec1-9147-24e1de5f001d) from MusicBrainz
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.288] Computing track assignment...
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.311] ...done.
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.311] Success. Distance: 0.14
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.311] Sending event: album_matched
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.311] Evaluating 10 candidates.

[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.319] /music-src/7digital/Nine Inch Nails/Pretty Hate Machine (Remastered [Explici (11 items)
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.319] Sending event: import_task_before_choice
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.319] Sending event: before_choose_candidate

[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.319]   Match (86.1%):
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.319]   Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.319]   ≠ artist, album, media, mediums, year, tracks, unmatched tracks, data source
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.319]   MusicBrainz, CD, 2006, JP, Universal International, UICY-6159, None
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.319]   https://musicbrainz.org/release/25d467e3-4df3-3931-b9ae-8dbce8894358
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.319]   * Artist: Nine Inch Nails
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.319]   * Album: Pretty Hate Machine
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.319]      ≠ (#1) Head Like A Hole (5:00) -> (#1) Head Like a Hole (5:01)
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.319]      ≠ (#3) Down In It (3:46) -> (#3) Down in It (3:48)
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.319]      ≠ (#5) Something I Can Never Have Explicit (5:55) -> (#5) Something I Can Never Have (5:54)
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.319]      ≠ (#9) The Only Time Explicit (4:47) -> (#9) The Only Time (4:49)
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.319] Unmatched tracks (1):
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.319]  ! Get Down, Make Love (#11) (4:18)
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.320] ➜ [A]pply, More candidates, Skip, Use as-is, as Tracks, Group albums,
[05/01/2026, 08:23:18.320] Enter search, enter Id, aBort? I
[05/01/2026, 08:23:22.153] Enter release ID: https://musicbrainz.org/release/198a3457-3bf1-472c-9934-074cedb25789
[05/01/2026, 08:23:23.144] Tagging Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine
[05/01/2026, 08:23:23.145] Searching for album IDs: https://musicbrainz.org/release/198a3457-3bf1-472c-9934-074cedb25789
[05/01/2026, 08:23:23.145] bandcamp: Not a bandcamp URL, skipping
[05/01/2026, 08:23:23.145] bandcamp: Not a bandcamp URL, skipping
[05/01/2026, 08:23:23.145] Evaluating 0 candidates.
[05/01/2026, 08:23:23.145] Sending event: before_choose_candidate
[05/01/2026, 08:23:23.145] No matching release found for 11 tracks.
[05/01/2026, 08:23:23.145] For help, see: https://beets.readthedocs.org/en/latest/faq.html#nomatch
[05/01/2026, 08:23:23.145] ➜ [S]kip, Use as-is, as Tracks, Group albums, Enter search, enter Id, aBort?

mtrolley · 2026-05-01T11:20:33Z

mtrolley
May 1, 2026

https://musicbrainz.org/release/25d467e3-4df3-3931-b9ae-8dbce8894358 has 10 tracks.

Did you try https://musicbrainz.org/release/198a3457-3bf1-472c-9934-074cedb25789

1 reply

geoffeg May 1, 2026
Author

Sorry, yes, that's the release/URL I tried but didn't work. I put the wrong URL in the post above, but it gives the same results.

geoffeg · 2026-05-01T13:52:17Z

geoffeg
May 1, 2026
Author

I figured it out, but I'm not quite sure why it works. I had musicbrainz down towards the end of my plugin list. If I move it to the top it works. Here's my previous plugin list that caused the problem:

- convert      # Allow transcoding
- replaygain   # Record audio level analysis
- fetchart     # Grab cover art and store in cover.jpg for each album
- embedart     # Embed album art in files
- zero         # Allow zeroing out some tags
- duplicates   # Enable "beet duplicates" command to find duplicate files
- discogs      # Allow fetching matches from discogs
- musicbrainz  # Allow fetching matches from MusicBrainz
- alternatives # Write lossy versions of library for the iPod - pip install beets-alternatives
- lyrics       # Grab lyrics for songs
- ftintitle    # Move "featured"/FT from the artist field to the title field
- bandcamp     # A lot of my music comes from Bandcamp, use Beetcamp as a source.
- fromfilename # If a file contains no tags use the filename for matching
- web          # Allow beets to serve a web interface for managing the library

If I move musicbrainz to the top of the list this issue goes away.

1 reply

semohr May 1, 2026
Maintainer

If you could spare the time for us, could you try the beets version from the main branch? I think the bug was already fixed but the fix has not made it to the releases yet.

Sorry about that 🙏 Seems it is a regression I introduced in #6546

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beets won't accept MusicBrainz URL/release ID? #6596

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geoffeg May 1, 2026

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semohr May 1, 2026 Maintainer

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mtrolley May 1, 2026

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semohr May 1, 2026 Maintainer

geoffeg
May 1, 2026

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semohr
May 1, 2026
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geoffeg May 1, 2026
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mtrolley
May 1, 2026

geoffeg May 1, 2026
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geoffeg
May 1, 2026
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semohr May 1, 2026
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