MusicBrainz API: Get artist by name
Looks up an artist or band on MusicBrainz by name, optionally narrowed by country, and returns reference details, recorded members, aliases, genres and official links.
Unofficial. Not affiliated with or endorsed by MusicBrainz.
Inputs
Values from the run on Oct 23, 2026, shown under Output.
- Artist, required
artist Artist or band name, for example Nirvana.
Nirvana
- Country optional
country Two-letter country code to distinguish artists with the same name, for example US.
(default)
Input as JSON
{ "artist": "Nirvana"}Output
{ "name": "Nirvana", "type": "Group", "gender": null, "genres": [ "acoustic rock", "alternative metal", "alternative pop" ], "aliases": [ "Nirvana", "Nirvana US", "ニルヴァーナ" ], "country": "US", "members": [ { "link": "https://musicbrainz.org/artist/86d3f2c7-2a19-4249-ad7c-6feec74118d7" , "name": "Aaron Burckhard", "years": "1987–1987", "instruments": [ "drums (drum set)" ] }, { "link": "https://musicbrainz.org/artist/e2f28104-72bb-4c8f-b0f9-78d4eaf492fd" , "name": "Chad Channing", "years": "1988–1990", "instruments": [ "drums (drum set)" ] }, { "link": "https://musicbrainz.org/artist/9b93a71b-1484-4bea-b096-f660c1161f8a" , "name": "Dale Crover", "years": "1987–1990", "instruments": [ "drums (drum set)" ] } ], "end_date": "1994-04-05", "home_area": "Aberdeen", "ipi_codes": [], "begin_date": "1987", "isni_codes": [ "0000000123486830" ], "official_links": [ { "link": "https://music.amazon.com/artists/B001DTD5NQ" , "label": "Amazon Music" }, { "link": "https://music.apple.com/gb/artist/112018" , "label": "Apple Music" }, { "link": "https://music.apple.com/us/artist/112018" , "label": "Apple Music" } ], "musicbrainz_link": "https://musicbrainz.org/artist/5b11f4ce-a62d-471e-81fc-a69a8278c7da" , "musicbrainz_artist_id": "5b11f4ce-a62d-471e-81fc-a69a8278c7da"}Code
curl https://api.fous.com/v1/runs \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOUS_API_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"method":"musicbrainz.org/get_artist","input":{"artist":"Nirvana"}}' # Save as fous.py, then run: python3 fous.pyimport json, os, timefrom urllib.error import HTTPErrorfrom urllib.request import Request, urlopenAPI = "https://api.fous.com/v1/runs" KEY = os.environ["FOUS_API_KEY"]HEADERS = { "Authorization": f"Bearer {KEY}", "Content-Type": "application/json" ,}def call(url, body=None): data = json.dumps(body).encode() if body else None request = Request(url, data, HEADERS) try: with urlopen(request, timeout=120) as r: return r.status, json.load(r) except HTTPError as error: message = json.load(error)["error"]["message"] raise RuntimeError(message) from errorstatus, run = call(API, { "method": "musicbrainz.org/get_artist" , "input": { "artist": "Nirvana" }})# 202: still going after 30 s. Ask again until it ends.while status == 202: time.sleep(2) status, run = call(f"{API}/{run['id']}")print(json.dumps(run["data"], indent=2))// Save as fous.mjs, then run: node fous.mjsconst api = "https://api.fous.com/v1/runs" ;const headers = { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.FOUS_API_KEY}`, "Content-Type": "application/json" ,};let response = await fetch(api, { method: "POST", headers, body: JSON.stringify({ "method": "musicbrainz.org/get_artist" , "input": { "artist": "Nirvana" } }), signal: AbortSignal.timeout(120_000),});let run = await response.json();// 202: still going after 30 s. Ask again until it ends.while (response.status === 202) { await new Promise((done) => setTimeout(done, 2_000)); response = await fetch(`${api}/${run.id}`, { headers }); run = await response.json();}if (!response.ok) throw new Error(run.error.message);console.log(run.data);# Connect your agent to Fous once, over MCP (Streamable HTTP):# https://api.fous.com/mcp# Set FOUS_API_KEY first: create a key at https://app.fous.com/keys.# Claude Codeclaude mcp add \ --scope user \ --transport http fous https://api.fous.com/mcp \ --header "Authorization: Bearer ${FOUS_API_KEY:?Set FOUS_API_KEY to your Fous API key}"# Codexcodex mcp add fous \ --url https://api.fous.com/mcp \ --bearer-token-env-var FOUS_API_KEY# Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf, Cline and morenpx -y add-mcp https://api.fous.com/mcp -g -n fous \ --header "Authorization: Bearer ${FOUS_API_KEY:?Set FOUS_API_KEY to your Fous API key}"# Then ask your agent:# "Use Fous to run musicbrainz.org/get_artist# with {"artist":"Nirvana"}"Over HTTP, the answer’s data holds the output. A run still going after 30 seconds answers 202 with its id: ask GET /v1/runs/{id} until it ends.
Schema
Input schema
{ "type": "object", "required": [ "artist" ], "properties": { "artist": { "type": "string", "description": "Artist or band name, for example Nirvana." }, "country": { "type": "string", "default": "", "examples": [ "US" ], "description": "Two-letter country code to distinguish artists with the same name, for example US." } }, "additionalProperties": false}Output schema
{ "type": "object", "required": [ "name", "type", "country", "home_area", "begin_date", "end_date", "gender", "members", "aliases", "genres", "official_links", "musicbrainz_link", "musicbrainz_artist_id", "isni_codes", "ipi_codes" ], "properties": { "name": { "type": "string" }, "type": { "type": [ "string", "null" ] }, "gender": { "type": [ "string", "null" ] }, "genres": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "aliases": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "country": { "type": [ "string", "null" ] }, "members": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "object", "required": [ "name", "years", "instruments", "link" ], "properties": { "link": { "type": "string" }, "name": { "type": "string" }, "years": { "type": [ "string", "null" ] }, "instruments": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "string" } } }, "additionalProperties": false } }, "end_date": { "type": [ "string", "null" ] }, "home_area": { "type": [ "string", "null" ] }, "ipi_codes": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "string" }, "x-fous-developer": true }, "begin_date": { "type": [ "string", "null" ] }, "isni_codes": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "string" }, "x-fous-developer": true }, "official_links": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "object", "required": [ "label", "link" ], "properties": { "link": { "type": "string" }, "label": { "type": "string" } }, "additionalProperties": false } }, "musicbrainz_link": { "type": "string" }, "musicbrainz_artist_id": { "type": "string", "x-fous-developer": true } }, "additionalProperties": false}- Price
- 1 credit per completed run (1¢ with pay as you go); failed runs are free.
- Method
musicbrainz.org/get_artist- Returns
- name, type, country, home area, dates, members, aliases, genres, official links, MusicBrainz and ISNI/IPI ids
Use it from your agent
Give your agent this line. It reads SKILL.md, gets a Fous API key and connects the Fous MCP server. Its run then takes the method musicbrainz.org/get_artist with the inputs above.
Ask your agent
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- Look up the Swedish group ABBA with country code SE and give their MusicBrainz id and ISNI
- What genres and official links does the musicbrainz.org entry for Nirvana include?
- Get the reference details, type and home area for the French singer Clara Luciani
See more
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last.fm/get_artistFinds artists similar to a named artist on Last.fm, ordered by similarity. Similarity percentages are null because public pages do not show them.
last.fm/list_similar_artistsGets an artist's upcoming concerts and tour dates on Songkick, optionally filtered by country, with ticket links and start times when listed.
songkick.com/get_artist_tour_datesGets a Spotify artist's public profile from their name, artist link or ID: listeners, followers, world rank, top cities, popular tracks, latest release and release counts.
open.spotify.com/get_artistFinds an Apple Music album by title and optional artist, or by album link, and returns its matched release, purchase details and tracks in order.
music.apple.com/get_albumLooks up a Deezer album by name, album link, or ID, optionally matching an artist, and returns its details and ordered tracklist.
deezer.com/get_album