MusicBrainz

Song identifiers and artist details

MusicBrainz provides community-maintained recording and release information, matching songs to identifiers and release dates and providing artist details and links when available; some release information may be incomplete.

Get artist

Get an artist or band’s reference details by name, optionally choosing a country. Includes recorded members and selected website, encyclopedia, social, and streaming links when available.

Your information

Artist

Artist or band name, for example Nirvana.

More options

CountryOptional

Two-letter country code to distinguish artists with the same name, for example US.

1 credit per completed run

The same inputs also work from your code or an AI assistant. See For developers.

Example results

Nirvana

GroupUS

Aberdeen

StartedJan 1, 1987

EndedApr 5, 1994

Genres

acoustic rock
alternative metal
alternative pop
alternative rock
ambient
conscious hip hop
electronic
experimental
grunge
hard rock
hip hop
instrumental hip hop
new age
noise rock
pigfuck
pop
post-hardcore
psychedelic pop
psytrance
punk
punk rock
rock
sludge metal
underground hip hop

Members

Aaron Burckhard
1987–1987
Instruments
- drums (drum set)
Chad Channing
1988–1990
Instruments
- drums (drum set)
Dale Crover
1987–1990
Instruments
- drums (drum set)
Dan Peters
1990–1990
Instruments
- drums (drum set)
Dave Foster
1988–1988
Instruments
- drums (drum set)
Dave Grohl
1990–1994
Instruments
- background vocals
- drums (drum set)
Jason Everman
1989–1989
Instruments
- background vocals
- guitar
Krist Novoselic
1987–1994
Instruments
- accordion
- bass guitar
- other vocals
Kurt Cobain
1987–1994
Instruments
- background vocals
- guitar
- lead vocals

Other names

Nirvana
Nirvana US
ニルヴァーナ

Websites and profiles

MusicBrainz artist page

Country: US
Home area: Aberdeen

About the MusicBrainz tool

Get song identifiers finds a matching studio recording, its identifiers, and listed releases using a song title and artist.

Get artist returns reference details and available links for an artist or band using its name, with an optional country to distinguish artists.

Built from musicbrainz.org. Last checked Sep 29, 2026.

Actions

Get artist

1 credit

Get an artist or band’s reference details by name, optionally choosing a country. Includes recorded members and selected website, encyclopedia, social, and streaming links when available.

What you provide

Field	Type	Required	Description
Artist`artist`	Text	Required	Artist or band name, for example Nirvana.Example: Nirvana
Country`country`	Text	Optional	Two-letter country code to distinguish artists with the same name, for example US.Example: US

What you get

Field	Type	Description
Name`name`	Text	Example: Nirvana
Type`type`	Text	Example: Group
Gender`gender`	Text	Example: Female
Genres`genres`	List
Aliases`aliases`	List
Country`country`	Text	Example: US
Members`members`	List
Link`members[].link`	Text	Example: https://musicbrainz.org/artist/86d3f2c7-2a19-4249-ad7c-6feec74118d7
Name`members[].name`	Text	Example: Aaron Burckhard
Years`members[].years`	Text	Example: 1987–1987
Instruments`members[].instruments`	List
End Date`end_date`	Text	Example: 1994-04-05
Home Area`home_area`	Text	Example: Aberdeen
Ipi Codes`ipi_codes`	List
Begin Date`begin_date`	Text	Example: 1987
Isni Codes`isni_codes`	List
Official Links`official_links`	List
Link`official_links[].link`	Text	Example: https://music.amazon.com/artists/B001DTD5NQ
Label`official_links[].label`	Text	Example: Amazon Music
Musicbrainz Link`musicbrainz_link`	Text	Example: https://musicbrainz.org/artist/5b11f4ce-a62d-471e-81fc-a69a8278c7da
Musicbrainz Artist ID`musicbrainz_artist_id`	Text	Example: 5b11f4ce-a62d-471e-81fc-a69a8278c7da

Example result

For Artist: Nirvana

JSON

{
  "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/us/artist/112018",
      "label": "Apple Music"
    },
    {
      "link": "https://nirvana.bandcamp.com/",
      "label": "Bandcamp"
    }
  ],
  "musicbrainz_link": "https://musicbrainz.org/artist/5b11f4ce-a62d-471e-81fc-a69a8278c7da",
  "musicbrainz_artist_id": "5b11f4ce-a62d-471e-81fc-a69a8278c7da"
}

Get song identifiers

1 credit

Find the best-matching studio recording by song title and artist, with ISRCs, first release date, and up to 25 of its earliest listed releases. Release dates and some label, country, barcode, or format details may be incomplete in MusicBrainz.

What you provide

Field	Type	Required	Description
Song`song`	Text	Required	Song title, for example Bohemian Rhapsody.Example: Smells Like Teen Spirit
Artist`artist`	Text	Required	Performing artist, for example Queen.Example: Nirvana

What you get

Field	Type	Description
Title`title`	Text	Recording title.Example: Smells Like Teen Spirit
Artist`artist`	Text	Credited recording artist.Example: Nirvana
Length`length`	Text	Recording length in minutes and seconds, for example 5:55.Example: 5:01
Releases`releases`	List	Up to 25 earliest releases carrying the recording, oldest first.
Date`releases[].date`	Text	Release date as listed; may be a year or year-month if incomplete.Example: 1991
Label`releases[].label`	Text	Example: Geffen
Format`releases[].format`	Text	Example: CD
Barcode`releases[].barcode`	Text	Example: 720642442548
Country`releases[].country`	Text	Example: United States
Release ID`releases[].release_id`	Text	Example: 1cf8a7f1-735a-4416-88ae-da9360b2871f
Release Title`releases[].release_title`	Text	Example: Earphoria
Musicbrainz Link`releases[].musicbrainz_link`	Text	Example: https://musicbrainz.org/release/1cf8a7f1-735a-4416-88ae-da9360b2871f
Isrc Codes`isrc_codes`	List	Official ISRC identifiers assigned to this recording.
Recording ID`recording_id`	Text	MusicBrainz recording ID.Example: 5fb524f1-8cc8-4c04-a921-e34c0a911ea7
Musicbrainz Link`musicbrainz_link`	Text	MusicBrainz recording page.Example: https://musicbrainz.org/recording/5fb524f1-8cc8-4c04-a921-e34c0a911ea7
First Release Date`first_release_date`	Text	First known release date (YYYY-MM-DD or year).Example: 1991-09-10
Length Milliseconds`length_milliseconds`	Number	Recording length in milliseconds.Example: 301133

Example result

For Song: Smells Like Teen Spirit, Artist: Nirvana

JSON

{
  "title": "Smells Like Teen Spirit",
  "artist": "Nirvana",
  "length": "5:01",
  "releases": [
    {
      "date": "1991",
      "label": "Geffen",
      "format": "CD",
      "barcode": null,
      "country": "United States",
      "release_id": "1cf8a7f1-735a-4416-88ae-da9360b2871f",
      "release_title": "Earphoria",
      "musicbrainz_link": "https://musicbrainz.org/release/1cf8a7f1-735a-4416-88ae-da9360b2871f"
    },
    {
      "date": "1991",
      "label": "DGC Records, Stallions Records",
      "format": "Cassette",
      "barcode": "720642442548",
      "country": "Saudi Arabia",
      "release_id": "201d5e28-2de4-4e6f-830a-d55c98e57641",
      "release_title": "Nevermind",
      "musicbrainz_link": "https://musicbrainz.org/release/201d5e28-2de4-4e6f-830a-d55c98e57641"
    },
    {
      "date": "1991",
      "label": "BMG Direct Marketing, Inc., DGC Records",
      "format": "CD",
      "barcode": null,
      "country": "United States",
      "release_id": "347666eb-86f7-488a-a427-895f6f7ac203",
      "release_title": "Nevermind",
      "musicbrainz_link": "https://musicbrainz.org/release/347666eb-86f7-488a-a427-895f6f7ac203"
    }
  ],
  "isrc_codes": [
    "USGF19942501"
  ],
  "recording_id": "5fb524f1-8cc8-4c04-a921-e34c0a911ea7",
  "musicbrainz_link": "https://musicbrainz.org/recording/5fb524f1-8cc8-4c04-a921-e34c0a911ea7",
  "first_release_date": "1991-09-10",
  "length_milliseconds": 301133
}

For developers

Call it from your code with one request. Change the values in input to run it on new data. To get an API key, open Developers at the bottom of Studio, turn on Developer mode and go to API keys.

cURL

curl 'https://api.fous.com/v1/query' \
  --fail-with-body --silent --show-error --max-time 180 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data-raw '{
  "api": "@musicbrainz",
  "visibility": "public",
  "operation": "get_artist",
  "version": 1,
  "input": {
    "artist": "Nirvana"
  },
  "response": {
    "format": "json"
  }
}'

What you can do with it

Match songs to their ISRC identifiers
Review a recording’s listed releases and dates
Find reference details for an artist or band
Collect available links for an artist

Questions about MusicBrainz

Can I run it with my own inputs?

Yes. Change the inputs in Studio and press Run, or send new inputs from your code, or ask a connected AI assistant.

Can I call this MusicBrainz tool as an API?

Yes. Send a POST request to /v1/query with your Fous API key and the inputs, and get JSON back.

How much does it cost?

Each completed run costs 1 credit. Failed runs without a completed receipt are free; completed work can remain charged if delivery is interrupted. With pay as you go, a credit costs 1¢. Monthly plans cost less per credit.

Do I need a MusicBrainz account?

No. You only need a Fous account.

How current is the data?

Fous gets the data from musicbrainz.org when you run it. Some results are reused for up to 24 hours, and results that use your account or key are never reused. It was last verified on Sep 29, 2026.