MusicBrainz API Client for PHP 8.1+

A lightweight, modern PHP client for the MusicBrainz API, supporting lookups, browse, searches, and authenticated write operations for PHP 8.1+.

📦 Installation

composer require calliostro/musicbrainz-client

🚀 Quick Start

Basic Usage (No Authentication Required)

use Calliostro\MusicBrainz\MusicBrainzClientFactory;

// Create client
$mb = MusicBrainzClientFactory::create();

// Lookup by MBID
$artist = $mb->lookupArtist('f4abc0b5-3f7a-4eff-8f78-ac078dbce533');

// Search for artists
$results = $mb->searchArtists('Dua Lipa');

// Browse releases by artist
$releases = $mb->browseReleases(artist: 'c8b03190-306c-4120-bb0b-6f2ebfc06ea9', limit: 10);

// Lookup release with includes
$release = $mb->lookupRelease('0c155a34-f9ed-4ade-a676-3ac0d48ead17', inc: 'artists+recordings');

Search with Lucene Query Syntax

$mb = MusicBrainzClientFactory::create();

// Advanced search with Lucene syntax
$results = $mb->searchArtists('artist:"Billie Eilish" AND country:US');

// Search releases
$releases = $mb->searchReleases('release:"Happier Than Ever" AND artist:"Billie Eilish"');

// Search recordings
$recordings = $mb->searchRecordings('recording:"Levitating" AND artist:"Dua Lipa"');

With Authentication (For Write Operations)

Note

Credentials are only required for write operations (ratings, tags, collections). Public queries (lookups, searches, browsing) do not require authentication, and credentials do not increase the rate limit.

use Calliostro\MusicBrainz\MusicBrainzClientFactory;

// Create authenticated client
$mb = MusicBrainzClientFactory::createWithAuth('username', 'password');

// Submit ratings (0-100, 0 = remove rating)
$mb->submitRating(
    client: 'MyApp/1.0',
    entityType: 'artist', // artist, release, recording, release-group, work, label, event, place, series, instrument
    entityId: 'f4abc0b5-3f7a-4eff-8f78-ac078dbce533',
    rating: 80
);

// Submit tags (comma-separated)
$mb->submitTags(
    client: 'MyApp/1.0',
    entityType: 'release',
    entityId: '0c155a34-f9ed-4ade-a676-3ac0d48ead17',
    tags: 'indie,alternative,2020s'
);

// Get user collections
$collections = $mb->getUserCollections();

// Get releases in a collection
$releases = $mb->getCollectionReleases('collection-mbid-123', limit: 50);

// Add releases to collection (semicolon-separated MBIDs)
$mb->addReleasesToCollection(
    mbid: 'collection-mbid-123',
    releaseList: 'release-1;release-2;release-3',
    client: 'MyApp/1.0'
);

// Remove releases from collection
$mb->removeReleasesFromCollection(
    mbid: 'collection-mbid-123',
    releaseList: 'release-1;release-2',
    client: 'MyApp/1.0'
);

Custom User-Agent

MusicBrainz strictly requires proper User-Agent identification (AppName/Version (Contact-URL-or-Email)). By default, the client includes a default User-Agent, but you can customize it:

$mb = MusicBrainzClientFactory::createWithUserAgent(
    'MyApp/1.0.0 (https://myapp.com)'
);

✨ Key Features

Complete API Coverage – All MusicBrainz API v2 endpoints supported (50+ operations).
Built-in Resilience – Automatic retries on 503 Service Temporarily Unavailable and 429 rate limits.
Read & Write Operations – Both lookup/search and authenticated operations (ratings, tags, collections).
Clean Parameter API – Full support for PHP 8 named parameters and camelCase conversion.
Lightweight Focus – Minimal dependencies with only Guzzle (7.x or 8.x).
Type Safety – Full PHP 8.1+ type hints and strict types throughout.
Performance – Optimized configuration caching singleton.
Modern PHP Comfort – Full IDE auto-completion, PHPStan Level 8 static analysis, and PSR-12 compliant.
Battle-Tested – Comprehensive test suite with full code coverage.

📋 Requirements

PHP ^8.1
guzzlehttp/guzzle ^7.0 || ^8.0

📖 API Methods

Artist Methods

// Lookup artist by MBID
$artist = $mb->lookupArtist($mbid, inc: 'recordings+releases');

// Browse artists
$artists = $mb->browseArtists(area: $areaMbid, limit: 25);

// Search artists
$results = $mb->searchArtists('Taylor Swift', limit: 10);

Release Methods

// Lookup release by MBID
$release = $mb->lookupRelease($mbid, inc: 'artists+labels+recordings');

// Browse releases
$releases = $mb->browseReleases(artist: $artistMbid, type: 'album', status: 'official');

// Search releases
$results = $mb->searchReleases('release:"Future Nostalgia" AND artist:"Dua Lipa"');

Release Group Methods

// Lookup release group
$releaseGroup = $mb->lookupReleaseGroup($mbid, inc: 'artists+releases');

// Browse release groups
$groups = $mb->browseReleaseGroups(artist: $artistMbid, type: 'album');

// Search release groups
$results = $mb->searchReleaseGroups('releasegroup:"Happier Than Ever"');

Recording Methods

// Lookup recording by MBID
$recording = $mb->lookupRecording($mbid, inc: 'artists+releases');

// Browse recordings
$recordings = $mb->browseRecordings(artist: $artistMbid, limit: 50);

// Search recordings
$results = $mb->searchRecordings('recording:"Blinding Lights" AND artist:"The Weeknd"');

Label Methods

// Lookup label
$label = $mb->lookupLabel($mbid, inc: 'releases');

// Browse labels
$labels = $mb->browseLabels(area: $areaMbid);

// Search labels
$results = $mb->searchLabels('label:"Columbia Records"');

Work Methods

// Lookup work by MBID
$work = $mb->lookupWork($mbid, inc: 'artist-rels');

// Browse works
$works = $mb->browseWorks(artist: $artistMbid);

// Search works
$results = $mb->searchWorks('work:"Symphony No. 9"');

Other Methods

// Lookup area (country, city, etc.)
$area = $mb->lookupArea($mbid);

// Search areas
$areas = $mb->searchAreas('area:"London"');

// Lookup by ISRC
$isrc = $mb->lookupIsrc('USRC17607839');

// Lookup URL
$url = $mb->lookupUrl($mbid);

// Search URLs
$urls = $mb->searchUrls('url:"https://www.example.com"');

Genre Methods

// Lookup genre by MBID
$genre = $mb->lookupGenre($mbid);

// Search genres
$genres = $mb->searchGenres('electronic', limit: 10);

Instrument Methods

// Lookup instrument by MBID
$instrument = $mb->lookupInstrument($mbid, inc: 'aliases+tags');

// Search instruments
$instruments = $mb->searchInstruments('guitar');

Series Methods

// Lookup series by MBID
$series = $mb->lookupSeries($mbid, inc: 'aliases');

// Search series
$seriesList = $mb->searchSeries('Best of', limit: 20);

Event Methods

// Lookup event by MBID
$event = $mb->lookupEvent($mbid, inc: 'artist-rels');

// Browse events by artist
$events = $mb->browseEvents(artist: $artistMbid, limit: 50);

// Browse events by area or place
$events = $mb->browseEvents(area: $areaMbid);
$events = $mb->browseEvents(place: $placeMbid);

// Search events
$events = $mb->searchEvents('festival 2024');

Place Methods

// Lookup place by MBID
$place = $mb->lookupPlace($mbid, inc: 'aliases+annotation');

// Browse places by area
$places = $mb->browsePlaces(area: $areaMbid, limit: 25);

// Search places
$places = $mb->searchPlaces('Madison Square Garden');

📚 Complete API Reference

Read Operations (No Authentication Required)

Artist: lookupArtist(), browseArtists(), searchArtists()
Release: lookupRelease(), browseReleases(), searchReleases()
Release Group: lookupReleaseGroup(), browseReleaseGroups(), searchReleaseGroups()
Recording: lookupRecording(), browseRecordings(), searchRecordings()
Label: lookupLabel(), browseLabels(), searchLabels()
Work: lookupWork(), browseWorks(), searchWorks()
Area: lookupArea(), searchAreas()
Genre: lookupGenre(), searchGenres()
Instrument: lookupInstrument(), searchInstruments()
Series: lookupSeries(), searchSeries()
Event: lookupEvent(), browseEvents(), searchEvents()
Place: lookupPlace(), browsePlaces(), searchPlaces()
ISRC: lookupIsrc()
URL: lookupUrl(), searchUrls()

Write Operations (Authentication Required)

Ratings: submitRating() – Rate artists, releases, recordings, release-groups, works, labels, events, places, series, or instruments (0-100, 0 removes rating)
Tags: submitTags() – Add tags to artists, releases, recordings, release-groups, works, labels, areas, events, places, series, or instruments
Collections: getUserCollections(), getCollectionReleases(), addReleasesToCollection(), removeReleasesFromCollection()

🎯 Parameter Styles

The client supports multiple parameter styles for maximum flexibility:

// Positional parameters
$artist = $mb->lookupArtist('5b11f4ce-a62d-471e-81fc-a69a8278c7da');

// Named parameters (recommended)
$releases = $mb->browseReleases(
    artist: '5b11f4ce-a62d-471e-81fc-a69a8278c7da',
    type: 'album',
    limit: 10
);

// Mixed positional and named
$results = $mb->searchArtists('Billie Eilish', limit: 25);

// Associative array (for dynamic parameters)
$params = [
    'artist' => '5b11f4ce-a62d-471e-81fc-a69a8278c7da',
    'limit' => 10,
    'inc' => 'recordings'
];
$releases = $mb->browseReleases($params);

⚙️ Configuration

Rate Limiting & Retries

MusicBrainz enforces a rate limit of one request per second and returns 503 Service Temporarily Unavailable (or 429 Too Many Requests) when busy. By default (auto_retry => true, max_retries => 3), the client automatically retries temporary 503 and 429 responses with intelligent exponential backoff and respects the Retry-After header.

You can customize or disable retries:

use Calliostro\MusicBrainz\MusicBrainzClientFactory;

// Custom retry count
$mb = MusicBrainzClientFactory::create([
    'auto_retry' => true,   // Automatically wait and retry on 429/503 (default: true)
    'max_retries' => 5,     // Maximum number of retry attempts (default: 3)
]);

// Disable automatic retries (e.g. in tests or to handle exceptions immediately)
$mb = MusicBrainzClientFactory::create([
    'auto_retry' => false,
]);

Advanced (Custom Guzzle handler, timeouts, headers)

use Calliostro\MusicBrainz\MusicBrainzClientFactory;

$mb = MusicBrainzClientFactory::create([
    'timeout' => 30,
    'proxy' => 'http://proxy.example.com:8080',
    'verify' => true,
    'auto_retry' => true,
    'max_retries' => 3,
]);

📝 Response Format

All methods return arrays with the JSON-decoded response from MusicBrainz:

$artist = $mb->lookupArtist('f4abc0b5-3f7a-4eff-8f78-ac078dbce533');

// Access response data
echo $artist['name']; // "Billie Eilish"
echo $artist['country']; // "US"
echo $artist['type']; // "Person"

foreach ($artist['life-span'] as $key => $value) {
    echo "$key: $value\n";
}

📚 Resources

🧪 Development & Testing Guide

See DEVELOPMENT.md for detailed setup instructions, test suite commands, static analysis, and contribution guidelines.

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please ensure all tests pass and coding standards are maintained:

composer cs-fix
composer analyse
composer test

📄 License

MIT License – see the LICENSE file for details.

⚖️ Disclaimer

MusicBrainz is a registered trademark of the MetaBrainz Foundation. This project is an independent, unofficial open-source library and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the MetaBrainz Foundation.

🙏 Acknowledgments

MusicBrainz for providing the excellent open music encyclopedia and metadata API.
Guzzle for the rock-solid HTTP transport.
Sister projects: calliostro/php-discogs-api, calliostro/lastfm-client, and calliostro/spotify-client.

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
.github/workflows		.github/workflows
examples		examples
resources		resources
src		src
tests		tests
.editorconfig		.editorconfig
.gitattributes		.gitattributes
.gitignore		.gitignore
.markdownlint.json		.markdownlint.json
.php-cs-fixer.dist.php		.php-cs-fixer.dist.php
CHANGELOG.md		CHANGELOG.md
DEVELOPMENT.md		DEVELOPMENT.md
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md
codecov.yml		codecov.yml
composer.json		composer.json
phpstan.neon		phpstan.neon
phpunit.xml.dist		phpunit.xml.dist

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