Beets write does not persist MusicBrainz tags (mb_albumartistid, mb_artistid, albumtype) despite success logs

[jrhorne]

Beets write does not persist MusicBrainz tags (mb_albumartistid, mb_artistid, albumtype) despite success logs

Environment

• OS: macOS
• Beets Version:

beets version 2.2.0
Python version 3.11.5
plugins: autobpm, badfiles, chroma, discogs, duplicates, edit, embedart, fetchart, fromfilename, ftintitle, info, lastgenre, replaygain, scrub, the

• Filesystem: /Volumes/data/media/music/music_library/...
• File Format: .flac
• Album Path:
  /Volumes/data/media/music/music_library/main_library/Zedd/Clarity (Deluxe)/03 Spectrum.flac

---

Problem

Running beet write reports metadata changes (e.g., mb_albumartistid) are being written, but the changes do not persist in the file.
Picard confirms this, as the mb_albumartistid tag is still missing.

This happens repeatedly, even when invoking write multiple times on the same file.

---

Logs from back-to-back write operations

(base) ➜  music_incoming beet -vvv write zedd clarity
user configuration: /Users/jessehorne/.config/beets/config.yaml
data directory: /Users/jessehorne/.config/beets
plugin paths:
fetchart: google: Disabling art source due to missing key
fetchart: To use Spotify as an album art source, you must install the beautifulsoup4 module. See the documentation for further details.
Sending event: pluginload
library database: /Users/jessehorne/Music/music_library.db
library directory: /Volumes/data/media/music/music_library
Sending event: library_opened
Parsed query: AndQuery([AnyFieldQuery('zedd', ('artist', 'title', 'comments', 'album', 'albumartist', 'genre'), SubstringQuery), AnyFieldQuery('clarity', ('artist', 'title', 'comments', 'album', 'albumartist', 'genre'), SubstringQuery)])
Parsed sort: NullSort()
Zedd - Clarity (Deluxe) - Spectrum
  mb_albumartistid:  -> 56c4b861-0922-4c3a-a9b9-3bfcb00f8274
Sending event: write
Sending event: after_write
Sending event: database_change
Zedd - Clarity (Deluxe) - Clarity
  mb_albumartistid:  -> 56c4b861-0922-4c3a-a9b9-3bfcb00f8274
Sending event: write
Sending event: after_write
Sending event: database_change
Zedd - Clarity (Deluxe) - Stay The Night (Featuring Hayley Williams Of Paramore)
  mb_albumartistid:  -> 56c4b861-0922-4c3a-a9b9-3bfcb00f8274
Sending event: write
Sending event: after_write
Sending event: database_change
Sending event: cli_exit

(base) ➜  music_incoming beet -vvv write zedd clarity
# Immediately run again
[... same output as above ...]

---

File Timestamps

(base) ➜  music ls -lah '/Volumes/data/media/music/music_library/main_library/Zedd/Clarity (Deluxe)/'
total 870296
-rwx------@ 1 jessehorne  staff    31M Aug  3 19:59 03 Spectrum.flac
-rwx------@ 1 jessehorne  staff    34M Aug  3 19:59 05 Clarity.flac
-rwx------@ 1 jessehorne  staff    27M Aug  3 19:59 11 Stay The Night (Featuring Hayley Williams Of Paramore).flac
# File timestamps show files were touched, but the tag still doesn’t appear in Picard.

---

Screenshot from Picard

Attached below is a screenshot showing mb_albumartistid is not present for Spectrum.flac despite repeated writes:

---

Config

directory: /Volumes/data/media/music/music_library
library: /Users/jessehorne/Music/music_library.db

import:
    write: yes
    move: yes
    bell: yes
    quiet_fallback: skip
    duplicate_action: ask
    duplicate_keys:
        album: albumartist album
        item: artist title

plugins: the fetchart embedart scrub edit autobpm lastgenre fromfilename chroma duplicates ftintitle badfiles discogs replaygain info

ui:
    color: yes

per_disc_numbering: no
threaded: yes    
timeout: 30

paths: 
    seasonal::.: seasonal_library/$seasonal/%the{$albumartist}/$album %aunique{}/$track $title %aunique{}
    singleton: main_library/%the{$artist}/Non-Album/$title %sunique{} 
    comp: main_library/Compilation/$album %aunique{}/$track $title %aunique{} 
    albumtype:soundtrack: main_library/Soundtracks/$album %aunique{}/$track $title %aunique{} 
    default: main_library/%the{$albumartist}/$album %aunique{}/$track $title %aunique{} 

match: 
    ignored: missing_tracks unmatched_tracks 
    strong_rec_thresh: 0.04 
    distance_weights: 
        source: 0.25
    preferred:            
        countries: ['US', 'GB|UK']
        media: ['CD', 'Digital Media|File']
        original_year: yes        

fetchart:
    enforce_ratio: 10px
    sources: filesystem itunes lastfm amazon albumart coverart
    auto: yes
    lastfm_key: 'XXX'

embedart: 
    remove_art_file: yes 
    maxwidth: 0 
    auto: yes 
    compare_threshold: 0 
    ifempty: no 

lastgenre: 
    count: 5 
    whitelist: yes 
    min_weight: 10 
    fallback: 
    canonical: no 
    source: album 
    force: yes 
    auto: yes 
    separator: '; ' 
    prefer_specific: no 

badfiles:
    check_on_import: no

ftintitle:
    auto: yes
    drop: yes
    format: (feat. {0})
    keep_in_artist: no

duplicates:
    merge: yes
    keys:
    - artist
    - album
    - title
    strict: yes

chroma:
    auto: no

autobpm:
    auto: yes

replaygain:
    overwrite: yes
    albumgain: yes
    backend: ffmpeg
    auto: no

replace:
    '[�]': '-'
    '[‐]': '-'
    '‐': '-'
    '[\/]': _
    '^\.': _
    '[�-�]': _
    '[<>:"\?\*\|]': _
    '\.$': _
    '\s+$': ''
    '^\s+': ''
    '^-': _

scrub:
    auto: no

---

Questions

1. Does beet write actually write mb_albumartistid to FLACs?
2. Is this tag expected to show in Picard (or is it stored differently)?
3. Could the write be silently failing (filesystem, permissions, plugin interference)?
4. Is there a way to verify what tags were written to the file on disk?

Any help debugging this is appreciated!

---

Further Confirmation with Another Album

Tried again with another album (AFI - Decemberunderground) using the following command:

(base) ➜  music_incoming beet -vv write | tee output_write.log

This was executed after prior write attempts on the same files. Output shows repeated writes of the same tags, indicating they are not sticking:

AFI - Decemberunderground - Prelude 12/21
  mb_artistid:  -> 253322
  mb_albumartistid:  -> 253322
  albumtype:  -> Album
Sending event: write
...
AFI - Decemberunderground - Endlessly, She Said
  mb_artistid:  -> 253322
  mb_albumartistid:  -> 253322
  albumtype:  -> Album
Sending event: write

Observation: These logs mirror the earlier behavior seen with Zedd - Clarity (Deluxe) — multiple confirmed write operations, with mb_albumartistid still not showing up in tools like Picard after the fact.

---

Permissions Verified

(base) ➜  music ls -lah '/Volumes/data/media/music/music_library/main_library/Zedd/Clarity (Deluxe)/'
...
-rwx------@ 1 jessehorne  staff    31M Aug  3 19:59 03 Spectrum.flac

All files are writable by the current user (jessehorne) and have no permissions preventing writing. File timestamps also confirm they were touched, but expected tags are still not written.

---

Summary of Behavior

This appears to be a general issue with certain MusicBrainz tags (e.g. mb_albumartistid, mb_artistid) not being committed to disk, despite:

• Files being writable
• beet write claiming success
• Picard showing the tags still missing
• Consecutive write attempts triggering the same "changes"

---

Multiple Tags Are Affected

This issue affects more than one tag. In both albums tested, several tags were reported as changed and written, but did not persist.

Tags Affected per Album

Album	Track Example	Tags Reported as Changed	Persisted in File?
Zedd - Clarity (Deluxe)	03 Spectrum.flac	mb_albumartistid	❌ No
AFI - Decemberunderground	Prelude 12/21, Miss Murder, etc.	mb_artistid, mb_albumartistid, albumtype	❌ No

Despite write events and updated file timestamps, these tags do not appear in tools like Picard and are flagged again on every subsequent beet write.

---

Final Summary

The issue appears to be systemic:

• It affects multiple MusicBrainz-related tags (mb_albumartistid, mb_artistid, albumtype)
• It happens consistently across different albums
• File permissions are correct and writable
• No plugin or system errors are logged during writes
• Tags are "written" repeatedly with no actual effect

Looking for help confirming whether:

• This is a bug in Beets tag writing for FLACs
• Additional configuration is needed to persist these tags

Thanks again!

[fnuecke]

It appears this specific issue was fixed in 2.3.0!

write: Fix the issue where for certain files differences in mb_artistid, mb_albumartistid and albumtype fields are shown on every attempt to write tags. Note: your music needs to be reimported with beet import -LI or synchronised with beet mbsync in order to fix this! 🐛 (#5265) 🐛 (#5371) 🐛 (#4715)