MusicBrainz Catalog Scraper

Export structured public MusicBrainz CC0 core music-metadata records for discovery, comparison, monitoring, and governance.

What you get

Search the public MusicBrainz catalog and save one deduplicated row per CC0 core music-metadata record. Results include MusicBrainz IDs, entity types, names, disambiguation, artist credits, areas, dates, release status, labels, media formats, track counts, search scores, and canonical source links. Use discovery inputs for market maps and exact-name inputs, when available, for stable monitoring cohorts.

Output fields

Field group	Description
Identity	Canonical musicBrainzId, display name, and source URL.
Time evidence	Effective, filing, award, report, or catalog dates when published by the source.
Measures and status	Public amounts, counts, scores, or status evidence available from the source.
Ownership and links	Public organization, agency, product, committee, artist, or source references.
Classification	Public tags, categories, keywords, packaging, or status values.
Provenance	Search query and named upstream source for traceable analysis.

Example output

{"musicBrainzId":"b10bbbfc-cf9e-42e0-be17-e2c3e1d2600d","entityType":"artist","name":"The Beatles","type":"Group","country":"GB","score":100,"source":"MusicBrainz core metadata (CC0)"}

Input parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
queries	Yes	Up to five plain or advanced MusicBrainz searches.
entityType	Yes	Artist, release group, release, recording, label, or work.
maxResultsPerQuery	Yes	Maximum records per query.
maxResults	Yes	Maximum unique records saved.

At least one discovery or exact-name input is required. Result limits apply after cross-input deduplication, and only saved unique rows are charged.

Use cases

• Developers: discover alternatives and compare public release evidence.
• Platform teams: monitor versions, tags, compatibility, and activity for a fixed portfolio.
• Security teams: build an evidence inventory before joining vulnerability and deployment data.
• Product researchers: map a developer ecosystem with repeatable queries and dated snapshots.

Limitations

The Actor returns MusicBrainz core metadata only. It excludes non-commercial supplementary data such as ratings, tags, annotations, edits, collections, and cover art and enforces the documented one-request-per-second source limit.

Compared to alternatives

Current Apify Store alternatives include automation-lab/musicbrainz-api-scraper and data_xplorer/musicbrainz-scraper. Thirdwatch combines discovery and bounded monitoring inputs where the source permits them, saves canonical evidence URLs, deduplicates before charging, provides exactly four PPE tiers, and ships ten ready-to-save Task recipes plus a five-article workflow library. Compare current Store listings directly because competitor features and pricing can change.

FAQ

Does this Actor access private packages or accounts?

No. It collects only metadata available from the public source and does not sign in, bypass access controls, or request private registry credentials.

How should I monitor a fixed portfolio?

Use exact names where supported, keep result limits explicit, save the input as an Apify Task, and retain dated datasets. Do not let an empty or failed run overwrite the previous successful snapshot.

Does a public record prove the final conclusion?

No. Public-source records are evidence for analysis, not the analysis itself. Keep provenance, apply documented rules separately, and require qualified review for high-stakes decisions.

Where can I find more workflows?

Visit Thirdwatch public-data scrapers and other Thirdwatch Actors, including GitHub, npm, and OSV Actors.

Last verified: 2026-07