MusicBrainz Explorer

Explore releases. Play your own library.

About

MusicBrainz Explorer is a release-focused browser for MusicBrainz metadata. It presents cover art, edition information, detailed track credits, related versions and artist discographies in a calm, visual interface.

It can also map MusicBrainz-tagged files in your own music folder to the same releases and play them locally. The player is optional: the Explorer remains fully usable without connecting a library.

Finding releases

Type miles davis, to search for an artist.
Type , kind of blue to search by release or track title.
Type miles davis, so what for a combined search.
Paste a MusicBrainz release MBID or release URL to open that exact edition.

Click or tap the Explorer logo on the start page whenever you need a reminder of the search syntax.

Playing your own library

Local playback relies on the MusicBrainz release and recording IDs stored in your audio files. Folder names are not used to identify albums.

Before you begin

Tag the files with MusicBrainz Picard.
Keep the release MBID and recording MBID embedded in every file.
Use FLAC or M4A files (ALAC/AAC).
Keep all discs of one multi-disc release together in the same release folder.

1. Create the library index

Select Create Library Index on the Explorer start page.
Choose the root of your Music folder.
Allow the browser to scan the supported audio files.
Place the downloaded library.json in the root of the selected Music folder.

The browser indexer reads only the required MusicBrainz tags, technical audio properties and relative file locations. Embedded cover images and audio payloads are skipped. If the folder already contains a version 2 library.json, unchanged albums are reused and only changed folders are indexed again.

Some browsers label the folder-selection confirmation button “Upload”. No music or index data is uploaded to the Explorer, GitHub, MusicBrainz or any application server. The scan happens locally in your browser.

Faster indexing with Python

For large libraries, download generate_library.py and run it locally. It uses only the Python standard library and needs no extra packages.

macOS or Linux:

python3 generate_library.py "/path/to/Music"

Windows:

py generate_library.py "D:\Music"

2. Connect the Music folder

Select Connect Music Folder.
Choose the same folder that now contains library.json.
Confirm the browser's folder-selection dialog.

A small play triangle marks matching releases in search results. Open one, then hover over a track number and select its play icon. The floating player continues playing while you browse another release.

Playability is determined for each track. Exact MusicBrainz release-track IDs take priority; recording IDs are used only when release-track data is unavailable. Different media or layers therefore receive Play icons only for the files that are actually present in the connected library.

Folder permission lasts only for the current page session. You will need to connect the folder again after closing or reloading the page.

Troubleshooting

No local releases appear after connecting

Check that library.json is in the root of the folder you selected, then recreate the index. The files must contain both MusicBrainz release and recording MBIDs written by Picard.

The browser says “Upload”

This is wording supplied by the browser's native folder picker. The Explorer uses the selected files locally and does not send your music library to a server.

A release opens, but some tracks are not playable

Retag and reindex the affected files. Missing or mismatched MusicBrainz release-track and recording MBIDs can prevent the Explorer from linking that track to its local file. Version 2 indexes use the release-track MBID to distinguish repeated occurrences of the same recording within a release.

The browser cannot play a FLAC or M4A file

Actual codec support depends on the browser and operating system. M4A is a container and may contain ALAC or AAC; support for a particular combination can vary. Trying a current version of another desktop browser can help identify a compatibility issue.

The cover art does not appear on an AirPlay receiver

The Explorer provides title, artist, album and artwork through the browser's Media Session support. Whether all of it reaches an AirPlay receiver depends on the browser, operating system and receiver. Playback and text metadata may work even when artwork is not forwarded.

Audio playback

The Explorer plays the original selected file through the browser's native audio pipeline and does not deliberately transcode it. Source information such as codec, bit depth, sample rate and channel layout is shown when available.

Because the browser, operating-system mixer and chosen audio device remain part of the playback chain, bit-perfect output cannot be guaranteed.

Privacy

MusicBrainz Explorer has no application backend or user accounts.
Your music files and library.json are not uploaded by the app.
Browser indexing and playback happen locally on your device.
The app does not retain folder access after the page session ends.
Music metadata and cover art are requested from MusicBrainz and the Cover Art Archive.

Those external services may process requests according to their own privacy policies.

Current scope

The local-library workflow is designed primarily for desktop browsers.
The indexers currently support FLAC and M4A (ALAC/AAC).
One local copy is expected for each MusicBrainz release MBID.
Files must already be tagged correctly with MusicBrainz Picard.
Local folder access must be granted again in each new browser session.

Support and feedback

Questions, bug reports and ideas are all welcome. If something does not work, please include your browser, operating system and the step where the problem occurred.

Email György Hild

Attribution

Music metadata is provided by MusicBrainz contributors. Cover art is provided by the Cover Art Archive.

MusicBrainz Explorer is an independent project and is not affiliated with or endorsed by MusicBrainz or MetaBrainz.