What it does
beets catalogues music, improves metadata using MusicBrainz and extends library workflows through plugins.
Install beets as a Python tool and configure where its music folder and library database belong. Choose copy, move, in-place tag editing or read-only database tracking before importing. Those settings determine what happens to your original files.
Autotag import uses provider matches interactively; inspect them before accepting a release. A no-autotag import instead records existing metadata. Search the resulting library from the command line, then add only the plugins needed for conversion, analysis or other outputs.
Strengths
- Extensible library workflows
Watch out for
- Import settings can copy, move or rewrite music files; autotagging can require substantial interactive work.
Best for
- Collectors comfortable with command-line organisation
Sources
- beets: the music geek‘s media organizer (Oct 26, 2026)
- beets getting started (Oct 26, 2026)