diff --git a/beetsplug/lyrics.py b/beetsplug/lyrics.py
index f53191d8a..8e45d25b4 100644
--- a/beetsplug/lyrics.py
+++ b/beetsplug/lyrics.py
@@ -419,15 +419,13 @@ class Genius(Backend):
             return None
 
         for hit in json["response"]["hits"]:
-            # Genius uses zero-width characters to denote lowercase
-            # artist names.
-            hit_artist = hit["result"]["primary_artist"]["name"]. \
-                strip(u'\u200b').lower()
+            hit_artist = hit["result"]["primary_artist"]["name"]
 
-            if hit_artist == artist.lower():
+            if slug(hit_artist) == slug(artist):
                 return self.lyrics_from_song_page(hit["result"]["url"])
 
-        self._log.debug(u'genius: no matching artist')
+        self._log.debug(u'Genius failed to find a matching artist for \'{0}\'',
+                        artist)
 
 
 class LyricsWiki(SymbolsReplaced):
diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index 112fdf23d..cfdcb33af 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -129,6 +129,9 @@ New features:
 * :doc:`/plugins/plexupdate`: Add option to use secure connection to Plex
   server, and to ignore certificate validation errors if necessary.
   :bug:`2871`
+* :doc:`/plugins/lyrics`: Improved searching Genius backend when artist
+  contained special characters.
+  :bug:`3634`
 
 Fixes:
 
diff --git a/test/test_lyrics.py b/test/test_lyrics.py
index d31116284..22d5f2f0c 100644
--- a/test/test_lyrics.py
+++ b/test/test_lyrics.py
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 
 from __future__ import absolute_import, division, print_function
 
+import itertools
 import os
 import re
 import six
@@ -485,18 +486,28 @@ class SlugTests(unittest.TestCase):
         # plain ascii passthrough
         text = u"test"
         self.assertEqual(lyrics.slug(text), 'test')
+
         # german unicode and capitals
         text = u"Mørdag"
         self.assertEqual(lyrics.slug(text), 'mordag')
+
         # more accents and quotes
         text = u"l'été c'est fait pour jouer"
         self.assertEqual(lyrics.slug(text), 'l-ete-c-est-fait-pour-jouer')
+
         # accents, parens and spaces
         text = u"\xe7afe au lait (boisson)"
         self.assertEqual(lyrics.slug(text), 'cafe-au-lait-boisson')
         text = u"Multiple  spaces -- and symbols! -- merged"
         self.assertEqual(lyrics.slug(text),
                          'multiple-spaces-and-symbols-merged')
+        text = u"\u200Bno-width-space"
+        self.assertEqual(lyrics.slug(text), 'no-width-space')
+
+        # variations of dashes should get standardized
+        dashes = [u'\u200D', u'\u2010']
+        for dash1, dash2 in itertools.combinations(dashes, 2):
+            self.assertEqual(lyrics.slug(dash1), lyrics.slug(dash2))
 
 
 def suite():