diff --git a/beets/test/helper.py b/beets/test/helper.py
index 367d2b5af..124063d76 100644
--- a/beets/test/helper.py
+++ b/beets/test/helper.py
@@ -503,12 +503,8 @@ class PluginMixin:
         Album._queries = getattr(Album, "_original_queries", {})
 
     @contextmanager
-    def configure_plugin(self, config: list[Any] | dict[str, Any]):
-        if isinstance(config, list):
-            beets.config[self.plugin] = config
-        else:
-            for key, value in config.items():
-                beets.config[self.plugin][key] = value
+    def configure_plugin(self, config: Any):
+        beets.config[self.plugin].set(config)
         self.load_plugins(self.plugin)
 
         yield
diff --git a/beetsplug/substitute.py b/beetsplug/substitute.py
index 94b790075..a89d0af16 100644
--- a/beetsplug/substitute.py
+++ b/beetsplug/substitute.py
@@ -34,8 +34,7 @@ class Substitute(BeetsPlugin):
         """Do the actual replacing."""
         if text:
             for pattern, replacement in self.substitute_rules:
-                if pattern.match(text.lower()):
-                    return replacement
+                text = pattern.sub(replacement, text)
             return text
         else:
             return ""
@@ -47,10 +46,8 @@ class Substitute(BeetsPlugin):
         substitute rules.
         """
         super().__init__()
-        self.substitute_rules = []
         self.template_funcs["substitute"] = self.tmpl_substitute
-
-        for key, view in self.config.items():
-            value = view.as_str()
-            pattern = re.compile(key.lower())
-            self.substitute_rules.append((pattern, value))
+        self.substitute_rules = [
+            (re.compile(key, flags=re.IGNORECASE), value)
+            for key, value in self.config.flatten().items()
+        ]
diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index 9642fd06c..88fddfbbb 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -31,6 +31,9 @@ New features:
 * Beets now uses ``platformdirs`` to determine the default music directory.
   This location varies between systems -- for example, users can configure it
   on Unix systems via ``user-dirs.dirs(5)``.
+* :doc:`/plugins/substitute`: Allow the replacement string to use capture groups
+  from the match. It is thus possible to create more general rules, applying to
+  many different artists at once.
 
 Bug fixes:
 
diff --git a/docs/plugins/substitute.rst b/docs/plugins/substitute.rst
index b443f27ac..87ee2ad45 100644
--- a/docs/plugins/substitute.rst
+++ b/docs/plugins/substitute.rst
@@ -11,13 +11,34 @@ the ``rewrite`` plugin modifies the metadata, this plugin does not.
 
 Enable the ``substitute`` plugin (see :ref:`using-plugins`), then make a ``substitute:`` section in your config file to contain your rules.
 Each rule consists of a case-insensitive regular expression pattern, and a
-replacement value. For example, you might use:
+replacement string. For example, you might use:
+
+.. code-block:: yaml
 
     substitute:
-        .*jimi hendrix.*: Jimi Hendrix
+      .*jimi hendrix.*: Jimi Hendrix
+
+The replacement can be an expression utilising the matched regex, allowing us
+to create more general rules. Say for example, we want to sort all albums by
+multiple artists into the directory of the first artist. We can thus capture
+everything before the first ``,``, `` &`` or `` and``, and use this capture
+group in the output, discarding the rest of the string.
+
+.. code-block:: yaml
+
+    substitute:
+      ^(.*?)(,| &| and).*: \1
+
+This would handle all the below cases in a single rule:
+
+    Bob Dylan and The Band -> Bob Dylan
+    Neil Young & Crazy Horse -> Neil Young
+    James Yorkston, Nina Persson & The Second Hand Orchestra -> James Yorkston
 
 
 To apply the substitution, you have to call the function ``%substitute{}`` in the paths section. For example:
-    
+
+.. code-block:: yaml
+
     paths:
-        default: %substitute{$albumartist}/$year - $album%aunique{}/$track - $title
\ No newline at end of file
+        default: \%substitute{$albumartist}/$year - $album\%aunique{}/$track - $title
diff --git a/test/plugins/test_substitute.py b/test/plugins/test_substitute.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..48014e231
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/plugins/test_substitute.py
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+# This file is part of beets.
+# Copyright 2024, Nicholas Boyd Isacsson.
+#
+# Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining
+# a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the
+# "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including
+# without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish,
+# distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to
+# permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to
+# the following conditions:
+#
+# The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be
+# included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+
+"""Test the substitute plugin regex functionality."""
+
+from beets.test.helper import PluginTestCase
+from beetsplug.substitute import Substitute
+
+
+class SubstitutePluginTest(PluginTestCase):
+    plugin = "substitute"
+    preload_plugin = False
+
+    def run_substitute(self, config, cases):
+        with self.configure_plugin(config):
+            for input, expected in cases:
+                assert Substitute().tmpl_substitute(input) == expected
+
+    def test_simple_substitute(self):
+        self.run_substitute(
+            {
+                "a": "x",
+                "b": "y",
+                "c": "z",
+            },
+            [("a", "x"), ("b", "y"), ("c", "z")],
+        )
+
+    def test_case_insensitivity(self):
+        self.run_substitute({"a": "x"}, [("A", "x")])
+
+    def test_unmatched_input_preserved(self):
+        self.run_substitute({"a": "x"}, [("c", "c")])
+
+    def test_regex_to_static(self):
+        self.run_substitute(
+            {".*jimi hendrix.*": "Jimi Hendrix"},
+            [("The Jimi Hendrix Experience", "Jimi Hendrix")],
+        )
+
+    def test_regex_capture_group(self):
+        self.run_substitute(
+            {"^(.*?)(,| &| and).*": r"\1"},
+            [
+                ("King Creosote & Jon Hopkins", "King Creosote"),
+                (
+                    "Michael Hurley, The Holy Modal Rounders, Jeffrey Frederick & "
+                    + "The Clamtones",
+                    "Michael Hurley",
+                ),
+                ("James Yorkston and the Athletes", "James Yorkston"),
+            ],
+        )
+
+    def test_partial_substitution(self):
+        self.run_substitute({r"\.": ""}, [("U.N.P.O.C.", "UNPOC")])
+
+    def test_rules_applied_in_definition_order(self):
+        self.run_substitute(
+            {
+                "a": "x",
+                "[ab]": "y",
+                "b": "z",
+            },
+            [
+                ("a", "x"),
+                ("b", "y"),
+            ],
+        )
+
+    def test_rules_applied_in_sequence(self):
+        self.run_substitute(
+            {"a": "b", "b": "c", "d": "a"},
+            [
+                ("a", "c"),
+                ("b", "c"),
+                ("d", "a"),
+            ],
+        )