diff --git a/beets/dbcore/types.py b/beets/dbcore/types.py
index 8ab3bcfa2..8c8bfa3f6 100644
--- a/beets/dbcore/types.py
+++ b/beets/dbcore/types.py
@@ -207,29 +207,27 @@ class String(Type):
         else:
             return self.model_type(value)
 
-class DelimeteredString(String):
+
+class DelimitedString(String):
     """A list of Unicode strings, represented in-database by a single string
     containing delimiter-separated values.
     """
     model_type = list
 
-    def __init__(self, delim=','):
-        self.delim = delim
+    def __init__(self, delimiter):
+        self.delimiter = delimiter
 
-    def to_sql(self, model_value):
-        return self.delim.join([str(elem) for elem in model_value])
-
-    def from_sql(self, sql_value):
-        if sql_value is None:
-            return self.null()
-        else:
-            return self.parse(sql_value)
+    def format(self, value):
+        return self.delimiter.join(value)
 
     def parse(self, string):
-        try:
-            return string.split(self.delim)
-        except:
-            return self.null
+        if not string:
+            return []
+        return string.split(self.delimiter)
+
+    def to_sql(self, model_value):
+        return self.delimiter.join(model_value)
+
 
 class Boolean(Type):
     """A boolean type.
@@ -254,4 +252,4 @@ FLOAT = Float()
 NULL_FLOAT = NullFloat()
 STRING = String()
 BOOLEAN = Boolean()
-SEMICOLON_DSV = DelimeteredString(delim=';')
+SEMICOLON_SPACE_DSV = DelimitedString(delimiter='; ')
diff --git a/beets/library.py b/beets/library.py
index 69cf8d349..9d5219b18 100644
--- a/beets/library.py
+++ b/beets/library.py
@@ -504,7 +504,7 @@ class Item(LibModel):
         'mb_releasetrackid': types.STRING,
         'trackdisambig': types.STRING,
         'albumtype': types.STRING,
-        'albumtypes': types.SEMICOLON_DSV,
+        'albumtypes': types.SEMICOLON_SPACE_DSV,
         'label': types.STRING,
         'acoustid_fingerprint': types.STRING,
         'acoustid_id': types.STRING,
@@ -1064,7 +1064,7 @@ class Album(LibModel):
         'mb_albumid': types.STRING,
         'mb_albumartistid': types.STRING,
         'albumtype': types.STRING,
-        'albumtypes': types.SEMICOLON_DSV,
+        'albumtypes': types.SEMICOLON_SPACE_DSV,
         'label': types.STRING,
         'mb_releasegroupid': types.STRING,
         'asin': types.STRING,