diff --git a/beetsplug/web/__init__.py b/beetsplug/web/__init__.py
index 1bea628f8..2afef7786 100644
--- a/beetsplug/web/__init__.py
+++ b/beetsplug/web/__init__.py
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ from flask import g
 from werkzeug.routing import BaseConverter, PathConverter
 import os
 import json
+import base64
 
 
 # Utilities.
@@ -44,7 +45,7 @@ def _rep(obj, expand=False):
 
         # Filter all bytes attributes and convert them to strings
         for key in filter(lambda key: isinstance(out[key], bytes), out):
-            out[key] = out[key].decode('utf-8')
+                out[key] = base64.b64encode(out[key]).decode('ascii')
 
         # Get the size (in bytes) of the backing file. This is useful
         # for the Tomahawk resolver API.