diff --git a/beets/mediafile.py b/beets/mediafile.py
index 3f207ef20..733eaec32 100644
--- a/beets/mediafile.py
+++ b/beets/mediafile.py
@@ -913,12 +913,14 @@ class MediaField(object):
     def __init__(self, *styles, **kwargs):
         """Creates a new MediaField.
 
-         - `styles`: `StorageStyle` instances that describe the strategy
-           for reading and writing the field in particular formats.
-           There must be at least one style for each possible file
-           format.
+        - `styles`: `StorageStyle` instances that describe the strategy
+          for reading and writing the field in particular formats.
+          There must be at least one style for each possible file
+          format.
+
         - `out_type`: the type of the value that should be returned when
-           getting this property.
+          getting this property.
+
         """
         self.out_type = kwargs.get('out_type', unicode)
         self._styles = styles
diff --git a/beets/plugins.py b/beets/plugins.py
index 6a58777cd..6b177432f 100755
--- a/beets/plugins.py
+++ b/beets/plugins.py
@@ -106,6 +106,20 @@ class BeetsPlugin(object):
         """
         return None
 
+    def add_media_field(self, name, descriptor):
+        """Add a field that is synchronized between media files and items.
+
+        When a media field is added ``item.write()`` will set the name
+        property of the item's MediaFile to ``item[name]`` and save the
+        changes. Similarly ``item.read()`` will set ``item[name]`` to
+        the value of the name property of the media file.
+
+        ``descriptor`` must be an instance of ``mediafile.MediaField``.
+        """
+        # Defer impor to prevent circular dependency
+        from beets import library
+        mediafile.MediaFile.add_field(name, descriptor)
+        library.Item.media_fields.add(name)
 
     listeners = None
 
diff --git a/docs/dev/index.rst b/docs/dev/index.rst
index 2579ecbf4..82651a781 100644
--- a/docs/dev/index.rst
+++ b/docs/dev/index.rst
@@ -8,3 +8,4 @@ in hacking beets itself or creating plugins for it.
 
     plugins
     api
+    media_file
diff --git a/docs/dev/media_file.rst b/docs/dev/media_file.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c703377d8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/dev/media_file.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+.. _mediafile:
+
+MediaFile
+---------
+
+.. currentmodule:: beets.mediafile
+
+.. autoclass:: MediaFile
+
+    .. automethod:: __init__
+    .. automethod:: fields
+    .. automethod:: readable_fields
+    .. automethod:: save
+    .. automethod:: update
+
+.. autoclass:: MediaField
+
+    .. automethod:: __init__
+
+.. autoclass:: StorageStyle
+    :members:
diff --git a/docs/dev/plugins.rst b/docs/dev/plugins.rst
index cdea8938a..cda1ca29e 100644
--- a/docs/dev/plugins.rst
+++ b/docs/dev/plugins.rst
@@ -300,38 +300,37 @@ template fields by adding a function accepting an ``Album`` argument to the
 Extend MediaFile
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
-`MediaFile`_ is the file tag abstraction layer that beets uses to make
+:ref:`MediaFile` is the file tag abstraction layer that beets uses to make
 cross-format metadata manipulation simple. Plugins can add fields to MediaFile
 to extend the kinds of metadata that they can easily manage.
 
-The ``item_fields`` method on plugins should be overridden to return a
-dictionary whose keys are field names and whose values are descriptor objects
-that provide the field in question. The descriptors should probably be
-``MediaField`` instances (defined in ``beets.mediafile``). Here's an example
-plugin that provides a meaningless new field "foo"::
+The ``MediaFile`` class uses ``MediaField`` descriptors to provide
+access to file tags. Have a look at the ``beets.mediafile`` source code
+to learn how to use this descriptor class. If you have created a
+descriptor you can add it through your plugins ``add_media_field()``
+method.
 
-    from beets import mediafile, plugins, ui
-    class FooPlugin(plugins.BeetsPlugin):
-        def item_fields(self):
-            return {
-                'foo': mediafile.MediaField(
-                    mp3 = mediafile.StorageStyle(
-                        'TXXX', id3_desc=u'Foo Field'),
-                    mp4 = mediafile.StorageStyle(
-                        '----:com.apple.iTunes:Foo Field'),
-                    etc = mediafile.StorageStyle('FOO FIELD')
-                ),
-            }
+.. automethod:: beets.plugins.BeetsPlugin.add_media_field
 
-Later, the plugin can manipulate this new field by saying something like
-``mf.foo = 'bar'`` where ``mf`` is a ``MediaFile`` instance.
 
-Note that, currently, these additional fields are *only* applied to
-``MediaFile`` itself. The beets library database schema and the ``Item`` class
-are not extended, so the fields are second-class citizens. This may change
-eventually.
+Here's an example plugin that provides a meaningless new field "foo"::
+
+    class FooPlugin(BeetsPlugin):
+        def __init__(self):
+            field = mediafile.MediaField(
+                mediafile.MP3DescStorageStyle(u'foo')
+                mediafile.StorageStyle(u'foo')
+            )
+            self.add_media_field('foo', field)
+
+    FooPlugin()
+    item = Item.from_path('/path/to/foo/tag.mp3')
+    assert item['foo'] == 'spam'
+
+    item['foo'] == 'ham'
+    item.write()
+    # The "foo" tag of the file is now "ham"
 
-.. _MediaFile: https://github.com/sampsyo/beets/wiki/MediaFile
 
 Add Import Pipeline Stages
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
diff --git a/test/test_mediafile.py b/test/test_mediafile.py
index 4f8a1b14c..99fbd4cc4 100644
--- a/test/test_mediafile.py
+++ b/test/test_mediafile.py
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ from beets.mediafile import MediaFile, MediaField, Image, \
                             MP3StorageStyle, StorageStyle, \
                             MP4StorageStyle, ASFStorageStyle
 from beets.library import Item
+from beets.plugins import BeetsPlugin
 
 
 class ArtTestMixin(object):
@@ -263,7 +264,8 @@ field_extension = MediaField(
 class ExtendedFieldTestMixin(object):
 
     def test_extended_field_write(self):
-        MediaFile.add_field('initialkey', field_extension)
+        plugin = BeetsPlugin()
+        plugin.add_media_field('initialkey', field_extension)
 
         mediafile = self._mediafile_fixture('empty')
         mediafile.initialkey = 'F#'
@@ -272,9 +274,11 @@ class ExtendedFieldTestMixin(object):
         mediafile = MediaFile(mediafile.path)
         self.assertEqual(mediafile.initialkey, 'F#')
         delattr(MediaFile, 'initialkey')
+        Item.media_fields.remove('initialkey')
 
     def test_write_extended_tag_from_item(self):
-        MediaFile.add_field('initialkey', field_extension)
+        plugin = BeetsPlugin()
+        plugin.add_media_field('initialkey', field_extension)
 
         mediafile = self._mediafile_fixture('empty')
         self.assertEqual(mediafile.initialkey, '')
@@ -285,10 +289,11 @@ class ExtendedFieldTestMixin(object):
         self.assertEqual(mediafile.initialkey, 'Gb')
 
         delattr(MediaFile, 'initialkey')
+        Item.media_fields.remove('initialkey')
 
     def test_read_flexible_attribute_from_file(self):
-        MediaFile.add_field('initialkey', field_extension)
-        Item.media_fields.add('initialkey')
+        plugin = BeetsPlugin()
+        plugin.add_media_field('initialkey', field_extension)
 
         mediafile = self._mediafile_fixture('empty')
         mediafile.update({'initialkey': 'F#'})