diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 45a50cf4d..78d3b74bd 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
   quiet mode when there is no strong recommendation. The options are
   "skip" (the default) and "asis".
 * The "version" command now lists all the loaded plugins.
+* A new plugin, called "info", just prints out audio file metadata.
 * Fix a bug where some files would be erroneously interpreted as MP4.
 * Fix permission bits applied to album art files.
 * Fix malformed MusicBrainz queries caused by null characters.
diff --git a/beets/ui/commands.py b/beets/ui/commands.py
index 57abf297b..ae71e60f3 100644
--- a/beets/ui/commands.py
+++ b/beets/ui/commands.py
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@ from beets import ui
 from beets.ui import print_
 from beets import autotag
 from beets import library
-from beets.mediafile import UnreadableFileError, FileTypeError
 import beets.autotag.art
 from beets.ui import pipeline
 from beets import plugins
diff --git a/beetsplug/info.py b/beetsplug/info.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5e5fde518
--- /dev/null
+++ b/beetsplug/info.py
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+# This file is part of beets.
+# Copyright 2011, Adrian Sampson.
+#
+# 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.
+
+"""Shows file metadata.
+"""
+
+from beets.plugins import BeetsPlugin
+from beets import library
+from beets import ui
+from beets import mediafile
+
+def info(paths):
+    # Set up fields to output.
+    fields = []
+    for name, _, _, mffield in library.ITEM_FIELDS:
+        if mffield:
+            fields.append(name)
+    maxwidth = max(len(name) for name in fields)
+    lineformat = u'{{:>{0}}}: {{}}'.format(maxwidth)
+
+    first = True
+    for path in paths:
+        if not first:
+            ui.print_()
+
+        path = library._normpath(path)
+        ui.print_(path)
+        try:
+            mf = mediafile.MediaFile(path)
+        except mediafile.UnreadableFileError:
+            ui.print_('cannot read file')
+            continue
+        for name in fields:
+            ui.print_(lineformat.format(name, getattr(mf, name)))
+
+        first = False
+
+class InfoPlugin(BeetsPlugin):
+    def commands(self):
+        cmd = ui.Subcommand('info', help='show file metadata')
+        def func(lib, config, opts, args):
+            if not args:
+                raise ui.UserError('no file specified')
+            info(args)
+        cmd.func = func
+        return [cmd]