diff --git a/vrobbler/apps/music/musicbrainz.py b/vrobbler/apps/music/musicbrainz.py
index 845524b..533f84c 100644
--- a/vrobbler/apps/music/musicbrainz.py
+++ b/vrobbler/apps/music/musicbrainz.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import logging
+from typing import Iterable
 
 import musicbrainzngs
 from dateutil.parser import parse
@@ -74,19 +75,22 @@ def lookup_album_dict_from_mb(release_name: str, artist_name: str) -> dict:
     }
 
 
-def lookup_artist_from_mb(artist_name: str) -> str:
+def lookup_artist_from_mb(artist_name: str) -> dict:
     musicbrainzngs.set_useragent("vrobbler", "0.3.0")
 
-    top_result = musicbrainzngs.search_artists(artist=artist_name)[
-        "artist-list"
-    ][0]
+    try:
+        top_result = musicbrainzngs.search_artists(artist=artist_name)[
+            "artist-list"
+        ][0]
+    except IndexError:
+        return {}
     score = int(top_result.get("ext:score"))
     if score < 85:
         logger.debug(
             "Artist lookup score below 85 threshold",
             extra={"result": top_result},
         )
-        return ""
+        return {}
 
     return top_result
 
diff --git a/vrobbler/apps/music/utils.py b/vrobbler/apps/music/utils.py
index fdea074..118a0e7 100644
--- a/vrobbler/apps/music/utils.py
+++ b/vrobbler/apps/music/utils.py
@@ -26,9 +26,10 @@ def get_or_create_artist(name: str, mbid: str = None) -> Artist:
         name = re.split("&", name, flags=re.IGNORECASE)[0].strip()
 
     artist_dict = lookup_artist_from_mb(name)
-    mbid = mbid or artist_dict["id"]
+    mbid = mbid or artist_dict.get("id", None)
 
-    artist = Artist.objects.filter(musicbrainz_id=mbid).first()
+    if mbid:
+        artist = Artist.objects.filter(musicbrainz_id=mbid).first()
     if not artist:
         artist = Artist.objects.create(name=name, musicbrainz_id=mbid)
         artist.fix_metadata()