diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index 320c776a..e1174c7d 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -47,6 +47,9 @@ Models
   reuse instances. For the test data set this was developed against, a library
   of ~14000 tracks, went from needing ~75MB to ~17MB. (Fixes: :issue:`348`)
 
+- Added :attr:`mopidy.models.Artist.sortname` field that is mapped to
+  ``musicbrainz-sortname`` tag. (Fixes: :issue:`940`)
+
 MPD frontend
 ------------
 
diff --git a/mopidy/audio/utils.py b/mopidy/audio/utils.py
index 3b9ea30f..a4333b5a 100644
--- a/mopidy/audio/utils.py
+++ b/mopidy/audio/utils.py
@@ -65,15 +65,21 @@ def supported_uri_schemes(uri_schemes):
     return supported_schemes
 
 
-def _artists(tags, artist_name, artist_id=None):
+def _artists(tags, artist_name, artist_id=None, artist_sortname=None):
     # Name missing, don't set artist
     if not tags.get(artist_name):
         return None
-    # One artist name and id, provide artist with id.
-    if len(tags[artist_name]) == 1 and artist_id in tags:
-        return [Artist(name=tags[artist_name][0],
-                       musicbrainz_id=tags[artist_id][0])]
-    # Multiple artist, provide artists without id.
+    # One artist name and either id or sortname, include all available fields
+    if len(tags[artist_name]) == 1 and \
+            (artist_id in tags or artist_sortname in tags):
+        attrs = {'name': tags[artist_name][0]}
+        if artist_id in tags:
+            attrs['musicbrainz_id'] = tags[artist_id][0]
+        if artist_sortname in tags:
+            attrs['sortname'] = tags[artist_sortname][0]
+        return [Artist(**attrs)]
+
+    # Multiple artist, provide artists with name only to avoid ambiguity.
     return [Artist(name=name) for name in tags[artist_name]]
 
 
@@ -91,8 +97,9 @@ def convert_tags_to_track(tags):
 
     track_kwargs['composers'] = _artists(tags, gst.TAG_COMPOSER)
     track_kwargs['performers'] = _artists(tags, gst.TAG_PERFORMER)
-    track_kwargs['artists'] = _artists(
-        tags, gst.TAG_ARTIST, 'musicbrainz-artistid')
+    track_kwargs['artists'] = _artists(tags, gst.TAG_ARTIST,
+                                       'musicbrainz-artistid',
+                                       'musicbrainz-sortname')
     album_kwargs['artists'] = _artists(
         tags, gst.TAG_ALBUM_ARTIST, 'musicbrainz-albumartistid')
 
diff --git a/mopidy/models/__init__.py b/mopidy/models/__init__.py
index 231a472a..c84254cd 100644
--- a/mopidy/models/__init__.py
+++ b/mopidy/models/__init__.py
@@ -117,6 +117,9 @@ class Artist(ValidatedImmutableObject):
     #: The artist name. Read-only.
     name = fields.String()
 
+    #: Artist name for better sorting, e.g. with articles stripped
+    sortname = fields.String()
+
     #: The MusicBrainz ID of the artist. Read-only.
     musicbrainz_id = fields.Identifier()
 
diff --git a/tests/audio/test_utils.py b/tests/audio/test_utils.py
index 200d7729..0b497dad 100644
--- a/tests/audio/test_utils.py
+++ b/tests/audio/test_utils.py
@@ -31,11 +31,13 @@ class TagsToTrackTest(unittest.TestCase):
             'musicbrainz-trackid': ['trackid'],
             'musicbrainz-albumid': ['albumid'],
             'musicbrainz-artistid': ['artistid'],
+            'musicbrainz-sortname': ['sortname'],
             'musicbrainz-albumartistid': ['albumartistid'],
             'bitrate': [1000],
         }
 
-        artist = Artist(name='artist', musicbrainz_id='artistid')
+        artist = Artist(name='artist', musicbrainz_id='artistid',
+                        sortname='sortname')
         composer = Artist(name='composer')
         performer = Artist(name='performer')
         albumartist = Artist(name='albumartist',
@@ -245,3 +247,15 @@ class TagsToTrackTest(unittest.TestCase):
         del self.tags['comment']
         self.tags['copyright'] = ['copyright1', 'copyright2']
         self.check(self.track.replace(comment='copyright1; copyright2'))
+
+    def test_sortname(self):
+        self.tags['musicbrainz-sortname'] = ['another_sortname']
+        artist = Artist(name='artist', sortname='another_sortname',
+                        musicbrainz_id='artistid')
+        self.check(self.track.replace(artists=[artist]))
+
+    def test_missing_sortname(self):
+        del self.tags['musicbrainz-sortname']
+        artist = Artist(name='artist', sortname=None,
+                        musicbrainz_id='artistid')
+        self.check(self.track.replace(artists=[artist]))