diff --git a/mopidy/audio/utils.py b/mopidy/audio/utils.py
index a94e4551..9ddd8494 100644
--- a/mopidy/audio/utils.py
+++ b/mopidy/audio/utils.py
@@ -1,11 +1,17 @@
 from __future__ import absolute_import, unicode_literals
 
+import datetime
+import logging
+import numbers
+
 import pygst
 pygst.require('0.10')
 import gst  # noqa
 
 from mopidy import compat
 
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
 
 def calculate_duration(num_samples, sample_rate):
     """Determine duration of samples using GStreamer helper for precise
@@ -56,3 +62,47 @@ def supported_uri_schemes(uri_schemes):
                 supported_schemes.add(uri)
 
     return supported_schemes
+
+
+def convert_taglist(taglist):
+    """Convert a :class:`gst.Taglist` to plain python types.
+
+    Knows how to convert:
+     - Dates
+     - Buffers
+     - Numbers
+     - Strings
+     - Booleans
+
+    Unknown types will be ignored and debug logged. Tag keys are all strings
+    defined by GStreamer.
+
+    :param :class:`gst.Taglist` taglist: A GStreamer taglist to be converted.
+    :rtype: dictionary of tag keys with a list of values.
+    """
+    result = {}
+
+    # Taglists are not really dicts, hence the lack of .items() and
+    # explicit use of .keys()
+    for key in taglist.keys():
+        result.setdefault(key, [])
+
+        values = taglist[key]
+        if not isinstance(values, list):
+            values = [values]
+
+        for value in values:
+            if isinstance(value, gst.Date):
+                try:
+                    date = datetime.date(value.year, value.month, value.day)
+                    result[key].append(date)
+                except ValueError:
+                    logger.debug('Ignoring invalid date: %r = %r', key, value)
+            elif isinstance(value, gst.Buffer):
+                result[key].append(bytes(value))
+            elif isinstance(value, (basestring, bool, numbers.Number)):
+                result[key].append(value)
+            else:
+                logger.debug('Ignoring unknown data: %r = %r', key, value)
+
+    return result