diff --git a/musicfetch b/musicfetch
index be9c55f..c554089 100755
--- a/musicfetch
+++ b/musicfetch
@@ -126,6 +126,15 @@ def _artist_to_hit(artist: dict) -> Hit:
     )
 
 
+def _split_query(query: str) -> tuple[str, Optional[str]]:
+    """Split a Shazam-style 'Artist - Track' on the first ' - '.
+    Returns (artist, track) or (term, None) when there is no separator."""
+    if " - " in query:
+        left, right = query.split(" - ", 1)
+        return left.strip(), right.strip()
+    return query.strip(), None
+
+
 def lidarr_search(query: str, limit: int) -> list[Hit]:
     """Universal search via /api/v1/search; fall back to album+artist lookup."""
     if not API_KEY:
diff --git a/tests/test_lidarr_match.py b/tests/test_lidarr_match.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..674edf5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_lidarr_match.py
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+import server.mf  # noqa: F401 — loads musicfetch, registers musicfetch_core in sys.modules
+import musicfetch_core as mf
+
+
+def test_split_query_with_dash():
+    assert mf._split_query("Daft Punk - Discovery") == ("Daft Punk", "Discovery")
+
+
+def test_split_query_no_dash():
+    assert mf._split_query("Daft Punk") == ("Daft Punk", None)
+
+
+def test_split_query_splits_on_first_dash_only():
+    assert mf._split_query("A - B - C") == ("A", "B - C")
+
+
+def test_split_query_strips_whitespace():
+    assert mf._split_query("  Daft Punk  -  Discovery  ") == ("Daft Punk", "Discovery")