diff --git a/osu.Game/Beatmaps/IBeatmapDifficultyInfo.cs b/osu.Game/Beatmaps/IBeatmapDifficultyInfo.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6d9fcfcb06
--- /dev/null
+++ b/osu.Game/Beatmaps/IBeatmapDifficultyInfo.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+// Copyright (c) ppy Pty Ltd <contact@ppy.sh>. Licensed under the MIT Licence.
+// See the LICENCE file in the repository root for full licence text.
+
+#nullable enable
+
+namespace osu.Game.Beatmaps
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// A representation of all top-level difficulty settings for a beatmap.
+    /// </summary>
+    public interface IBeatmapDifficultyInfo
+    {
+        /// <summary>
+        /// The default value used for all difficulty settings except <see cref="SliderMultiplier"/> and <see cref="SliderTickRate"/>.
+        /// </summary>
+        const float DEFAULT_DIFFICULTY = 5;
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// The drain rate of the associated beatmap.
+        /// </summary>
+        float DrainRate { get; }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// The circle size of the associated beatmap.
+        /// </summary>
+        float CircleSize { get; }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// The overall difficulty of the associated beatmap.
+        /// </summary>
+        float OverallDifficulty { get; }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// The approach rate of the associated beatmap.
+        /// </summary>
+        float ApproachRate { get; }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// The slider multiplier of the associated beatmap.
+        /// </summary>
+        double SliderMultiplier { get; }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// The slider tick rate of the associated beatmap.
+        /// </summary>
+        double SliderTickRate { get; }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Maps a difficulty value [0, 10] to a two-piece linear range of values.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="difficulty">The difficulty value to be mapped.</param>
+        /// <param name="min">Minimum of the resulting range which will be achieved by a difficulty value of 0.</param>
+        /// <param name="mid">Midpoint of the resulting range which will be achieved by a difficulty value of 5.</param>
+        /// <param name="max">Maximum of the resulting range which will be achieved by a difficulty value of 10.</param>
+        /// <returns>Value to which the difficulty value maps in the specified range.</returns>
+        static double DifficultyRange(double difficulty, double min, double mid, double max)
+        {
+            if (difficulty > 5)
+                return mid + (max - mid) * (difficulty - 5) / 5;
+            if (difficulty < 5)
+                return mid - (mid - min) * (5 - difficulty) / 5;
+
+            return mid;
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Maps a difficulty value [0, 10] to a two-piece linear range of values.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="difficulty">The difficulty value to be mapped.</param>
+        /// <param name="range">The values that define the two linear ranges.
+        /// <list type="table">
+        ///   <item>
+        ///     <term>od0</term>
+        ///     <description>Minimum of the resulting range which will be achieved by a difficulty value of 0.</description>
+        ///   </item>
+        ///   <item>
+        ///     <term>od5</term>
+        ///     <description>Midpoint of the resulting range which will be achieved by a difficulty value of 5.</description>
+        ///   </item>
+        ///   <item>
+        ///     <term>od10</term>
+        ///     <description>Maximum of the resulting range which will be achieved by a difficulty value of 10.</description>
+        ///   </item>
+        /// </list>
+        /// </param>
+        /// <returns>Value to which the difficulty value maps in the specified range.</returns>
+        public static double DifficultyRange(double difficulty, (double od0, double od5, double od10) range)
+            => DifficultyRange(difficulty, range.od0, range.od5, range.od10);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/osu.Game/Beatmaps/IBeatmapInfo.cs b/osu.Game/Beatmaps/IBeatmapInfo.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..72a04621f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/osu.Game/Beatmaps/IBeatmapInfo.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+// Copyright (c) ppy Pty Ltd <contact@ppy.sh>. Licensed under the MIT Licence.
+// See the LICENCE file in the repository root for full licence text.
+
+using osu.Framework.Localisation;
+
+#nullable enable
+
+namespace osu.Game.Beatmaps
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// A single beatmap difficulty.
+    /// </summary>
+    public interface IBeatmapInfo : IHasOnlineID
+    {
+        /// <summary>
+        /// The user-specified name given to this beatmap.
+        /// </summary>
+        string DifficultyName { get; }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// The metadata representing this beatmap. May be shared between multiple beatmaps.
+        /// </summary>
+        IBeatmapMetadataInfo Metadata { get; }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// The difficulty settings for this beatmap.
+        /// </summary>
+        IBeatmapDifficultyInfo Difficulty { get; }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// The playable length in milliseconds of this beatmap.
+        /// </summary>
+        double Length { get; }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// The most common BPM of this beatmap.
+        /// </summary>
+        double BPM { get; }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// The SHA-256 hash representing this beatmap's contents.
+        /// </summary>
+        string Hash { get; }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// MD5 is kept for legacy support (matching against replays, osu-web-10 etc.).
+        /// </summary>
+        string MD5Hash { get; }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// The ruleset this beatmap was made for.
+        /// </summary>
+        IRulesetInfo Ruleset { get; }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// The basic star rating for this beatmap (with no mods applied).
+        /// </summary>
+        double StarRating { get; }
+
+        string DisplayTitle => $"{Metadata} {versionString}".Trim();
+
+        RomanisableString DisplayTitleRomanisable
+        {
+            get
+            {
+                var metadata = Metadata.DisplayTitleRomanisable;
+
+                return new RomanisableString($"{metadata.GetPreferred(true)} {versionString}".Trim(), $"{metadata.GetPreferred(false)} {versionString}".Trim());
+            }
+        }
+
+        private string versionString => string.IsNullOrEmpty(DifficultyName) ? string.Empty : $"[{DifficultyName}]";
+    }
+}
diff --git a/osu.Game/Beatmaps/IBeatmapMetadataInfo.cs b/osu.Game/Beatmaps/IBeatmapMetadataInfo.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..18dd38b404
--- /dev/null
+++ b/osu.Game/Beatmaps/IBeatmapMetadataInfo.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,117 @@
+// Copyright (c) ppy Pty Ltd <contact@ppy.sh>. Licensed under the MIT Licence.
+// See the LICENCE file in the repository root for full licence text.
+
+using System;
+using System.Linq;
+using osu.Framework.Localisation;
+
+#nullable enable
+
+namespace osu.Game.Beatmaps
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Metadata representing a beatmap. May be shared between multiple beatmap difficulties.
+    /// </summary>
+    public interface IBeatmapMetadataInfo : IEquatable<IBeatmapMetadataInfo>
+    {
+        /// <summary>
+        /// The romanised title of this beatmap.
+        /// </summary>
+        string Title { get; }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// The unicode title of this beatmap.
+        /// </summary>
+        string TitleUnicode { get; }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// The romanised artist of this beatmap.
+        /// </summary>
+        string Artist { get; }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// The unicode artist of this beatmap.
+        /// </summary>
+        string ArtistUnicode { get; }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// The author of this beatmap.
+        /// </summary>
+        string Author { get; } // eventually should be linked to a persisted User.
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// The source of this beatmap.
+        /// </summary>
+        string Source { get; }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// The tags of this beatmap.
+        /// </summary>
+        string Tags { get; }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// The time in milliseconds to begin playing the track for preview purposes.
+        /// If -1, the track should begin playing at 40% of its length.
+        /// </summary>
+        int PreviewTime { get; }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// The filename of the audio file consumed by this beatmap.
+        /// </summary>
+        string AudioFile { get; }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// The filename of the background image file consumed by this beatmap.
+        /// </summary>
+        string BackgroundFile { get; }
+
+        string DisplayTitle
+        {
+            get
+            {
+                string author = string.IsNullOrEmpty(Author) ? string.Empty : $"({Author})";
+                return $"{Artist} - {Title} {author}".Trim();
+            }
+        }
+
+        RomanisableString DisplayTitleRomanisable
+        {
+            get
+            {
+                string author = string.IsNullOrEmpty(Author) ? string.Empty : $"({Author})";
+                var artistUnicode = string.IsNullOrEmpty(ArtistUnicode) ? Artist : ArtistUnicode;
+                var titleUnicode = string.IsNullOrEmpty(TitleUnicode) ? Title : TitleUnicode;
+
+                return new RomanisableString($"{artistUnicode} - {titleUnicode} {author}".Trim(), $"{Artist} - {Title} {author}".Trim());
+            }
+        }
+
+        string[] SearchableTerms => new[]
+        {
+            Author,
+            Artist,
+            ArtistUnicode,
+            Title,
+            TitleUnicode,
+            Source,
+            Tags
+        }.Where(s => !string.IsNullOrEmpty(s)).ToArray();
+
+        bool IEquatable<IBeatmapMetadataInfo>.Equals(IBeatmapMetadataInfo? other)
+        {
+            if (other == null)
+                return false;
+
+            return Title == other.Title
+                   && TitleUnicode == other.TitleUnicode
+                   && Artist == other.Artist
+                   && ArtistUnicode == other.ArtistUnicode
+                   && Author == other.Author
+                   && Source == other.Source
+                   && Tags == other.Tags
+                   && PreviewTime == other.PreviewTime
+                   && AudioFile == other.AudioFile
+                   && BackgroundFile == other.BackgroundFile;
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/osu.Game/Beatmaps/IBeatmapSetInfo.cs b/osu.Game/Beatmaps/IBeatmapSetInfo.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f22115e08f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/osu.Game/Beatmaps/IBeatmapSetInfo.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+// Copyright (c) ppy Pty Ltd <contact@ppy.sh>. Licensed under the MIT Licence.
+// See the LICENCE file in the repository root for full licence text.
+
+using System;
+using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.Linq;
+
+#nullable enable
+
+namespace osu.Game.Beatmaps
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// A representation of a collection of beatmap difficulties, generally packaged as an ".osz" archive.
+    /// </summary>
+    public interface IBeatmapSetInfo : IHasOnlineID
+    {
+        /// <summary>
+        /// The date when this beatmap was imported.
+        /// </summary>
+        DateTimeOffset DateAdded { get; }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// The best-effort metadata representing this set. In the case metadata differs between contained beatmaps, one is arbitrarily chosen.
+        /// </summary>
+        IBeatmapMetadataInfo? Metadata { get; }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// All beatmaps contained in this set.
+        /// </summary>
+        IEnumerable<IBeatmapInfo> Beatmaps { get; }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// All files used by this set.
+        /// </summary>
+        IEnumerable<INamedFileUsage> Files { get; }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// The maximum star difficulty of all beatmaps in this set.
+        /// </summary>
+        double MaxStarDifficulty { get; }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// The maximum playable length in milliseconds of all beatmaps in this set.
+        /// </summary>
+        double MaxLength { get; }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// The maximum BPM of all beatmaps in this set.
+        /// </summary>
+        double MaxBPM { get; }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// The filename for the storyboard.
+        /// </summary>
+        string StoryboardFile => Files.FirstOrDefault(f => f.Filename.EndsWith(".osb", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))?.Filename ?? string.Empty;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/osu.Game/Beatmaps/IFileInfo.cs b/osu.Game/Beatmaps/IFileInfo.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..50eb223fc4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/osu.Game/Beatmaps/IFileInfo.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+// Copyright (c) ppy Pty Ltd <contact@ppy.sh>. Licensed under the MIT Licence.
+// See the LICENCE file in the repository root for full licence text.
+
+#nullable enable
+
+namespace osu.Game.Beatmaps
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// A representation of a tracked file.
+    /// </summary>
+    public interface IFileInfo
+    {
+        /// <summary>
+        /// SHA-256 hash of the file content.
+        /// </summary>
+        string Hash { get; }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/osu.Game/Beatmaps/IHasOnlineID.cs b/osu.Game/Beatmaps/IHasOnlineID.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..dc2793afe5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/osu.Game/Beatmaps/IHasOnlineID.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+// Copyright (c) ppy Pty Ltd <contact@ppy.sh>. Licensed under the MIT Licence.
+// See the LICENCE file in the repository root for full licence text.
+
+#nullable enable
+
+namespace osu.Game.Beatmaps
+{
+    public interface IHasOnlineID
+    {
+        /// <summary>
+        /// The server-side ID representing this instance, if one exists.
+        /// </summary>
+        int? OnlineID { get; }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/osu.Game/Beatmaps/INamedFileUsage.cs b/osu.Game/Beatmaps/INamedFileUsage.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..aa7a3852a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/osu.Game/Beatmaps/INamedFileUsage.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+// Copyright (c) ppy Pty Ltd <contact@ppy.sh>. Licensed under the MIT Licence.
+// See the LICENCE file in the repository root for full licence text.
+
+#nullable enable
+
+namespace osu.Game.Beatmaps
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// A usage of a file, with a local filename attached.
+    /// </summary>
+    public interface INamedFileUsage
+    {
+        /// <summary>
+        /// The underlying file on disk.
+        /// </summary>
+        IFileInfo File { get; }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// The filename for this usage.
+        /// </summary>
+        string Filename { get; }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/osu.Game/Beatmaps/IRulesetInfo.cs b/osu.Game/Beatmaps/IRulesetInfo.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b31ebdfbfd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/osu.Game/Beatmaps/IRulesetInfo.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+// Copyright (c) ppy Pty Ltd <contact@ppy.sh>. Licensed under the MIT Licence.
+// See the LICENCE file in the repository root for full licence text.
+
+using System;
+using osu.Game.Rulesets;
+
+#nullable enable
+
+namespace osu.Game.Beatmaps
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// A representation of a ruleset's metadata.
+    /// </summary>
+    public interface IRulesetInfo : IHasOnlineID
+    {
+        /// <summary>
+        /// The user-exposed name of this ruleset.
+        /// </summary>
+        string Name { get; }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// An acronym defined by the ruleset that can be used as a permanent identifier.
+        /// </summary>
+        string ShortName { get; }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// A string representation of this ruleset, to be used with reflection to instantiate the ruleset represented by this metadata.
+        /// </summary>
+        string InstantiationInfo { get; }
+
+        public Ruleset? CreateInstance()
+        {
+            var type = Type.GetType(InstantiationInfo);
+
+            if (type == null)
+                return null;
+
+            var ruleset = Activator.CreateInstance(type) as Ruleset;
+
+            // overwrite the pre-populated RulesetInfo with a potentially database attached copy.
+            // ruleset.RulesetInfo = this;
+
+            return ruleset;
+        }
+    }
+}