diff --git a/osu.Game.Tests/Editing/Checks/CheckAudioQualityTest.cs b/osu.Game.Tests/Editing/Checks/CheckAudioQualityTest.cs
index 39fbf11d51..e22dfa5f8b 100644
--- a/osu.Game.Tests/Editing/Checks/CheckAudioQualityTest.cs
+++ b/osu.Game.Tests/Editing/Checks/CheckAudioQualityTest.cs
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ namespace osu.Game.Tests.Editing.Checks
         public void TestMissing()
         {
             // While this is a problem, it is out of scope for this check and is caught by a different one.
-            beatmap.Metadata.AudioFile = null;
+            beatmap.Metadata.AudioFile = string.Empty;
 
             var mock = new Mock<IWorkingBeatmap>();
             mock.SetupGet(w => w.Beatmap).Returns(beatmap);
diff --git a/osu.Game/Beatmaps/BeatmapManager.cs b/osu.Game/Beatmaps/BeatmapManager.cs
index 2fa8bd4990..7a9f3e0a45 100644
--- a/osu.Game/Beatmaps/BeatmapManager.cs
+++ b/osu.Game/Beatmaps/BeatmapManager.cs
@@ -258,10 +258,10 @@ namespace osu.Game.Beatmaps
                 OnlineBeatmapSetID = model.OnlineID,
                 Metadata = new BeatmapMetadata
                 {
-                    Title = model.Metadata?.Title,
-                    Artist = model.Metadata?.Artist,
-                    TitleUnicode = model.Metadata?.TitleUnicode,
-                    ArtistUnicode = model.Metadata?.ArtistUnicode,
+                    Title = model.Metadata?.Title ?? string.Empty,
+                    Artist = model.Metadata?.Artist ?? string.Empty,
+                    TitleUnicode = model.Metadata?.TitleUnicode ?? string.Empty,
+                    ArtistUnicode = model.Metadata?.ArtistUnicode ?? string.Empty,
                     Author = new User { Username = model.Metadata?.Author },
                 }
             }, minimiseDownloadSize);
diff --git a/osu.Game/Beatmaps/Formats/LegacyBeatmapEncoder.cs b/osu.Game/Beatmaps/Formats/LegacyBeatmapEncoder.cs
index 89541a0845..3ed5055b7f 100644
--- a/osu.Game/Beatmaps/Formats/LegacyBeatmapEncoder.cs
+++ b/osu.Game/Beatmaps/Formats/LegacyBeatmapEncoder.cs
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ namespace osu.Game.Beatmaps.Formats
         {
             writer.WriteLine("[General]");
 
-            if (beatmap.Metadata.AudioFile != null) writer.WriteLine(FormattableString.Invariant($"AudioFilename: {Path.GetFileName(beatmap.Metadata.AudioFile)}"));
+            if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(beatmap.Metadata.AudioFile)) writer.WriteLine(FormattableString.Invariant($"AudioFilename: {Path.GetFileName(beatmap.Metadata.AudioFile)}"));
             writer.WriteLine(FormattableString.Invariant($"AudioLeadIn: {beatmap.BeatmapInfo.AudioLeadIn}"));
             writer.WriteLine(FormattableString.Invariant($"PreviewTime: {beatmap.Metadata.PreviewTime}"));
             writer.WriteLine(FormattableString.Invariant($"Countdown: {(int)beatmap.BeatmapInfo.Countdown}"));
@@ -126,13 +126,13 @@ namespace osu.Game.Beatmaps.Formats
             writer.WriteLine("[Metadata]");
 
             writer.WriteLine(FormattableString.Invariant($"Title: {beatmap.Metadata.Title}"));
-            if (beatmap.Metadata.TitleUnicode != null) writer.WriteLine(FormattableString.Invariant($"TitleUnicode: {beatmap.Metadata.TitleUnicode}"));
+            if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(beatmap.Metadata.TitleUnicode)) writer.WriteLine(FormattableString.Invariant($"TitleUnicode: {beatmap.Metadata.TitleUnicode}"));
             writer.WriteLine(FormattableString.Invariant($"Artist: {beatmap.Metadata.Artist}"));
-            if (beatmap.Metadata.ArtistUnicode != null) writer.WriteLine(FormattableString.Invariant($"ArtistUnicode: {beatmap.Metadata.ArtistUnicode}"));
+            if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(beatmap.Metadata.ArtistUnicode)) writer.WriteLine(FormattableString.Invariant($"ArtistUnicode: {beatmap.Metadata.ArtistUnicode}"));
             writer.WriteLine(FormattableString.Invariant($"Creator: {beatmap.Metadata.AuthorString}"));
             writer.WriteLine(FormattableString.Invariant($"Version: {beatmap.BeatmapInfo.Version}"));
-            if (beatmap.Metadata.Source != null) writer.WriteLine(FormattableString.Invariant($"Source: {beatmap.Metadata.Source}"));
-            if (beatmap.Metadata.Tags != null) writer.WriteLine(FormattableString.Invariant($"Tags: {beatmap.Metadata.Tags}"));
+            if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(beatmap.Metadata.Source)) writer.WriteLine(FormattableString.Invariant($"Source: {beatmap.Metadata.Source}"));
+            if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(beatmap.Metadata.Tags)) writer.WriteLine(FormattableString.Invariant($"Tags: {beatmap.Metadata.Tags}"));
             if (beatmap.BeatmapInfo.OnlineBeatmapID != null) writer.WriteLine(FormattableString.Invariant($"BeatmapID: {beatmap.BeatmapInfo.OnlineBeatmapID}"));
             if (beatmap.BeatmapInfo.BeatmapSet?.OnlineBeatmapSetID != null) writer.WriteLine(FormattableString.Invariant($"BeatmapSetID: {beatmap.BeatmapInfo.BeatmapSet.OnlineBeatmapSetID}"));
         }
diff --git a/osu.Game/Screens/Select/Carousel/CarouselBeatmapSet.cs b/osu.Game/Screens/Select/Carousel/CarouselBeatmapSet.cs
index e465f423bc..d41cb73a29 100644
--- a/osu.Game/Screens/Select/Carousel/CarouselBeatmapSet.cs
+++ b/osu.Game/Screens/Select/Carousel/CarouselBeatmapSet.cs
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ namespace osu.Game.Screens.Select.Carousel
                     return string.Compare(BeatmapSet.Metadata.Title, otherSet.BeatmapSet.Metadata.Title, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
 
                 case SortMode.Author:
-                    return string.Compare(BeatmapSet.Metadata.Author.Username, otherSet.BeatmapSet.Metadata.Author.Username, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
+                    return string.Compare(BeatmapSet.Metadata.Author?.Username, otherSet.BeatmapSet.Metadata.Author?.Username, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
 
                 case SortMode.Source:
                     return string.Compare(BeatmapSet.Metadata.Source, otherSet.BeatmapSet.Metadata.Source, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase);