diff --git a/backend/app.go b/backend/app.go
index 376f0ae..2aa531c 100644
--- a/backend/app.go
+++ b/backend/app.go
@@ -775,6 +775,7 @@ func (yj *YellowJacketApp) startJanitor() {
 	}
 
 	yj.janitor.Register(maintenance.ExpiredHTTPCacheJob(yj.database))
+	yj.janitor.Register(maintenance.StaleArtistMetadataJob(yj.database))
 	yj.janitor.Register(maintenance.OrphanedCoverFilesJob(
 		yj.database, coversDir, library.CoverArtFileSet,
 	))
diff --git a/backend/maintenance/maintenance_test.go b/backend/maintenance/maintenance_test.go
index f88d621..27bf0f7 100644
--- a/backend/maintenance/maintenance_test.go
+++ b/backend/maintenance/maintenance_test.go
@@ -666,3 +666,71 @@ func TestExpiredHTTPCacheJob_TrimsToBudget(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("kept %q, want the longest-lived row", kept)
 	}
 }
+
+// TestStaleArtistMetadataJob pins the sweep's two keep rules: an owned
+// artist's metadata survives, a browsed artist's survives while it still
+// holds cached artwork, and everything else goes (#248).
+func TestStaleArtistMetadataJob(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	db := database.NewTestDB(t)
+
+	const (
+		ownedMBID   = "11111111-1111-1111-1111-111111111111"
+		browsedMBID = "22222222-2222-2222-2222-222222222222"
+		staleMBID   = "33333333-3333-3333-3333-333333333333"
+	)
+
+	// The owned artist is in the library - which means a *file* says
+	// so.  An artists row on its own is not ownership.
+	database.InsertTestTrack(t, db, database.TestTrack{
+		FilePath:   "/music/owned.mp3",
+		Artist:     "Owned",
+		ArtistMBID: ownedMBID,
+	})
+
+	for _, mbid := range []string{ownedMBID, browsedMBID, staleMBID} {
+		if _, err := db.ExecContext(
+			`INSERT INTO artist_metadata (mbid, source, data, fetched_at)
+			 VALUES (?, 'wikidata-p18', x'00', CURRENT_TIMESTAMP)`,
+			mbid,
+		); err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("seed artist_metadata for %s: %v", mbid, err)
+		}
+	}
+
+	// The browsed artist holds cached artwork, so its metadata is still
+	// referenced and must survive.
+	if _, err := db.ExecContext(
+		`INSERT INTO artist_images
+		   (artist_mbid, source, source_url, file_path)
+		 VALUES (?, 'test', 'http://x', '/art/primary.jpg')`,
+		browsedMBID,
+	); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("seed artist_images: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	if _, err := StaleArtistMetadataJob(db).Run(context.Background()); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("run job: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range []struct {
+		mbid string
+		want int
+	}{
+		{ownedMBID, 1},
+		{browsedMBID, 1},
+		{staleMBID, 0},
+	} {
+		var n int
+		if err := db.QueryRowWriter(
+			"SELECT COUNT(*) FROM artist_metadata WHERE mbid = ?", tc.mbid,
+		).Scan(&n); err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("count %s: %v", tc.mbid, err)
+		}
+
+		if n != tc.want {
+			t.Errorf("artist_metadata rows for %s = %d, want %d", tc.mbid, n, tc.want)
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/backend/maintenance/sweeps.go b/backend/maintenance/sweeps.go
index 049eae4..b1b50af 100644
--- a/backend/maintenance/sweeps.go
+++ b/backend/maintenance/sweeps.go
@@ -628,3 +628,37 @@ func dirSize(dir string) (bytes, files int64) {
 
 	return bytes, files
 }
+
+// StaleArtistMetadataJob evicts long-lived artist metadata (bios, wiki
+// leads, relationships) for artists the user no longer has any reason
+// to keep around: not owned and holding no cached artwork.
+//
+// artist_metadata has no TTL by design — entity data changes rarely and
+// re-fetching spends someone else's rate limit — so without a sweep it
+// grows for the life of the install.  This is the "swept when the
+// artist is no longer referenced" contract the datamap always declared
+// for it and nothing ever performed (#248).
+func StaleArtistMetadataJob(db *database.DB) Job {
+	return Job{
+		Name:        "artist-metadata-sweep",
+		MinInterval: dailyInterval,
+		Run: func(_ context.Context) (Result, error) {
+			res, err := db.ExecContext(
+				`DELETE FROM artist_metadata
+				 WHERE mbid NOT IN (` + ownedArtistMBIDs + `)
+				   AND mbid NOT IN (
+				       SELECT artist_mbid FROM artist_images
+				   )`,
+			)
+			if err != nil {
+				return Result{}, fmt.Errorf(
+					"delete stale artist_metadata rows: %w", err,
+				)
+			}
+
+			rows, _ := res.RowsAffected()
+
+			return Result{RowsDeleted: rows}, nil
+		},
+	}
+}